Yes, all their pictures are distinctly brown; moreover, there are brown zones in some pictures that they call umbrinolutea as well as in pictures they call battarrae. Problems.
However, they got to the point of knowing that the names were described originally with different colors. The problem is that Boudier includes Battarra’s description by reference, but ALSO says the dark zones are “fauve.” In other words, Boudier confused taxa with umbrinous zones with taxa with gray zones. Boudier started the whole species’ history with confusion.
I think that Neville and Poumarat (by selecting the Battarra plate as a lectotype) have given us a break. That plate (with its associated description) depicts a gray-capped amanita. NOT an umbrinous-zoned amanita. We have a basis for building two separable species concepts…if the real world of fungi will allow us to do that. Right now, we don’t know enough about variability (for example, variability of colors); but we can start with the hypothesis of a gray-zoned extreme and an umber-zoned extreme; and we can test that hypothesis. Then we go where the data leads us.
I said this in a less succinct manner in a post the other day. We need to accept two names in this case because we can’t ignore the plausible hypothesis that color difference may lead us to discover anatomical difference(s).
See my most recent email (not posted).
Very best,
Rod
