Deadly
Brown roll-rim
Paxillus involutus
The character that does the work
Inrolled downy margin, decurrent gills that bruise brown, and gills that lift off the cap in a sheet.
An immune reaction rather than a toxin as such
Unique and genuinely counterintuitive: the mushroom must be eaten repeatedly to become dangerous. Years of eating it without trouble is what sets the reaction up, so a long safe history is a risk factor rather than reassurance.
Paxillus syndrome, in fullThe specimen sheet, in examination order
01Cap
5 to 12 cm, ochre to olive-brown, depressed at the centre, with a margin that is strongly INROLLED and finely downy when young.
02Underside
Yellowish decurrent gills that BRUISE DARK BROWN when handled, and which can be peeled away from the cap flesh.
03Stem, and the base
Short, stout, coloured like the cap, also bruising brown.
04Flesh, cut
Yellowish, browning when cut.
05Spore print
Brown to rust
How to take one06Where it grows
Woodland and heath, especially with birch, also parks and gardens.
When to look
Typically Jul to Nov in the northern hemisphere. Fruiting swings by weeks with rainfall and by a month or more with latitude, so this is when to look rather than when it will be there.
Common across Europe and introduced widely in North America.
What is worth knowing about it
Was eaten routinely in central and eastern Europe within living memory, which is why it appears in older books as edible after cooking. It is not. Repeated meals can sensitise the immune system, and a later meal then triggers antibodies that destroy the eater's own red blood cells. The reaction is unpredictable, can follow years of eating it without trouble, and has killed. It is the clearest case in mycology of tradition being wrong.
Confused with
- Edible milk caps
- Chanterelle
This page tells you what to check. It does not tell you the mushroom in your hand is that species, and it cannot. If you are not certain, do not eat it. If you have already eaten something and feel unwell, contact a poison centre and keep an uncooked specimen.
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