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Mushrooms
Amanita mafingensis is a reddish Amanita described from Tanzania in 1994, where local people regard it as edible. Its genus includes some of the most dangerous mushrooms, so this page gives no edibility verdict for any other place.
Amanita mafingensis was described in 1994 by Marja Härkönen, Tiina Saarimäki and Leonard Mwasumbi, in the same paper that described two other new Tanzanian species, A. tanzanica and A. masasiensis. The authors treated it as one of three reddish Amanitas that local people know and use. The European Fungi and Tropical Africa database describes its cap as orange brown to dark reddish brown.
The species belongs to the section Caesarea, the group that includes the Caesar's mushroom, Amanita caesarea. The authors relate the new Tanzanian species to A. hemibapha, the tropical relative of A. caesarea. The reddish colour and the relationship to edible relatives are the features the sources use to place it, and neither is enough for a field identification on its own.
The 1994 paper states that the three new species are considered edible by the local people. Each tribe has a collective vernacular name for these Amanitas. The paper does not record those names, and the sources consulted for this page do not describe how the mushroom is prepared, cooked or eaten, or how much is eaten.
The record is a statement of local use from a Tanzanian mycological survey. It shows that people there regarded the fungus as food at the time of collection. It does not establish that the same use applies to the species in other countries, or that it is safe for anyone who is not familiar with the local identification.
The authors note that the new species are often confused with Amanita muscaria, the fly agaric, which is poisonous. That species is abundant in exotic pine plantations, and mushroom poisonings, some fatal, occur. The confusion is a practical risk in the same habitat where the edible Amanitas grow.
Reddish Amanitas can look alike across species that differ in edibility. A colour in a photograph or a note from a market is not an identification.
Index Fungorum treats Amanita tanzanica as a synonym of A. mafingensis. The European Fungi and Tropical Africa database says that the two species belong to the same section, Caesarea, but are distinct. The name records therefore differ between sources, and the catalogue name is kept here as a research label until the taxonomy is settled.
The Tanzanian name of this species on the catalogue does not carry a regional name, and no local name is given in the sources consulted.
The European Fungi and Tropical Africa database includes the species in its key to edible species in tropical Africa and shows its range on a distribution map. A herbarium specimen from Malawi is recorded in the Kew database. The sources consulted did not establish a record from Mali or from any West African survey, and no edible use in West Africa is claimed here.
The catalogue lists this item as a candidate from research names. Its food use rests on the single 1994 survey and on the EFTA key. No cooking method, quantity or food tradition beyond that survey is established.
The genus Amanita includes the most fatal mushroom species. Expert guidance is to eat no Amanita unless it has been identified with certainty by someone experienced with the group. A species described as edible in one place may be confused with a poisonous one in the same habitat.
No source here gives a safe preparation, a safe quantity or a safety verdict for home foraging. Anyone who comes across a reddish Amanita should leave it alone unless a local expert has identified it.
Country-level. The 1994 paper records local people treating the species as edible; no locality is given.
The African Caesar-group mushroom, Amanita masasiensis, is a wild ectomycorrhizal species of central and southern African woodlands, eaten locally. The genus contains deadly poisonous species, so identification needs care.
Amanita bweyeyensis is a Eucalyptus-associated Amanita in East and Central Africa, in section Phalloideae with the deadly A. phalloides. Sources call for extreme caution, and it is not recommended as food.
Amanita loosei is a large wild Amanita of tropical African miombo and open woodland, gathered and sold as a valued seasonal food. Regional food-use evidence is not a guide to identifying wild mushrooms.
A small red ectomycorrhizal chanterelle of African open forest and miombo. Sources document regional food use but differ on taste and harvesting preference; older records as C. floridulus or C. miniatescens require care.
Cantharellus platyphyllus is a red-to-orange chanterelle of tropical African woodland, gathered and sold locally in several countries. Its edibility rests on local use and literature, not a species-level safety study.
A miombo-woodland chanterelle described from Tanzania and called Wipatwe in the Southern Highlands. Food classifications conflict, including within a 2015 community study.
A historical account records Entoloma argyropus as eaten at Amani, Tanzania. It does not establish safe modern identification, preparation, or current use.
Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) is a small-grained cereal grown across parts of Africa and Asia. It is milled, cooked, malted and fermented in distinct food traditions.
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KarsteniaHistory · Method · Safety
Tanzanian mushrooms and their uses 4. Some reddish edible and poisonous Amanita speciesThree new reddish Amanita species (A. tanzanica, A. masasiensis, A. mafingensis) described 1994, considered edible by local people.
Often confused with the poisonous A. muscaria, abundant in exotic pine plantations; fatal poisonings occur.
Cited in: A reddish Amanita from Tanzania; Local use; The poisonous lookalike; Names and the synonym question; Safety
European Fungi and Tropical Africa (EFTA)Identification · Distribution
Amanita mafingensisCap orange brown to dark reddish brown.
Same section Caesarea as A. tanzanica; distinct; included in the key to edible species in tropical Africa.
Index Fungorum lists A. tanzanica as a synonym.
Cited in: A reddish Amanita from Tanzania; Names and the synonym question; Distribution and what is not established
Royal Botanic Gardens, KewDistribution
Kew herbarium occurrence recordSpecimen recorded from Malawi.
Cited in: Distribution and what is not established