Amanita bisporigera, commonly known as Eastern destroying angel or Death Angel is the most widely distributed and commonly encountered "destroying angel" of eastern North America. Like other members of the species group, it features stark white colours and a prominent sack around the base of the stem, along with a bald cap that almost always lacks patches or warts. It grows mainly in mixed coniferous and deciduous forests.

Cap egg-shaped to convex to somewhat flattened. Surface smooth and white, sometimes with a pale tan- or cream-coloured tint in the center. The surface is either dry or slightly sticky when the environment is moist. The flesh is thin and white, and does not change colour when bruised. The margin of the cap is rolled inwards in young specimens. Gills white and crowded closely together. They are either free from attachment to the stipe or just barely reach it. Stem thick, solid and tapers slightly upward. The surface, in young specimens especially, is frequently fibrillose (covered with small slender fibers), or squamulose (covered with small scales). The bulb at the base of the stipe is spherical or nearly so. The delicate ring on the upper part of the stipe is a remnant of the partial veil that extends from the cap margin to the stalk and covers the gills during development. It is white, thin, membranous, and hangs like a skirt. Spore print white.

Microscopic Features: The spores measure 7-10 µm in length and 6-9 µm in width. They have a smooth surface and are globose to subglobose or very broadly ellipsoid in shape. Additionally, they exhibit amyloid staining.

Amanita bisporigera on the MushroomExpert.Com Web site.
Amanita bisporigera on the NC State Partners Web site.

The first and third photo is by Huafang and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.