Amanita caesarea

Edible and One of the Best

(Make Sure Your Identification is Correct)

Amanita caesarea

(Caesar's Amanita)

Amanita caesarea tends to appear early in the southwest's late summer and fall mushroom season (there is not usually a spring or early summer mushroom season in the southwest because it is usually the driest part of the year), usually being found from mid-July to the end of August, depending on when the rains start. The only place I have found this species in the southwest has been in association with ponderosa pine. In the southwest I have never found many together, rarely more than two or three at a time and often just a single fruiting body. In the southwestern United States Amanita caesarea generally lacks the orange or reddish tones often seen elsewhere, being almost completely yellow when mature (as shown in photographs of this specimen from New Mexico). When first emerging they sometimes have a deeper orange tint (as shown in this specimen from Arizona) but the coloration fades to yellow by the time the fruiting body matures. Even when young I have never seen specimens from the southwest as orange-tinted as in the photograph above. I have seen Amanita caesarea in other parts of the country that show a strong reddish tint to the center of the top surface of the cap as it is usually depicted in most identification guidebooks, but I have never seen the reddish coloration in specimens from the southwest.

If you intend to eat Amanita caesarea be very very sure of your identification. The Amanita genus contains many deadly and toxic species and certain of its members have been responsible for the bulk of fatal mushroom poisonings that have been recorded. I have included information on similar poisonous species below. Amanita caesarea is widely reported to be among the most delicious of all fungi. The rulers of Rome certainly thought so and present day Italians agree. I personally am waiting to see someone else eat it and suffer no adverse effects before trying it. It is generally thought the Roman emperor Claudius was done in by his fourth wife, Agrippina, when she substituted another Amanita species for his favorite Amanita caesarea, clearing the way for her son, Nero, to become emperor. Many have suggested a little bit of A. phalloides mixed in with the dish was the culprit with at least one source suggesting that just the juice from A. phalloides was used to do the deed. But at least one recent analysis suggests based upon the observed symptoms that the murder may have been accomplished using A muscaria. Attempting to replicate the event on oneself, either for research purposes or by mistake, is not recommended.

NOTE REGARDING INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE

The following information and links are compiled by B.W. Freyburger of Gallup, New Mexico, who regularly finds Amanita caesarea during the late summer and fall in the mountains near there, sometimes taking them home and drying them, but has never yet been brave enough to actually eat any. Please notify him of persistently dead links, additional links regarding this species, or errors in information or links herein through email by clicking on his name above. This site contains links to other sites which are not authored by or controlled by the webmaster of this site. Unfortunately these sites sometimes diasppear or or are reorganized or moved leaving the link nonfunctional. I try to check for dead links and update or remove them as often as possible. Information, recipes, photographs, illustrations, and other material on these sites is likely subject to copyright protection. Please respect the legal rights of persons creating this material. This site also utilizes some clip art obtained from sources which identified it as public domain or authorized for use on non-commercial sites. If you notice any material on this site which you believe to be used in violation of copyright laws please notify the webmaster immediately. Some clip art appearing here is original. All original material contained on this page except the photograph above not otherwise copyrighted is © 2001 by B.W. Freyburger. All rights reserved.

Synonyms:

Agaricus caesareus Scop.

Amanita caesarea (Scop.: Fr.) Grév.

Amanita caesarea (Scop. ex Fr.) Grev.

Amanita caesarea (Scop.:Fr.) Pers.

Amanita caesarea (Scop. ex Fr.) Pers. ex Schw.

Common Names:

Basque: arraultzeco, arraultzeko, arautza-perretxico, gorringo, kulato, kulenko, kuleto, kuleto gorringo, kuletro aurriola

Bosnia and Herzegovina: blagva rujnica

Catalan: bolet d'or, cocou, monjola, oriol, ou de montjola, ou de mónjola, ou de reig, quicou, reig, rovell d´ou

