Amanita phalloides · Amanitaceae
Responsible for the great majority of fatal mushroom poisonings worldwide. Learn this one before anything else.
Deadly poisonous. DEADLY. Half a cap can kill an adult. Symptoms begin 6-24 hours later, appear to improve, then liver failure follows. Always dig up the base of any white-gilled mushroom to look for a volva.
Read the full foraging safety guidance.
August to November
Young specimens resemble puffballs and edible Agaricus mushrooms. Green-capped Russulas lack a ring and a volva.
Never eat. Wash your hands after handling and keep it out of your foraging basket.
Amanita virosa
Pure white, elegant and lethal. The one to check for whenever you pick a white mushroom.
Cortinarius rubellus
A modest orange-brown mushroom whose poison destroys the kidneys weeks after the meal.
Galerina marginata
A small brown mushroom on dead wood carrying the same toxins as the Death Cap.
