A small, slender, ringless gray-brown Amanita whose cap and stem are dusted with a fine powder that rubs or washes off easily. It has a strongly lined cap margin and a slight, powdery basal bulb but no sack-like volva. Once the powder is gone it can resemble a small gray Russula.
Edibility unknown; reported as poisonous in some sources. Do not eat. Small gray Amanitas can be confused with other members of the genus, including deadly amatoxin-containing species, and with grisettes.
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Ectomycorrhizal with hardwoods or conifers. Alone, scattered or in groups, sometimes in grassy urban areas near trees. Early spring to late fall.
Distribution
Eastern North America east of the Rocky Mountains, from Quebec south through Central America to Costa Rica. A larger West Coast mushroom described under this name (A. farinosa sensu Thiers) is probably an undescribed separate species.
Characteristics
Cap: 2.5-6.5 cm, convex to nearly flat; dry; brownish gray to nearly whitish, covered with fine powder that rubs off, sometimes with a few scattered warts; margin prominently lined. Gills: free or slightly attached, close, whitish, with few short gills. Stem: 3-9 cm long, 3-10 mm thick, nearly equal above a slight, often powdery basal bulb; whitish; no ring; solid becoming partly hollow. Volva: none beyond powdery remnants on the bulb. Flesh: white, not staining; odor not distinctive. Spore print: white. Spores: 5-8 x 5-6 um, smooth, inamyloid.