Croatian: blagva

Czech: muchomurka císarka

English: caesar's amanita

Finnish: keisarikärpässieni

French: amanite des césars, aulongat, "bolet" rouge, boulet rouge, boulet rouje, boulet rous, boutchols, cadran campagnol, campyrol, champagnol, champignon du dimanche ?, chogeran, ciampignon, cocon, compairol, coucons, coucuoun, dorade, dorgue, dorrinéal, dorrinergal, doumegal, doumengal, doumergal, dounegal, endorguez, gouriaou, irandja, iranget, jaone d'iou, jaseran, jasseran, jaune d'auf, jaune d'oeuf, jazeian, moujol, moujolo, mujolo, mujols, myjolo, oeufs sur le plat, oriol, oronge, oronge jaune, oronge vraie, ounegal, ourangeada, réal, remejol, rouget, roumanel, roumaviel , royal, amanite impérial

Gallego: a raiña

German: kaiserling

Hungarian: császárgomba

Italian: amanita cesarea, boleto, cocco, cocco buono, fungo dei cesari, fungo reale, ovolo, ovolo buono, ovulo, ovulo buono, ovolo-cocco

Japanese: tamago take, ,

Polish: muchomor cesarski

Purépecha or Tarasco (Indigenous Language from Mexico): cucuchikua terekua, tiripiti terekua

Sicilian: ovulu bbonu, fùnciu d'ovu

Slovakian: muchotrávka cisárska

Slovenian: karzelj

Spanish:

Swedish: kejsarsvamp

Tarahumara or Rarámuri (Indigenous Language from Mexico): micouii

Tepehuán (Indigenous Language from Mexico): bipi'nakai, jix'am nakai, jix'uam yakua, jixbi'yakua, jixchua yakua,

Turkish: ýmparator mantarý

Photograph by John C. Tacoma, copyright held by Indiana University

(see http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/special/mss019.html).

Descriptions:

Catalan:

Associació Micològica Joaquim Codina

La Web dels Bolets - El Bolet del Mes

English:

Arizona Mushroom Club

Istria on the Internet

Mushrooms in Greece

Nature's Niche

French:

Béa et les champignons

Champignons jaunes à oranges

Frédérick BLACHER HomePage - Petit guide des champignons

Les champignons comestibles

LES MEILLEURS CHAMPIGNONS

Office National des Foréts

Tachenon, Alain

Italian:

Alberi Funghi e Frutti in Valtellina e Valchiavenna

A.M.B. - GRUPPO DI TRIESTE - Dalla nostra diateca

A.M.E.R.

Andar Per Funghi - Funghi commestibili

Funghi in Italia

Gruppo Micologico G. Bresadola - I Funghi Nel Trentino

Gruppo Micologico Ligure Piemontese CERCHIO DELLE STREGHE

Gruppo Naturalistico Modenese

I funghi del bosco

I funghi del Parco del Gargano

I FUNGHI ITALIANI

I MANGERECCI

I Prodotti del Sottobosco

Il Mondo dei funghi

inalto.com

LA RACCOLTA DEI FUNGHI NEL VENETO - Mushroom Picking in Veneto

Lintver Valli del Natisone (scroll down)

Panorama di Novi - Funghi

Sintesi lezioni in chat (scroll down)

SOMMARIO FUNGHI COMMESTIBILI

vicenzacity.com

Spanish:

Associació Micològica Joaquim Codina

CONOZCA LAS SETAS

E.J.GALVEZ SL - CHAMPIÑÓN, SETAS, FRUTAS y VERDURAS

FUNGI DE LA RIOJA (ESPAÑA)

Hongos

Setas de Andalucía

Click for Full-Sized Photograph

Photograph by Angelos Papadimitriou from Mushrooms in Greece

Used by permission of Angelos Papadimitriou.

Index of Angelos Papadimitriou Mushroom Photographs on this site

Other Photographs of Amanita caesarea by Angelos Papadimitriou

Photographs:

Alberi Funghi e Frutti in Valtellina e Valchiavenna (text in Italian)

A.M.B. - GRUPPO DI TRIESTE - Dalla nostra diateca (text in Italian)

A.M.E.R. (text in Italian)

Andar per Funghi

Andar Per Funghi - Funghi commestibili (text in Italian)

Andoa (text in Spanish)

Arizona Mushroom Club (text in English)

Associació Micològica Joaquim Codina (text in Catalan)

Associació Micològica Joaquim Codina (text in Spanish)

Atlas des Champignons (text in French)

Ayuntamiento de Gavilanes (Ávila) (text in Spanish)

