BRIEF DESCRIPTION: The fruiting bodies of Amanita sculpta are large to very large.  The cap is 80 - 180 (-250) mm wide, convex to applanate, greyish brown, brownish to purplish brown, covered with brown to dark brown, conical volval remnants 2 - 10 mm high and 2 - 8 mm wide and becoming smaller towards the cap margin.  The cap margin is smooth and appendiculate; the context is white to brownish, becoming brown to dark brown when injured.

The gills are free to subfree, white with pinkish tinge when young, purplish brown when mature, becoming black to dark brown when dried; lamellulae subtruncate to attenuate.

The stipe is 80 - 200 x 10 - 30 (-50) mm, subcylindrical or attenuate upwards, with a surface that is dirty white to brown, covered with brownish to brown floccose to farinose squamules, and a basal bulb 25 - 60 mm wide.  The bulb is napiform to ventricose, with its upper part covered with brown, verrucose to farinose volval remnants.  The annulus often breaks up and falls away.

The spores measure (7.5-) 8.0 - 11.0 (-15.5) x (7.5-) 8.0 - 10.5 (-14.5) µm and are globose to subglobose and amyloid.   Clamps are not present at the bases of basidia.

This species was originally described from Singapore. It is found in southern China and also reported from Japan.

As Dr. Bas proposed in his 1969 monograph on Amanita section Lepidella, the most similar species is Amanita westii (Murrill) Murrill of the southeastern USA. Bas' stirps Sculpta comprises these two species.  Bas warns of confusion with A. eriophora (Berk.) E.-J. Gilbert. -- Zhu L. Yang and R. E. Tulloss