Deadly
Deadly dapperling
Lepiota brunneoincarnata
The character that does the work
A SMALL scaly parasol. The rule that saves lives here is blunt: leave every small Lepiota alone. The large edible parasols are 10 cm across and upward; the deadly ones are the little ones.
Amanitin, a cyclic peptide that shuts down RNA polymerase II
The false recovery is the reason people die. Anyone who ate wild mushrooms and became ill the NEXT DAY needs a hospital, however well they feel by the time they get there. Cooking, drying and freezing do nothing to the toxin.
Amatoxin poisoning, in fullThe specimen sheet, in examination order
01Cap
2 to 4 cm, whitish with concentric brown scales that are densest at the centre, giving a target-like pattern.
02Underside
Free white gills.
03Stem, and the base
Short, whitish above a ring zone, brownish and banded below. No sac at the base.
04Flesh, cut
White, sometimes reddening slightly.
05Spore print
White to cream
How to take one06Where it grows
Grass, parks, gardens and roadsides, often on disturbed ground.
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.
Europe and Asia, with related deadly species elsewhere.
What is worth knowing about it
Carries the same amatoxins as the death cap in a mushroom the size of a thumbnail, and it fruits in lawns and on roadsides where people are relaxed. It causes a steady trickle of fatalities, notably among foragers who recognise the parasol shape from home and assume the small ones are juveniles of the same thing.
Confused with
- Parasol
- Shaggy parasol
- Fairy ring champignon
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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