The name A. rubescens regularly applied to this species until it was recognized as a distinct species.

This is the name for a white species of Amanita that bruises reddish. It ranges from southern California to British Columbia and east into Idaho, New Mexico, and Arizona. It is distinguished anatomically, by lack of pigment (meaning it’s white in all stages where it isn’t brused), by the form of the universal patches on the pileus and several other features from A. rubescens Pers. of Europe. It was published in Mycotaxon 51: 181. 1994.

Literature with relevant species:

Arora, D. 1986. Mushrooms Demystified, 2nd Edition. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, California. 959 pp. Discusses this species as Amanita rubescens but mentions that what we find on the west coast may be prove to be a distinct species.

Jenkins, D.T. 1986. Amanita of North America. Mad River Press, Eureka, CA. This text includes both Amanita rubescens var. rubescens (Pers.) S.F. Gray and Amanita rubescens var. alba Coker. Under the comments for the latter he says “There is an organism which grows on the west coast of the U.S. which is referred to as the “white form” of A. rubescens. It has a more stocky appearance than the eastern form, but also bruises reddish where injured. More specimens need to be studied before any correlation can be attempted between both of these white forms.”

Lincoff, G.H. 1981. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. Mentions Amanita rubescens (Pers.) S.F. Gray as occuring in California.

Phillips, R. 1991. Mushrooms of North America. Little, Brown and Company, Bostan, MA. Mentions Amanita rubescens (Pers.) S.F. Gray as occuring in California.

Thiers, H.D. 1982. The Agaricales (Gilled Fungi) of California. I. Amanitaceae. Mad River Press. Eureka, CA. This text lists Amanita rubescens (Fr.) S.F. Gray and makes no mention that it may be distinct from what is found in either Europe or the eastern U.S.

Web references:

The CABI biosciences FunIndex (http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=362224, Aug. 31, 2007) lists Amanita novinupta Tulloss & Lindgren.

MykoWeb (http://www.mykoweb.com/CAF/species/Amanita_novinupta.html, Aug. 31, 2007) lists Amanita novinupta Tulloss & Lindgren (Mycotaxon 51: 181. 1994).