A small red to orange Amanita with scattered whitish warts, a strongly lined margin, pale yellow gills and a powdery yellowish stem that has no ring. Its volva is reduced to powdery remnants that usually stay in the soil. It is common in lawns, parks and roadside grass under oaks in the eastern and southeastern United States.
Edibility unknown; do not eat. It is often mistaken for Amanita muscaria (ibotenic acid/muscimol), which is stockier, has a ring and concentric scaly zones on the bulb. From a distance it can resemble members of section Caesareae such as A. jacksonii, which has a yellow-orange ring and a white sack-like volva; never eat a red Amanita on the basis of a Caesar's-mushroom identification without checking ring and volva.
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Habitat
Ectomycorrhizal with oaks, sometimes reported under pines in mixed woods. Alone or in groups, often in grassy disturbed places (lawns, picnic areas, ditches, roadbanks) as well as woods. Spring through fall.
Distribution
Eastern and southeastern United States, from New Jersey south to Florida and west to Texas; also reported from Pennsylvania and Illinois.
Characteristics
Cap: 3-7 cm, convex becoming flat or shallowly depressed; sticky when fresh; red to orange, fading from the margin inward; scattered whitish warts; margin becoming strongly lined. Gills: free or nearly so, close, cream to pale yellow, dusted. Stem: 4-12 cm long, up to about 1.5 cm thick, tapering slightly upward, base slightly swollen; pale yellow and powdery; no ring. Volva: powdery, indistinct whitish to yellow remnants on the base, often left in the soil. Flesh: pale yellow, not changing; odor not distinctive. Chemical reactions: KOH turns red and orange cap pigments yellow. Spore print: white. Spores: 8-10 x 6-8 um, ellipsoid, smooth, inamyloid.
