The European white egg ( Amanita ovoidea), bearded amanita or European egg amidella, is a species of fungus of the genus Amanita in the family Amanitaceae. It is a large, white-colored fungus, often tinged with cream. Native to Europe, it is found on plains as well as mountains in the Mediterranean region. It is similar to some deadly poisonous species.
Taxonomy
The species was first described in 1833 by
Pierre Bulliard, a French physician and botanist, and Lucien Quélet, a French mycologist and naturalist.
Description
The mushroom is white to cream-coloured and can reach very large sizes, over , or in exceptional cases over 30 cm. The cap is smooth, fleshy, silky, hemispherical when young, but soon becoming convex to shield shaped. The cap margin is usually covered with hanging, cottony remains of the
partial veil. The lamellae are thick, rounded, broad and are free from the stipe. The stipe is thick, cylindrical, powdery, has a fragile, cottony ring, and a large, white to ochraceous-cream volva at the base. The flesh is thick, white and has a strong, unpleasant smell. The
spore print is white, and the elliptical
basidiospore measure 10–12 × 6.5–8 μm.
[Galli R. 2007. Le Amanite 2nd Edition. Edinatura.][Neville P, Poumarat S. 2004. Fungi Europaei 9: Amanitae. Edizioni Candusso, Italia.]
Similar species
Amanita proxima, a poisonous species containing allenic norleucine, is very similar to
A. ovoidea. It is separated by the deep ochraceous to russet-orange colour of its volva, the persistent pendulous ring on the stipe, and the smooth cap margin, without vellar remains.
A. proxima is found in the same habitats as
A. ovoidea, and can cause cytolytic
hepatitis and acute renal failure.
[Ducros J, Labastie J and Saingra S. (1995). Una observation supplementaire d’intoxication par Amanita proxima a l’origine d’insuffisance renale aigue. Nephrologie, 16: 341.]
It is also similar to all-white, deadly poisonous Amanita species such as Amanita virosa and Amanita verna.
Distribution and habitat
Native to
Europe, it is found on plains as well as mountains in the
Mediterranean region.
Amanita ovoidea is a symbiotic fungus, forming associations with pine trees, as well as evergreen and deciduous .
Conservation
In Bulgaria, the species is in danger due to
habitat loss caused by selective logging, human settlements and natural causes like acid rain and
soil pollution.
Edibility
The edibility of
Amanita ovoidea is dubious. In the past, the fungus has been reported as "edible" in some books and "poisonous" in others.
Moreover, it can easily be confused with other all-white, deadly poisonous
Amanita species, such as
A. virosa,
A. verna and, in particular,
A. proxima.
In southern
France, some people were inflicted with acute kidney injury because they accidentally consumed
A. proxima, mistaking it for
A. ovoidea.
[de Haro L, Jouglard J, Arditti J, David JM. (1998). Acute renal insufficiency caused by Amanita proxima poisoning: experience of the Poison Center of Marseille. Nephrologie (19): 21–4.][Leray H, Canaud B, Andary C, Klouche K, Béraud JJ and Mion C. (1994). Intoxication par Amanita proxima. Néphrologie 15: 197-199.] Similar cases of poisoning have also been reported from
Cyprus.
[Loizides M., Kyriakou T., Tziakouris A. (2011). Edible & Toxic Fungi of Cyprus. 1st Edition, 304 p. ][Loizides M, Bellanger JM, Yiangou Y, Moreau PA. (2018). Preliminary phylogenetic investigations into the genus Amanita (Agaricales) in Cyprus, with a review of previous records and poisoning incidents. Documents Mycologiques 37, 201–218.]
A 2008 study on the minerals in fungi from northwest Turkey, including this species, concluded that A. ovoidea was safe to eat and could fulfill nutritional needs.
See also
External links
