Amanita franchetii is a species of fungus

Fungus

A fungus is a member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds , as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, and bacteria...

 in the Amanitaceae

Amanitaceae

Amanitaceae are a family of fungi or mushrooms. The family, also commonly called the Amanita family, is in order Agaricales, gilled mushrooms...

 family. It was given its current name by Swiss mycologist Victor Fayod

Victor Fayod

Victor Fayod was a Swiss mycologist. He is credited with the first description of the mushroom Cystoderma amianthinum. He studied in Lausanne and Zurich. Fayod first worked with Heinrich Anton de Bary in Strasbourg from 1881 to 1882, then as a tutor. He also assisted French bacteriologist André...

 in 1889 in honor of French botanist Adrien René Franchet

Adrien René Franchet

Adrien René Franchet was a French botanist, based at the Paris Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. He is noted for his extensive work describing the flora of China and Japan, based on the collections made by Armand David, Pierre Jean Marie Delavay, Paul Guillaume Farges and others.-References:...

. A. franchetii occurs in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

 with oaks (Quercus ssp.), chestnuts (Castanea ssp.), and pines (Pinus ssp.).

A similar fungus in western North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 is also referred to as A. franchetii, but is likely a separate, undescribed taxon

Taxon

|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...

. Amanita aspera and Amanita francheti are synonyms.

External links

• For a description of the western North American species, see