Deadly toxicAmanitaceae
Amanita virosa
Destroying angel
Pure white deadly Amanita of conifer and birch woodland.
- Cap
- Conical to convex, 5-12 cm, pure white, silky, often lopsided.
- Gills
- Free, white, crowded.
- Stem
- 80-150 mm, white and shaggy, with a ragged ring and a sac-like volva.
- Flesh
- White, unchanging.
- Spore print
- White
- Habitat
- Mixed and conifer woodland on acidic soil, often with birch.
- Distribution
- Europe, North America, Asia.
- Season
- Summer to autumn.
- Bruising
- None.
- Odour
- Unpleasant and sickly with age.
Key features
- ▪Entirely white
- ▪Ragged ring plus basal volva
- ▪White spore print
Field tests
- Dig up the whole base to reveal the volva
- Never eat any all-white gilled mushroom with a ring
Edibility
Deadly poisonous.
Warning
Contains amatoxins. Symptoms are delayed then catastrophic.
Photo and feature-based identification is probabilistic. Never consume a wild mushroom on the basis of an app result — confirm with an experienced mycologist.