AMANITA CAESAREA (Caesar's mushroom)

Cap ovoid or hemispheric, then convex, finally expanded and sometimes somewhat depressed, 8-18 cm; margin striated by light grooves in the direction of the gills; color orange or red orange; rarely yellow, tending to orange or faded yellow; cuticle usually without remains of the universal veil, smooth, shining, somewhat viscid in humid weather, easily separable from the cap. Stem cylindric, thick, slightly bulbous at the base; yellow, stuffed at first, then soon hollow. Ring large, pendulous, kiltlike; yellow; sometimes striate from the top down. Volva large, white, lobate, free from the base and enwrapping it. Flesh firm, white, yellow under the cuticle of the cap. Odor light and delicate. Flavor pleasant. Gills close, broad, free from the stem, yellow. Intermediate gills with posterior end truncate, almost at right angles: this characteristic is found in several species of Amanita. Spores white, tending to yellowish. It grows in wood clearings, preferring chestnut and oak woods of warm and warm temperate regions; in Central America and in Japan it is found, somewhat smaller, under pines in the mountains. Edible, excellent either cooked or raw, in salads; it can be preserved in oil or exsiccated.

Similar to Amanita caesarea is the Amanita calyptroderma: edible, cap 10-30 cm, orange or yellow, covered by one or two large, white pieces of the universal veil; large, white volva; stem squat, cream color, as are the ring and the gills; grows in North America, in autumn, under oaks and conifers.