Fool's mushroom

Quick facts

Scientific name

Amanita verna Bull. ex Lam. (1783)

Family

Amanitaceae

Edibility

Deadly

Season

Apr–Jun

Usual altitude

241–1,011 m

Under which trees

Pine, Holm oak, Cork oak, Oak

IUCN Red List

Not evaluated (NE)

Where it grows

Holm oak, cork oak and oak woods of the centre and south, and pine woods too, on acid, sandy soils. March to June, peaking after the April rains.

Confused with

• Field mushroomAgaricus campestris

  A field mushroom's gills turn pink and then black, and there is no volva at the base. The fool's mushroom keeps white gills all its life. Never cut it off at ground level: the volva is the thing you need to see.

• Bearded amanitaAmanita ovoidea

  Also white and with a volva, but much fleshier, with a ring that falls apart into cottony flakes and an unpleasant smell. Picking it is discouraged precisely because of this pairing.

When it has been found

Finds recorded in Spain, by month: 92 in all, from GBIF. They show when it fruits, and also when people go looking.

Where it has been found

Each square is an area of about 20 km with recorded finds; the darker, the more finds. It does not pinpoint patches: for where it is coming up now, see the forecast map.

Where it comes up

Areas where this species is scoring highest right now.

• Montseny massif MassifsWeak · peak moderate
• Maresme ComarcasWeak · peak moderate
• Vallés Oriental ComarcasWeak · peak moderate
• Garrotxa ComarcasWeak · peak moderate
• la Selva ComarcasWeak · peak moderate
• Gironés ComarcasWeak · peak moderate
• Lower Empordà ComarcasVery weak · peak moderate
• Osona ComarcasVery weak · peak moderate

Sources

• GBIF: name, authorship and family
• GBIF: finds recorded in Spain
• IUCN Red List: threat category

The usual altitude and the trees come from our own fit of the model to those finds and to the Spanish Forest Map (Mapa Forestal de España).