Amanita REFERENCES NOVEMBER 2017, NO 1 Amanita sp. Habitat and distribution Amanita vaginata is a terrestrial mushroom, which is usually found solitary to gregarious. More- over, in Kanglung region, it is usually found on land surface having decaying leaves (fertile soil, rich in manure). Specimen was collected on 29 October 2017 at 11:30 am. — Ashika Dhimal, B.Sc. Life Sciences General characteristics The cap is grey or brown in color and slightly paler towards the mar- gin. It is smooth and slightly sticky when moist with a diameter of 5- 10 cm, ovoid at first and expand- ing to almost flat with a low umbo and a distinctly grooved margin [1]. It has free gills which are arranged closely and are white to creamy in color. The stem is 5-10 cm long, slen- der, hollow and tapering towards the apex having white tinge with orange brown and very fine white hairs. The stem neither has ring nor basal bulb unlike other Amanita species (www.mushroomexpert.com/ amanita_vaginata.html). . Key characteristics Amanita vaginata lacks a ring on the stem unlike many other Amanita mushrooms. It is edible but should not be mistaken with other Amanita species. Amanita belongs to Amanitaceae family of Basidiomycetes . . . References [1] Penjor D. Mata, M. and S. Pradhan. Fungi of Bhutan. Ministry of Agriculture and Forest; National mushroom center., 2010 edition. [2] CJ Alexopoulos, CW Mims, and M Blackwell. Phylum oomycota. Introductory mycology, 4:683–737, 1996. Macrofungi m Sherubtse College T +(975) 17624985 B Bimal K Chetri Page 1