Mushroom ID please

Any chance that I have enough photos to be able to identify this mushroom? I found several of them after several days of rain.

I took the photos yesterday about 70 miles north of Houston in a wooded area with mostly pine and some oak, hackberry, yaupon, hickory and a few other tree types.

The small ones just looked like little grape sized tomatoes sticking out of the ground. The larger ones were about 6 inches tall. The stems were about 1/2 inch in diameter. They had a very large sponge-like bottom section. They were a very bright red color on top and light yellow underneath. The gills were very close together.

Any help in identification is much appreciated.

Patti

Maybe an Amanita.

Similar to the one at the top of the page on the Mushroom Expert.

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/amanita.html

Metrosideros,

I followed the ID key on that page and ended up with Amanita jacksonii. I think that is probably correct. The images do look identical to the mushrooms I was seeing. I had no idea it was so difficult to ID mushrooms. Next time I find an unusual one, I will dig it up more carefully and do a lot more tests (bruising, etc.).

Thanks for the link and the help to ID.

Patti

You're very welcome!

Aloha