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First Record of Amanita muscaria in Western Australia

January 2010

Authors:

Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions

Amanita muscaria is a Northern Hemisphere mycorrhizal fungus that has become well established in eastern Australia; associated with amenity plantings of exotic conifers and hardwoods and also pine plantations. In regions of Tasmania and Victoria, A. muscaria has also been recorded in temperate rainforest dominated by Nothofagus cunninghamii. However, A. muscaria has not previously been reported from Western Australia; this paper confirms the first record. Records of its association with eucalypts in eastern Australia and other regions of the world are briefly reviewed and discussed with respect to the possibility of it spreading to eucalypt forests in the south-west.

Sporophores of Amanita muscaria from Manjimup Western Australia.

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Basidia (left) and spores (right) from the Manjimup collection of Amanita muscaria. Scale bar = 10 μm (drawn by K. Syme).

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Figures - uploaded by Richard Robinson

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Content uploaded by Richard Robinson

Content may be subject to copyright.

First Record of Amanita muscaria in Western Australia

Richard Robinson

Science Division, Department of Environment and Conservation, Locked Bag 2, Manjimup, WA 6258. Email richard.robinson@dec.wa.gov.au.

Abstract

Amanita muscaria is a Northern Hemisphere mycorrhizal fungus that has become well established in

eastern Australia; associated with amenity plantings of exotic conifers and hardwoods and also pine

plantations. In regions of Tasmania and Victoria, A. muscaria has also been recorded in temperate

rainforest dominated by Nothofagus cunninghamii. However, A. muscaria has not previously been

reported from Western Australia; this paper conrms the rst record. Records of its association with

eucalypts in eastern Australia and other regions of the world are briey reviewed and discussed with

respect to the possibility of it spreading to eucalypt forests in the south-west.

Key words: Ectomycorrhiza, Amanita muscaria, Western Australia, plant host associations.

Introduction

Amanita muscaria occurs naturally in the Northern

Hemisphere as a mycorrhizal fungus associated with

various conifers and hardwoods including pine, chestnut

and birch. Following the establishment of the Pinus

radiata plantation industry in Australia, A. muscaria

has also become common in pine plantations and

under exotic plantings of both conifer and hardwood

trees in eastern Australia (see Grey & Grey 2005). In

the early 1990s, A. muscaria, along with the northern

hemisphere bolete Chalciporus piperatus, was found to

be invading myrtle (Nothofagus cunninghamii) forest in

northwestern Tasmania (Fuhrer & Robinson 1992). It has

since been collected in temperate rainforest at several

locations in Victoria (B. Fuhrer pers. comm.; T. May pers.

comm.; Dunk 2002), and in mixed wet sclerophyll forest

in southern Tasmania (D. Ratkowsky pers. comm.)

and there is concern that it may become established

and compete with or replace native mycorrhizal fungi

associated with N. cunninghamii trees.

A. muscaria has also become established in New

Zealand. It has a wide distribution within pine and

Douglas-r plantations and under ornamental plantings

of Nothofagus spp., Betula pendula, Fagus silvatica and

Quercus robur trees in both the North and South Islands

(Ridley 1991). In the early 1960s it was reported fruiting

in natural Nothofagus forest in the Nelson district of the

South Island (Stevenson 1962) and more recently it was

shown to have a much broader range within Nothofagus

forests; being reported throughout the northern half of

the South Island and within the central region of the

North Island (Johnson & Buchannan 1998).

Fig. 1 Sporophores of Amanita muscaria from Manjimup Western Australia.

Australasian Mycologist (2010) 29, 4–6

Conversely, in other regions of the world, including New

Zealand, Spain and Portugal, A. muscaria has been

found associated with exotic plantings of eucalypts

(Ridley 1991: Castro 1998 and others cited in May &

Wood 1997).

Despite being common in eastern Australia A. muscaria

has not previously been recorded in Western Australia

(WA). Trial plantings of Pinus radiata began in the late

1890s in WA and the plantation industry became well

established during the 1950s (Forests Department 1969).

