Sometimes small, mostly medium to large agaric, growing on the ground, in litter or mulch or on wood, with a pinkish brown or clay-brown spore print. Pileus white, pale, brown, grey or black, rarely green, viscid or not, or rarely glutinous. Lamellae free or adnexed. Stipe central. Partial veil remnants absent. Volva present. Spores pale, non-amyloid, smooth; germ pore absent. Cheilocystidia present. Lamellar trama inverse. Pileipellis a cutis. Clamp connections absent.

Amanita also has a volva, but the spore print is white or cream, there is usually an annulus, the spores are often amyloid, and the lamellar trama is bilateral rather than inverse. Pluteus is similar in habit and micro-characters but it lacks a volva. The few volvate species of Cortinarius and Descolea have a rusty brown spore print and the spores are verrucose. Volvate species of Inocybe usually have nodulose spores and metuloid cystidia.

Volvariella Speg., Anales Mus. Nac. Hist. Buenos Aires 6: 199 (1899).

Several species: Volvariella bombycina, V. gloiocephala (= V. speciosa), V. taylori and V. volvacea (exotic, N.T. only). The most commonly recorded species is V. gloiocephala. There are also two Australian species known only from their type specimens: V. clarkeae and V. cygnopotamia.

NOTE ADDED IN PROOF: V. gloiocephala and close allies have recently been transferred to the genus Volvopluteus, which is distinguished from Volvariella by the large spores (on average more than 11 micrometres long) and the viscid to glutinous pileus surface with narrow, gelatinised pileipellis hyphae less than 15 micrometres in diameter (Justo et al., 2011).

All States and Territories.

Rarely in native forests, common in parks and gardens.

On the ground, litter, mulch or wood.

Saprotrophic.

Bougher, N.L. (2009a), Fungi of the Perth region and beyond: a self-managed field book, Western Australian Naturalists' Club (Inc.), Perth. [Description and Illustration of V. gloiocephala (as V. speciosa]

Bougher, N.L. & Syme, K. (1998), Fungi of Southern Australia. University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands. [Description, Illustration and Microcharacters of V. gloiocephala (as V. speciosa)]

Breitenbach, J. & Kränzlin, F. (eds) (1995), Fungi of Switzerland. Volume 4. Agarics 2nd part. Edition Mykologia, Lucerne. [Description, Microcharacters and Illustration of V. gloiocephala from Europe]

Fuhrer, B. (2005), A Field Guide to Australian Fungi. Bloomings Books, Hawthorn. [Description and Illustration of V. gloiocephala (as V. speciosa)]

Grey, P. & Grey, E. (2005), Fungi Down Under. Fungimap, South Yarra. [Description, Illustration and Map for V. gloiocephala (as V. speciosa)]

Grgurinovic, C.A. (1997a), Larger Fungi of South Australia. The Botanic Gardens of Adelaide and State Herbarium and The Flora and Fauna of South Australia Handbooks Committee, Adelaide. [Description, Illustration and Microcharacters of V. clarkeae and V. gloiocephala]

Justo, A., Vizzini, A., Minnis, A.M., Menolli, N. Jr, Capelari, M., Rodríguez, O., Malysheva, E., Contu, M., Ghignone, S. & Hibbett, D.S. (2011), Phylogeny of the Pluteaceae (Agaricales, Basidiomycota): taxonomy and character evolution, Fungal Biol. 115: 1–20. [Transfer of V. gloiocephala to Volvopluteus]

McCann, I.R. (2003), Australian Fungi Illustrated. Macdown Productions, Vermont. [Illustration of V. gloiocephala (as V. speciosa)]

Orton, P.D. (1986), British Fungus Flora. Agarics and Boleti. 4 / Pluteaceae: Pluteus & Volvariella. Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. [Description, B&W Illustration and Microcharacters of V. bombycina, V. gloiocephala (as V. speciosa) and V. taylori]

Priest, M. & Conde, B. (2006), The occurrence of Volvariella volvacea (Bull. : Fr.) Singer in the Northern Territory, Australia, Australas. Mycol. 25: 65–67. [Description, Microcharacters and Illustration of V. volvacea]

Young, T. (2000a), Common Australian Fungi, [3rd] revised edn. University of New South Wales Press, Sydney. [Description, B&W Illustration and Microcharacters of V. aff. taylori]

Young, A.M. (2005b), A Field Guide to the Fungi of Australia. University of New South Wales Press, Sydney. [Description and B&W Illustration of V. gloiocephala (as V. speciosa)]