Blusher

The European blusher has a reddish-brown convex pileus (cap), that is up to 15 cm across, and strewn with small cream-coloured warts. It is sometimes covered with an ochre-yellow flush which can be washed by the rain. The flesh of the mushroom is white, becoming pink when bruised or exposed to air. This is a key feature in differentiating it from the poisonous false blusher or panther cap (Amanita pantherina), whose flesh does not. The stipe (stem) is white with flushes of the cap colour, and grows to a height of up to 15 cm. The gills are white and free of the stem, and display red spots when damaged. The ring is striate (i.e. has ridges) on its upper side, another feature distinguishing it from Amanita pantherina. The spores are white, ovate, amyloid, and approximately 8 by 5 µm in size.

The flavour of the uncooked flesh is mild, but has a faint acrid aftertaste. The smell is not strong.

The mushroom is often attacked by insects.

Distribution and habitat

Amanita rubescens group

It is common throughout much of Europe and eastern North America (in the latter region there are at least three different species that fit into the name Amanita amerirubescens) growing on poor soils as well as in deciduous and coniferous woodlands, appearing from June through to November in the UK. It has also been recorded from South Africa, where it is thought to have been accidentally introduced with trees imported from Europe.[1]

In eastern North America, Amanita rubescens is frequently parasitized by Hypomyces hyalinus. Parasitized fruiting bodies are extremely difficult to recognize unless they occur in conjunction with healthy ones, although some retain the "blushing" characteristic of the species.[2]

A species found in the western U.S., only recently formally described and until then frequently misidentified as A. rubescens; see MykoWeb - Fungi of California - Amanita novinupta for details.

Closely related species include Amanita brunneolocularis, A. orsonii, A. rubescens var. alba, and A. rubescens var. congolensis.[3]

Both A. rubescens[4] and A. novinupta are edible when cooked. European Amanita rubescens is known to contain a hemolytic protein in its raw state; it is unknown whether North American A. rubescens and A. novinupta are similarly toxic when eaten raw. This protein is destroyed by cooking, so it is important to cook this mushroom before eating.

Amanita novinupta is highly regarded as a choice edible in the region in which it is found. However, the edibility of blusher species other than A. rubescens and A. novinupta has not been established and experimentation is not advised.

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  Amanita 'amerirubescens'
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  Amanita 'amerirubescens'
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  Mushrooms at various ages
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  Amanita rubescens
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  Amanita rubescens f. anulo sulphureus
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  Amanita rubescens
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  Amanita rubescens

• List of Amanita species

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amanita rubescens.

• "Tabular and Nontabular Keys to the Rubescent Species of Amanita section Validae" by Rodham E. Tulloss, March 10, 2003.