The most common mycorrhizal species associated with

P. radiata trees in WA include Rhizopogon luteus, R,

roseus, Suillus luteus and S. granulosus (Kessell 1927;

Bougher & Syme 1998, Dunstan et al. 1998). In June

2009, six sporophores of A. muscaria were found in a

rural garden in the southwestern town of Manjimup,

under a birch (B. pendula) tree.

Materials and methods

Sporophores were photographed in situ, and a collection

consisting of four specimens was brought back to the

laboratory for formal identication. Morphological details

of the fresh specimens were compared with descriptions

published for both Australian (Grgurinovic 1997) and New

Zealand (Ridley 1991) collections of A. muscaria. The

sporophores were then air dried at 35º C and processed

for lodging at the Western Australian Herbarium (PERTH).

Microscopic examination of dried material was undertaken

using bright eld microscopy.

Results

Macroscopic and microscopic details of the Manjimup

collection of A. muscaria agree with descriptions by

Grgrinovic (1997) for South Australian collections held

in the State Herbarium in Adelaide (AD) and Ridley

(1991) for New Zealand collections held at Auckland

(PDD). The cap is 55–95 mm diameter, orange-red,

fading to yellow at the margin with creamy-white wart-

like universal veil fragments on the surface, the gills

are creamy-white, and the stipe is white with a torn

membranous veil and a bulbous tapering base (Fig.

1). The spores are short ellipsoid, inamyloid, hylaine,

8–10.5 × 7–9.5 μm; basidia are 4-spored, clavate,

46–55 × 10–12 μm and there are occasional clamp

connections (Fig. 2). All macrosopic and microscopic

characters are typical for A. muscaria.

Collection details. Western Australia: Manjimup.

Under Betula pendula, 3 June 2009, B. & J. Markotis

(RR1104WA, PERTH 06672345)

Discussion

A. muscaria is a well known conspicuous fungus.

Although it is a Fungimap target species (Grey & Grey

2005) and WA has an active community-based fungal

studies group this is the rst record of A. muscaria in

WA. Pine plantations in WA were established using

seed and in the 1920s P. radiata seedlings were actively

inoculated with R. luteolus using spores and soil from

established nurseries (Kessell 1927; Kessell & Stoat

1938). It is not clear how R. luteolus became established

in nurseries, but possibly through the introduction of

spores with seed (Kessell 1927). A. muscaria has not

been actively used to inoculate trees in WA, unlike

plantations in eastern Australia (Sawyer 2001).

The garden in which the sporophores were found was

established about 1996 and is isolated within cleared

farm land surrounded by lawn and a gravel driveway.

There are three ornamental trees in the garden; a birch

(B. pendula), a crab apple (Malus sp.) and a golden ash

(Fraxinus excelsior ‘Aurea’). The trees were purchased

in Balingup, a town approximately 60 km northwest of

Manjimup. The birch tree is the most likely host. The

owners of the property rst noticed a single sporophore

in 2008, and in June 2009 about 12 sporophores

developed over a 2–3 week period (B. Markotis pers.

comm.).

Although the garden is isolated, future occurrence of

sporophores will need to be monitored and the risk

of spread into P. radiata plantations, neighbouring

ornamental plantings or native forest will need to be

assessed. In southeastern Australia, N. cunninghamii

appears to be the main native species at risk to

hosting A. muscaria. Dunk (2002) conrmed from

Fig. 2 Basidia (left) and spores (right) from the Manjimup

collection of Amanita muscaria. Scale bar = 10 μm (drawn by

K. Syme).

Australasian Mycologist (2010) 29, 4–6

morphological and molecular observations that A.

muscaria ectomycorrhizas were present on roots of

N. cunninghamii in Victoria. Many species of native

ectomycorrhizal fungi are known to associate with N.

cunninghamii (Dunk 2002; Tedersoo et al. 2009). It is

likely that the presence of the exotic Amanita reduces

the diversity of native ectomycorrhizal fungi on N.

cunninghamiis roots (Dunk 2002).

Nothofagus does not occur in WA but in glasshouse

experiments A. muscaria was shown to be capable of

forming ectomycorrhiza on several eucalypts, including

Eucalyptus diversicolor, E. marginata and Corymbia

calophylla, which are endemic to the south west of WA,

and on the eastern Australian E. regnans (Malajczuk

et al. 1982, 1984). The inoculation of these eucalypts

with A. muscaria took place under sterile conditions in

the laboratory. The proportion of short roots colonised

for the western species was relatively low at 0–29%.

