discolored tissue colored brownish-red shades. Sometimes, the edge of the cap has radial grooves—up to long—that mirror the position of the underlying gills. When moist, the cap is sticky to the touch; when dry, it is shiny, usually without any remnants of the thin volva. The white gills are crowded close together, and are free from attachment to the stem. They are subventricose: slightly swollen in the middle, and tapering near the ends. The stem is long by thick, and slightly thicker at the base than at the top. It is stuffed with whitish hyphae that resemble cotton. The surface of the stem is smooth or has delicate tufts of soft, white, woolly hairs. There is a rimmed bulb at the base of the stem, which can reach a diameter of over . The ring—located on the upper portion of the stem, from the top—is white, membranous, and long-lasting. The volva remains closely attached to the bulb, although a portion may stretch out like a thin membrane and adhere to the base of the stem before collapsing. The flesh will slowly turn pinkish-brown to chocolate-brown when it has been injured or bruised. Young specimens do not have any distinct odor, but fruit bodies may smell slightly of onions or garlic in age. Although the edibility has not been documented for this species, some sources have noted that toxicity is suspected. Microscopic characteristics Viewed in deposit, like with a spore print, the basidiospores of A. aestivalis are white. Examination with a microscope reveals further details: they are roughly spherical, hyaline (translucent) and thin-walled, with dimensions of 7.8–8.8 μm. The spores are amyloid, meaning that they will absorb iodine when stained with Melzer's reagent and appear blue to blackish-blue. The spore-bearing cells, the basidia, are four-spored, thin-walled, and measure 32–60 long by 4–13 μm thick. There are no clamps present at the bases of the basidia. Similar species [[File:Amanita brunnescens 89292.jpg|150px|thumb|A. brunnescens]] According to Singer, the species is often mistaken for A. verna in the eastern United States. A. verna, however, has ellipsoid spores. Other white amanitas within the range of A. aestivalis include the deadly toxic species A. virosa (has a more loose cottony stem), A. phalloides (the cap usually has an olive-green tint) and A. bisporigera (typically has two-spored basidia). A. aestivalis is sometimes considered a white form of A. brunnescens, but this latter species has dusky brownish gray radial