Deadly
Destroying angel
Amanita bisporigera, A. ocreata, A. virosa
The character that does the work
Entirely white, with a ring AND a sac at the base. An all-white gilled mushroom with a bag around its foot is the single most dangerous shape in the woods.
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
5 to 12 cm, pure white throughout, smooth, dry to slightly sticky. No scales, no patches, no colour anywhere.
02Underside
Free white gills, crowded.
03Stem, and the base
White, often with a shaggy or fibrous surface, a skirt-like ring, and a membranous sac at the base.
04Flesh, cut
White, unchanging.
05Spore print
White to cream
How to take one06Where it grows
On soil in woodland and at wood edges, with oak and other hardwoods, and frequently in grass at the edge of trees.
When to look
Typically Jun 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.
Widespread across North America and Europe as a group of closely related species.
What is worth knowing about it
As lethal as the death cap and easier to mistake, because a white mushroom in grass reads as a field mushroom. The difference is that a field mushroom has pink or brown gills and no sac, and the sac is often three centimetres underground. Cutting the stem instead of lifting the whole mushroom removes the evidence.
Confused with
- Meadow mushroom
- Horse mushroom
- Young puffballs
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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