BANC D'IMATGES DE FONGS (text in Catalan)

Béa et les champignons (text in French)

Bentivenga, Stephen P. (text in English)

Benvenuti nella rete civica del Comune di TEULADA (text in Italian)

Bienvenu sur ma page perso.. (text in French)

Bolets de la Selve (text in Catalan)

Causses Cévennes - Terroirs et Nature de Sud Massif Central (text in French)

E.J.GALVEZ SL - CHAMPIÑÓN, SETAS, FRUTAS y VERDURAS (text in Spanish)

Els bolets més bons (text in Catalan)

Exposition champignons (text in French)

FUNGI DE LA RIOJA (ESPAÑA) (text in Spanish)

Funghi in Italia (text in Italian)

Fungi of New Mexico (text in English)(This photograph depicts the yellow form usually found in New Mexico)

GALERÍA FOTOGRÁFICA (text in Italian)

Genere Amanita

Gruppo Micologico G. Bresadola - I Funghi Nel Trentino (text in Italian)

Gruppo Micologico G. Bresadola - I Funghi Nel Trentino

Gruppo Naturalistico Modenese (text in Italian)

I funghi - I funghi che piacevano agli imperatori romani (text in Italian)

I funghi del Parco del Gargano (text in Italian)

I funghi della Lunigiana (text in Italian)

I funghi dell'Elenco Regionale (text in Italian)

I Funghi di Sassello

I FUNGHI ITALIANI (text in Italian)

I MANGERECCI

I miei Funghi (text in Italian)

I Prodotti del Sottobosco (text in Italian)

Il Mondo dei funghi (text in Italian)

in.gr - Manitaria (text in Greek)

inalto.com (text in Italian)

Istria on the Internet (text in English)

LA FLORA MICOLOGICA DELL'ETNA (text in Italian)

La Galería de Andoa - GALERÍA FOTOGRÁFICA (text in Spanish)

LA RACCOLTA DEI FUNGHI NEL VENETO - Mushroom Picking in Veneto (text in Italian)

La Web dels Bolets - El Bolet del Mes (text in Catalan)

Laboratori de Patologia Forestal - Dep. Producció Vegetal i Ciència Forestal - Universitat de Lleida

Le Amanite........sottogeneri (text in Italian)

LES MEILLEURS CHAMPIGNONS (text in French)

Lexicon - Pilze (text in German)

L'Ovolo Amanita caesarea - Uno dei funghi più pregiati... - La scheda di Pietro Curti, Esperto in micologia (text in Italian)

Lycaeum (text in English)

Mat' Kurja - A Guide to Virtual Slovenia

Missouri Mycological Society (MOMS)

Mushrooms in Greece (text in English)

Mushrooms in Greece

MykoWeb - The Amanita "caesarea" of the Chiricahua Mountains of Southeastern Arizona

MykoWeb - The Amanita "caesarea" of the Chiricahua Mountains of Southeastern Arizona (longitudinal section)

MycoWest (text in English)

NAMA 1998 Foray in the State of Tlaxcala, Mexico - specimen from Nanchititla State Park, State of Mexico, in 1994

Office National des Foréts (text in French)

Pilzgalerie (text in German)

Quelques champignons des Cévennes ... (text in French)

Setas (text in Spanish)

Setas de Andalucía (text in Spanish)

Site de la pharmacie du val d'Usiers - Les amanites

SOCIÉTÉ MYCOLOGIQUE DU FOREZ / Maison des Associations 4,rue André Malraux 42100 SAINT-ETIENNE (text in French)

Société Mycologique du Gatinais et des régions de la Loire

Svet Gob - World of Mushrooms (text in Slovenian)

Tachenon, Alain (text in French)

Tacoma Mushroom Collection (text in English)

The Wonderful World of Mushrooms (text in English)

Variedades de Setas en VALDEORAS, TRIVES E O BOLO 1976-2000

vicenzacity.com (text in Italian)

WEB page di Melli Matteo (text in Italian)

Drawings and Paintings:

Alberi Funghi e Frutti in Valtellina e Valchiavenna (text in Italian)

ANGELOTTI, PAOLA (text in Italian)

Bertelli

Comune di Rosignano Marittimo

CONOZCA LAS SETAS (text in Spanish)

