(Fungi)+Eastern+North+American+Destroying+Angel

=Eastern North American Destroying Angel, //Amanita bisporigera//=


 * Kingdom || Fungi ||
 * Phylum || Basidiomycota ||
 * Class || Agaricomycetes ||
 * Order || Argaricales ||
 * Family || Amanitaceae ||
 * Genus || Amanita ||
 * Species || //Amanita bisporigera// ||

Phylum: Basidiomycota
The phylum Basidiomycota includes jelly, shelf (or bracket) fungi, mushrooms, puffballs, stinkhorns, rusts, and smuts. These species have a club-shaped, spore-bearing organ called the basidium, which usually produces four sexual spores (basidiospores). The basidia are then borne on fruiting bodies called basidiocarps.

//Amanita bisporigera//
The common name of "destroying angel" actually belongs to three different species ; Amanita bisporigera, Amanita virosa, and Amanita verna. However, the full common name of "eastern North American destroying angel," which this article will discuss, is the //Amanita bisporigera//. The species of mushroom is relatively nondescript. It is pure white, with gills free from the stalk; it possess a ring (annulus) around the stalk; a cup (volva) at the base; and will almost certainly kill you if ingested, unless you manage to get a liver transplant in less than a week prior to your death. Like many other fungi, it has a mycorrhizal, or symbiotic/mutualistic, association with a host tree; usually hardwoods or conifers. This feature is common to all of the Amanita genus.

Morphological and Physiological Features
The //A. bisporigera// does not possess any truly conspicuous morphological feature, besides perhaps that it is pure white. Its basidia produces two spores, and it is relatively more slender and delicate than the other two destroying angels. It possesses a pleasant smell in its youth, but as the mushroom matures, it becomes "sickeningly sweet." Its cap is 25-100mm wide, and the stem is 55-140mm tall with a width of 5-20mm. However, it ultimately comes off as a relatively inconspicuous mushroom, that may even appear to be edible.

Hoewver, it is not edible, and the toxin within the eastern North American destroying angel will kill you. The //A. bisporigera// will turn yellow when a 10% solution of potassium hydroxide (KOH) is applied to it; this chemical reaction means the mushroom tests positive for containing amatoxins. The toxin, specifically, is a small protein made of 8 amino acids; it is a cyclopeptide called alpha-amanitin. It works by attacking RNA polymerase, an enzyme in the liver. The mushroom is lethal when ingested; symptoms of violent cramps and diarrhea appear 6-12 hours after ingestion. By the 3rd day, there is a false remission of symptoms. By the 4th to 5th day after ingestion, the kidneys and liver will start failing. The central nervous system will also be affected prior to death.

Strangely enough, stories about its taste (coming from those who have eaten it - and died) suggest that is has a good taste. Thus, it is clear that even lethal foods can make for a delicious meal (that will still kill you).



An //Amanita bisporigera// exhibiting the yellow positive-test result after having a potassium hydroxide solution applied to it.

Range
The range of this destroying angel is very extensive. It has been found in the boreal forests of Newfoundland, all the way down to the pine-oak forests of Texas. It may have also been exported to pine plantations in Colombia.