Portal:Fungi/Selected species/2

Amanita abrupta, commonly known as the abrupt-bulbed lepidella, is a species of fungus in the mushroom family Amanitaceae. Named for the characteristic shape of its fruit bodies, this white Amanita has a slender stem, a cap covered with conical white warts, and an "abruptly enlarged" swollen base. This terrestrial species grows in mixed woods in eastern North America and eastern Asia, where it is thought to exist in a mycorrhizal relationship with a variety of both coniferous and deciduous tree species.

The fruit bodies of Amanita abrupta are poisonous, and ingestion damages the liver; the toxicity is thought to be largely due to a rare amino acid. Although not considered as toxic as its infamous relatives the death cap and the destroying angel, A. abrupta is blamed for the deaths of two Japanese women in 1978. Poisoning symptoms included the abrupt appearance of violent vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration after a delay of 10–20 hours.