In contrast 70–100% of the short roots of E. regnans

seedlings were colonized by A. muscaria (Malajczuk

et al. 1982). It is yet to be conrmed if mycorrhizal

formation would occur naturally on these species in

native eucalypt forest.

In Australia, whenever Amanita muscaria is found under

Eucalyptus, there are almost always exotic hosts in the

vicinity. In Tasmania A. muscaria has been recorded

from both wet and dry sclerophyll forest (Ratkowsky

& Gates 2002, 2005) but it was always associated with

P. radiata wildings or within mixed forest with rainforest

elements (D. Ratkowsky pers. comm.). However,

several recent reports submitted to Fungimap are of

A. muscaria fruiting in Eucalyptus plantations with no

exotic hosts nearby (T. May pers. comm.). Occurrence

of Amanita muscaria on planted eucalypts in eld

conditions needs to be conrmed by examination of

ectomycorrhizas. In New Zealand A. muscaria is found

associated with ornamental plantings of E. cifolia and

E. pauciora (Ridley 1991). E. cifolia is also endemic to

the south-west of WA and is widely planted throughout

southern Australian cities and towns.

Birch is a common ornamental tree in the Manjimup

region, Paxillus involutus, and an unidentied

Scleroderma, which fruit abundantly in early- to mid-

autumn, appear to be the most common fungal

associates (pers. obs.). The present situation requires

a range of surveys to be undertaken to conrm that A.

muscaria is not established elsewhere within the south-

west. Meanwhile, to reduce the potential of spread, the

owners of the property have been advised to destroy

any sporophores that may develop in the future, before

they reach maturity. It is also recommended that the

horticulture and nursery industry be alerted to the

potential spread of this fungus in Western Australia.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to B. Markotis for realizing the signicance

of her nd and J. Dearle for bringing my attention to it.

T. May, T. Lebel and an anonymous referee provided

valuable comment on an earlier draft of the manuscript.

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Article

Sep 1998

Although pines have been established in plantations in Western Australia for over 100 years, knowledge of the ectomycorrhizal fungal flora is incomplete, or lies in unpublished reports. A survey of ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with Pinus spp. was conducted throughout south-western Australia. Compared with other regions in the Southern Hemisphere where pines have been introduced, the ectomycorrhizal flora of pines in Western Australia is particularly depauperate, with only nine species of fungi identified from sporocarps and a further two taxa identified from mycorrhizas. Species identified from sporocarps (Hebeloma crustuliniforme, Lactarius deliciosus, Paxillus involutus, Rhizopogon luteolus, R. roseolus, R. vulgaris, Suillus luteus, S. granulatus, Thelephora terrestris) and Cenococcum geophilum are a subset of a larger pine mycorrhizal flora found in eastern Australia, and 8 of the 10 identified species are common to all regions in the Southern Hemisphere where pines have been introduced. These fungi are typically associated with trees, including pines, in the Northern Hemisphere and, apart from Cenococcum geophilum and T. terrestris, are not associated with indigenous vegetation in Western Australia. The mycorrhizal flora colonising roots in a plantation of Pinus radiata D. Don was also investigated, and compared with species identified as present by above-ground sporocarp production. Potential reasons for the limited ectomycorrhizal flora of pines in Western Australia are discussed.

The dependence of certain pine species on a biological soil factor

70-74

Kessell

Kessell SL 1927. The dependence of certain pine species on a biological soil factor. Empire Forestry Journal 6, 70-74.

Rainforest Fungi of South-east Australia. CSIRO, Melbourne and the Forestry Commission, Tasmania. 95 pp. Grgurinovic CA 1997. Larger Fungi of South Australia. The Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and State Herbarium

Jan 1992

Fuhrer
Robinson R Ba

Fuhrer BA, Robinson R M 1992. Rainforest Fungi of South-east Australia. CSIRO, Melbourne and the Forestry Commission, Tasmania. 95 pp. Grgurinovic CA 1997. Larger Fungi of South Australia. The Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and State Herbarium. 725 pp.