Coker's Amanita

Mushroom Homepage, Mushroom Essentials, Amanita Homepage, Amanita Overview, Mushroom Cooking, Mushroom Recipes, Home
Coker's Amanita (Amanita cokeri)

Mushroom Homepage, Mushroom Essentials, Amanita Homepage, Amanita Overview, Mushroom Cooking, Mushroom Recipes, Home, Back to the Top
Coker's Amanita sculpture, acrylic paint
Coker's amanita is an entirely white mushroom with a cap 3-6 inches across with large, whitish pyramidal patches.
Coker's Amanita, young Note the raised patches covering the mushroom.
The broad, white, free gills (sometimes tinged with yellow or pink) are crowded together.
Coker's Amanita, from below Note that the gills end before they reach the stem (free gills), typical of the amanitas (and of some other genera as well).
The spores are white. A large ring, grooved on top, surrounds the upper stalk. The spindle-shaped stalk (see photo of sculpture, above), 5-8 inches long, roots into the ground (mushrooms, not being plants, don't have true roots). It's also covered with scales toward its base.
Coker's Amanita, side view Note the three-dimensional patches on the cap and at the base of the stalk.
This mushroom appears in sandy habitats in the summer and fall in eastern North America. It is very likely quite poisonous, but no one has ever been dumb enough to find out (yet!) There are close to 40 very similar, closely related amanitas, some growing on the west coast, and some which smell like chlorine, that you also should not eat.
Coker's Amanita, Button Stage Except for its patchiness, this very young and very dangerous amanita resembles a puffball.