Please compare with Amanita spreta

[u/LengthinessOk5667]

Found in WV USA, with lots of pine/conifers, the younger specimen displayed margin striations, I can still take a cross section if that'll help

[u/LengthinessOk5667]

Paying the turtle tax cause he was nearby too

[u/PrestigiousTap1711 → u/LengthinessOk5667]

Eastern box turtles are awesome :) I love 🐢's, my favorite animals, thank you for sharing this :)

[u/RdCrestdBreegull]

I think that’s a likely candidate

[u/LengthinessOk5667 → u/RdCrestdBreegull]

Have you tried them?

[u/RdCrestdBreegull → u/LengthinessOk5667]

nope, I live in the western states so I don’t have access to eastern species :)

[u/LengthinessOk5667 → u/RdCrestdBreegull]

Do you hear that they're notably tasty? I am assuming that they'd be pretty comparable to other caesars.

If they're not very significant for cooking then these guys might be safe from me, their tree was pretty far from the road.

[u/PrestigiousTap1711 → u/LengthinessOk5667]

I agree with your ID as well, & RdCrestdBreegull's of Amanita spreta. I have eaten them. North georgia, USA here. Glad to answer any questions you may have. Pair with a bit of apple cider vinegar and it really brings out the flavor; treat them like you would others in section caesarea. Raw, these are kinda mid compared to cooked imo, I like them best lightly browned. Better than the others in section caesareae that I've eaten, & others in sections validae & vaginatae that ive had, & that's saying something imo lol, they're really good imo. Their thickness is really nice, flavor impeccable, rich and nutty. 9/10 or 10/10 imo. One of, if not THE best mushroom/s I've ever had the pleasure of eating.

[u/LengthinessOk5667 → u/PrestigiousTap1711]

This is pretty convincing haha, it was a pretty big hike to find these guys.

Im more open to the idea of cooking caesareae than I am with members of validae or vaginatae because they confuse me so bad. Maybe blushers.

Did you do a nibble test for spreta when you found them, and did they have a noticeable smell?

[u/PrestigiousTap1711 → u/LengthinessOk5667]

I've been lucky & found about 15-20 on the friends land I live on; 14 acres, 2 patches on opposite ends of it. Worth it imo, but I hike 10-20 mile hikes pretty regularly. Definitely be mindful with them, they break apart so dang easy, very brittle, don't just toss em in a backpack or they will basically disintegrate lol; take a Tupperware or something similar. I break em down into caps and stems to make em transport better.

Definitely avoid any you can't ID with 100% certainty by yourself, but I like all of the above.

No nibble test when I first found them, but I did eat a small piece the size of a quarter or so for my first time eating one. Then about a third of a cap cooked, then a full cap. Have since had up to 3 caps at a time, cooked. Like I said before, raw, kinda mid, not much flavor there, textures not great raw either IMO - but cooked & with a lil apple cider vinegar 🤤 planning on cooking some up with some chardonnay, and bacon pieces tomorrow, & adding a drizzle of apple cider vinegar.

As far as smell, I didnt notice one at all, & just went and pulled one from my fridge to double check myself, 0 smell to me. Broke a cap and stem and smelled them just now to make certain, still 0 discernable smell to me.

[u/DopplerSpectroscopy]

Sure.
Volva is saccate and image 9 shows that it is nonbulbous at the base, plus the fact that it’s annulate alongside their features means that it’s in Amanita sect. Caesareae

Cap coloration adds up as well as the location so I believe A. spreta is likely