Death Cap

Where it grows

The death cap fruits from late summer through autumn in association with oak and other broadleaf trees on lime-rich soil. Native to Europe, it has hitchhiked on planted oaks and chestnuts and is now established in North America, Australia, and parts of South America. It is responsible for roughly ninety per cent of mushroom-poisoning fatalities worldwide.

How to recognise it

A pale yellow-green to olive cap, smooth and faintly radially streaked, on a tall white stem. The stem carries a clearly hanging skirted ring and emerges from a distinct white sac (the volva) buried at the base. Gills are pure white and free of the stem. The smell of old caps is sickly-sweet.

Edibility & cautions

Deadly. As little as half a cap contains a fatal dose of amatoxins, which destroy liver cells. There is a long latent period — 6–24 hours of no symptoms — followed by violent vomiting and diarrhoea, then apparent recovery, then catastrophic liver and kidney failure. Suspect a death cap if anyone has eaten unidentified wild mushrooms in the last day or two and go to hospital immediately. Confusion with edible Amanita species and unopened puffballs has killed many people. Never eat any wild mushroom without confident identification.