Deathcap - Amanita phalloides
- The Foraging Course Company
- Apr 24
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 30
Deadly poisonous mushroom - intermediate identification Season - summer to autumn Common names Deathcap, death cap, death cup, green deathcap, deathcap Amanita, deadly Amanita, stinking Amanita
Scientific name meaning: Amanita originates from the Greek Amanitai, which is though to mean of the Amanus, which is a range of mountains in Turkey. Phalloides is from the Latin Phallus and a reference to the phallic appearance of the young deathcap emerging from the volva or universal veil
Habitat  Mycorrhizal with deciduous trees, especially oak, and sometimes coniferous trees. |
Overall structure and growth  The young deathcap is contained within an egg-like universal veil or volva, which it bursts out through. It finally becomes a cap and stem mushroom with the remains of the volva at the stem base. It can appear as lone specimens through to large groups. |
Cap  Starting off white, the cap matures to a yellow- to olive-green with a darker central area. It is egg-shaped, then domed and finally flattens when mature, reaching 5 to 15cm wide. Older specimens may have a cracked edge. There is a variant that has a cap that remains white at maturity. |
Gills and spores  The gills are white, broad, crowded and free of the stem. However, they can turn cream or slightly pinkish with age. The spores are white. |
Stem  White to off-white in colour, the stem is 5 to 15cm tall and 1 to 1.5cm wide. It has zig-zag like markings and tapers slightly upwards. It has a large dangling ring, which has striations, and retains a large floppy volval sack at its swollen base. The inside of the volva is often tinged yellow-green. |
Flesh and smell  The flesh is white sometimes with a yellowish tinge, especially in the cap area. Older specimens have a sickly, nauseous smell. This mushroom is deadly poisonous so should not be tasted. |
Possible lookalikes  Could be confused with other Amanita, such as the false deathcap (Amanita citrina/mappa), pictured. However, the false deathcap smells of raw potato and has a swollen guttered stem base, rather than a floppy volval sack. Has been confused with Agaricus species, but these have grey-white, then pink, then dark brown gills and no volva. |
Poisonous parts All parts of this mushroom are deadly poisonous. Contains several toxins including amatoxins and phallotoxins. Phallotoxins cause severe food poisoning-like symptoms. The amatoxins, in particular, alpha-amanitin, inhibit RNA polymerase II, an enzyme needed for messenger RNA synthesis, and therefore halts protein synthesis. This leads to liver and kidney failure Hazards This mushroom is deadly poisonous do not consume
Use in herbal medicine and medicine Some research into the potential use of alpha-amanitin as an inhibitor of cancer cell growth in lymphatic leukaemia. This mushroom is deadly poisonous and should not be consumed
If you are suffering from any ailment or need medical advice, please see your General Practitioner Other uses None known Importance to other species Slugs and snails often eat this mushroom
Always stay safe when foraging. You need to be 100% sure of your identification, 100% sure that your foraged item is edible, and 100% sure that you are not allergic to it (it is good practice to always try a small amount of any new food you are consuming). If in doubt, leave it out!
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