| Amanita zambiana | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Agaricales |
| Family: | Amanitaceae |
| Genus: | Amanita |
| Species: | A. zambiana |
| Binomial name | |
| Amanita zambiana Pegler & Piearce (1980) | |
| Amanita zambiana | |
|---|---|
| Mycological characteristics | |
 | Gills onhymenium |
  | Cap is convex or flat |
 | Hymenium is free |
 | Stipe has aring andvolva |
 | Spore print is white |
 | Ecology ismycorrhizal |
  | Edibility isedible butnot recommended |
Amanita zambiana, commonly known as theZambian slender Caesar, is abasidiomycete fungus in the genusAmanita. Anedible mushroom, it is found in Africa, where it is commonly sold in markets.
The species was firstdescribed scientifically by British mycologistsDavid Pegler and Graham Piearce fromZambia in 1980 in an account of popularedible mushrooms of Zambia.[1] Piearce had published an illustration of the species three years earlier, but without a description.[2] Thetype specimen was purchased on the roadside betweenKitwe andNdola in January, 1975. It isclassified in thesectionVaginatae.[1] French mycologist Bart Buyck has suggested that the species described by Beeli in 1936[3] asAmanita loosii from Zaire may represent an earlier name for the species;[4] this opinion was corroborated later by Walleyn and Verbeken in their survey ofAmanita in sub-Saharan Africa.[5]
Thecap attains a diameter of 10 to 20 centimetres (4 to 8 inches). It is initially spherical to egg-shaped and uniformlyolivaceous brown in color, but later becomes flattened and uniformly white from the center. The sticky cap surface is smooth and shiny, and does not retain any fragments of thepartial veil; the cap margin has fine radial grooves.Gills are free from attachment to thestem, white, and up to 1.5 cm (1⁄2 in) broad (measuring from the top to the bottom of the gill). Crowded closely together, they are interspersed with three tiers of lamellulae (short gills that do not extend fully from the cap margin to the stem). The gill edges are finely notched and have a woolly appearance.
The stem is 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 in) long by1.5 to 2 cm (1⁄2 to3⁄4 in) thick, cylindrical, stout, and hollow. Its surface is whitish,fibrillose, and ringed. An ample membrane-likering is finely grooved and attached to the upper part of the stem. At the base of the stem lies a broad sac-likevolva, which has dimensions of 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in) by3 to 5 cm (1+1⁄4 to 2 in). Initially black-brown in color, the outer layer of the volva eventually breaks up into large warts. The soft capflesh is up to1.5 cm (1⁄2 in) thick in the center, white, and does not change color when cut. Thespores are 9–13 by 8–10.5 μm, roughly spherical to broadly egg-shaped,hyaline (translucent),inamyloid, thin-walled, and usually contain a single oil drop.[6]
Like allAmanita species,A. zambiana ismycorrhizal. It typically associates with trees in the genusBrachystegia. Fruit bodies are often found in small groups at the side of gravel roads. Itsdistribution includes Zimbabwe,[7] Zambia,Malawi, and southernTanzania. In Zambia, it is known locally astente in theBemba language, orndelema inKaonde andNyanja. It is also known as theChristmas mushroom, as it is most abundant around December and early January.[1] A popular edible,[8] it contributes significantly to Zimbabwean householdfood security when it is in season.[9] It is widely marketed at roadside stalls and markets, but only the cap is sold. Occasionally, the mushroom is dried for storage, but only after first boiling it and draining the water.[6] According to a 2002 publication, the average price paid to mushroom harvesters in Zambia was about US$3 per kg.[7]