Frédérick BLACHER HomePage - Petit guide des champignons (text in French)

Life Drawing Wildlife Clip Art by Zackery Zdinak

Lintver Valli del Natisone (scroll down)(text in Italian)

Panorama di Novi - Funghi (text in Italian)

Saveurs du Monde (text in French)

Postage Stamps:

Burkina Faso 07/10/1990

Cambodia 1985

Croatia 04/22/1998

Guinea-Bissau 01/01/1988

North Korea 02/27/1989

North Korea 1995

San Marino 06/15/1967

Eating Amanita caesarea:

The genus Amanita contains species responsible for most fatal mushroom poisonings.

Be absolutely sure of your identification before eating any Amanita. Your life depends on it.

Two species most often mistaken for Amanita caesarea with bad results are A. muscaria and A. phalloides. Both these species are toxic and eating either in anticipation of a good meal is unlikely to be a pleasant experience. Unless treated immediately anyone eating A. phalloides (the "Death Cap") stands an excellent chance of having it be one of their last meals. Anyone contemplating eating member of the Amanita genus should be thoroughly familiar not only with the identifying characteristics of the species they intend to eat but should be thoroughly familiar with all poisonous members of the genus as well (there are other poisonous species in this genus not listed here).

A. muscaria can easily be confused with A. caesarea because it appears in the full range of cap colors shown by A. caesarea (yellow to orange to brilliant red). A. muscaria usually has "warts" on the cap as shown in the picture below (A. caesarea does not have such warts), though they can wash off with heavy rain and are not always present on older specimens. A. muscaria always has white gills and stem; in A. caesarea both are always yellow. In the areas where I collect mushrooms A. muscaria is encountered only infrequently but when I have encountered it there were usually large numbers. One particularly rainy day I stopped by a hillside of mixed ponderosa and douglas fir and found hundreds of brilliant red muscaria just sprouting from the ground, seeming to almost grow as I watched. I noticed the squirrels were actively munching on them without any apparent hallucinogenic effect. A German woman I sometimes hunt mushrooms with was always interested in finding A. muscaria. Germans consider fliegenpilze to be a sign of good luck (I am not sure why). The fact that both the German fliegenpilze and the english "fly agaric" derive from the fact that flies that land on this mushroom and suck juices from it are immediately stunned might be a hint that you don't want to eat much of it. Anyway, a few days later I brought this woman back to the same place to show her the beautiful muscaria but the squirrels had eaten every one, even digging holes to unearth the buried buttons before they emerged. By contrast most times I have found A. caesarea there are no more than two or three in the area. Strangely, I have never seen a squirrel eating A. caesarea. Don't count on the squirrels to help you tell the good mushrooms from the bad.

A. phalloides is not particularly similar to A. caesarea except in sharing a basic Amanita structure, being an entirely different color in its most common form. It lacks yellow gills or stem and generally (though not always) has a greenish tint to the top portion of the cap. There is also a yellow form of A. phalloides, but this form also lacks the yellow gills and stem of A. caesarea. However, every year a few people make the mistake of eating it. It is often a mistake one only makes once. According to Guinness World Records this is the world's most poisonous fungi and causes 90% of all fatalities caused by fungi consumption. They further state less than 50g causes death up to 15 hours after eating. You can argue with Guinness if you want to about the precise figures, but you better not eat it intentionally or by mistake. Immediate treatment is crucial to survival but, since symptoms sometimes do not appear for up to 24 hours few who make the mistake of eating it seek treatment in a timely fashion. Fortunately A. phalloides is very rare or nonexistent in most of New Mexico and Arizona (though there are reports it is spreading into the area). It is extremely common in some other parts of the country.

*Amanita muscaria*	*Amanita phalloides*

Photograph by Brother Alfred Brousseau, St. Mary's College © 1999 Saint Mary's College of California	Photograph by Brother Alfred Brousseau, St. Mary's College © 1995 Saint Mary's College of California

Recipes on the Web:

Note:

Recipe links followed by "(1)" are all the same recipe from the same site (Delize Italiane) in various languages. The site may also have the recipe in Russian and Japanese, but I can't tell which recipe to link to in these languages.

Dutch: