New Report of Amanita Species (amanitaceae, Agaricales) From Northern Nigeria

Three species of Amanita Pers. (gilled-mushrooms) in the order Agaricales were collected and described using morphological characteristics. Their taxonomic status was confirmed using keys proposed by Arora and Kerrigan. These were identified as Amanita muscaria var. alba Hook, Amanita novinupta Tulloss & J. Lindgr and Amanita rubescens (Pers. Ex Fr.) Gray. Although the species showed diverse fruiting body morphologies; however, they shared common characteristics such as divergent gill trama, inamyloid spore and lance-shaped cystidia. This study represents new records of Amanita from northern Nigeria. The original samples are kept in the Fungal Collection Centre in the Department of Botany, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria.