Death Cap Mushrooms (Amanita phalloides): ID and Danger

• Cap: Cap 5-15 cm wide; color can be pale green, yellowish-green, olive-green, bronze, or white; sticky when wet, cuticle easily peeled.
• Gills: White, crowded, free gills.
• Stem, ring and volva: Stem 8-15 cm long, white with grayish-olive scales; skirt-like, easily drooping ring; base has a swollen, ragged, sac-like white volva (sometimes tinged green inside).
• Spore print: White.
• Where and when it grows: Forms ectomycorrhizal associations with broadleaf trees (oak, beech, etc.); fruits in summer and autumn (July-November in the UK).
• Range in North America: An introduced species native to Europe that has become established on both the west and east coasts of North America.

Toxin: amatoxins (liver and kidney damage, delayed onset). Severity: can be fatal. Timing: Gastrointestinal symptoms appear 6 to 12 hours after ingestion; after this improves, more severe organ damage follows 2 to 3 days later. A delayed start is the dangerous part: hours without symptoms do not mean the mushroom was harmless.

Call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 (U.S.) right away, or your local emergency number. Keep any leftover mushroom, a photo of it, and note when it was eaten. Do not wait for symptoms and do not try home remedies. This page does not give medical advice.

A clear photo of the whole mushroom, including the base dug out of the ground, the gills and a spore print, lets the app and a mycologist narrow down what it might be and flag features that match Death cap. No photo, app or website can confirm that a wild mushroom is safe to eat. Use identification to know what to avoid, not what to cook.

Extremely. Wikipedia's summary of the medical literature estimates that about 30 grams, roughly half a cap, can kill an adult, and attributes about 90% of mushroom-related deaths each year to this one species. Its amatoxins are not destroyed by cooking, freezing or drying.

The danger is made worse by timing. The first vomiting and diarrhoea start 6 to 12 hours after eating, then ease off for a day or two while the liver is being damaged; serious liver involvement follows 3 to 6 days after the meal. The British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) describes the same pattern: nausea and vomiting 8 to 12 hours after eating, an apparent recovery for up to 72 hours, then liver and kidney damage 3 to 6 days after ingestion.

Mortality has fallen with modern treatment. Wikipedia cites 60 to 70% in the mid-20th century and around 10 to 15% in surveys from 1995.

The death cap is native to Europe and was introduced to North America, apparently with imported trees. Wikipedia describes established populations on both the West and East Coasts of the United States, and in coastal California it grows with coast live oak. Californian specimens often have yellowish caps that can resemble the edible Amanita velosa.

CDPH lists the California counties with hospitalisations during the 2025-26 outbreak: Alameda, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Monterey, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Sacramento, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma and Yuba. CDPH notes these mushrooms appear in neighbourhoods and parks, not only in wild areas.

In Canada, BCCDC says the known range in British Columbia includes Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland, where it arrived on the roots of boulevard trees planted in Victoria and Vancouver. In October 2016 a child died after eating a mushroom picked in downtown Victoria.

CDPH's outbreak table covers 18 November 2025 to 19 May 2026: 50 cases, 4 deaths and at least 4 liver transplants, caused by death caps and western destroying angels growing in unusual numbers and in places they are not usually found. PBS NewsHour reported on 7 February 2026, partway through, that a typical year sees 2 to 5 such cases in California.

CDPH also reports that most people affected who gave a preferred language named Spanish, and it publishes warnings in Spanish, Mam, Mixteco, Mandarin, Ukrainian, Russian and English. Its message is the same in every language: the safest choice is not to pick and eat wild mushrooms, and not to eat wild mushrooms picked by friends or family.

Searches for the most poisonous mushroom in the world usually mean this short list. Each links to a full identification page.

• Death cap (Amanita phalloides). Amatoxins; responsible for most mushroom deaths worldwide.
• Destroying angels ([Amanita bisporigera](/lookup/toxic-mushrooms/amanita-bisporigera), [Amanita ocreata](/lookup/toxic-mushrooms/amanita-ocreata), Amanita virosa). Same amatoxins, all-white. Together with the death cap they account for the overwhelming majority of mushroom-poisoning deaths (Wikipedia).
• Funeral bell ([Galerina marginata](/lookup/toxic-mushrooms/galerina-marginata)). A small brown mushroom on wood; Wikipedia reports some specimens with more amatoxin than death caps.
• Deadly dapperling ([Lepiota brunneoincarnata](/lookup/toxic-mushrooms/lepiota-brunneoincarnata)) and fool's conecap ([Conocybe filaris](/lookup/toxic-mushrooms/conocybe-filaris)). Small species carrying amatoxins.
• Deadly webcap ([Cortinarius rubellus](/lookup/toxic-mushrooms/cortinarius-rubellus)). Orellanine attacks the kidneys; Wild Food UK gives a delay of 2 to 17 days before symptoms.
• False morel ([Gyromitra esculenta](/lookup/toxic-mushrooms/gyromitra-esculenta)). Gyromitrin; can be fatal.

For contrast, the fly agaric is famous but rarely deadly: Wikipedia cites the North American Mycological Association as finding no reliably documented deaths from its toxins in the past 100 years. See fly agaric.

There is no home remedy and no antidote you can take yourself. Hospital treatment described in the literature summarised by Wikipedia includes activated charcoal, high-dose intravenous penicillin G, silibinin (from milk thistle), N-acetylcysteine and, when the liver fails, a liver transplant. Outcomes depend heavily on how early treatment starts.

BCCDC's instructions: go to an emergency room immediately if you suspect you ate a death cap, and bring specimens and the exact location where they were found. In the U.S., call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 (U.S.) now, before symptoms start; in British Columbia, the Drug & Poison Information Centre is 1-800-567-8911.

• Check under oaks after rain. In California, look under coast live oak; elsewhere, under imported hardwoods on streets and in parks.
• Dig out a whole suspicious mushroom with a tool. Look for a cup-like sac at the base; a snapped-off stem hides it.
• Wear gloves or use a bag over your hand, then wash your hands. CDPH says touching a poisonous mushroom usually does not pose a risk, but advises washing hands afterwards.
• Bag and bin it. Do not compost it where children or dogs can reach.
• Photograph and report. BCCDC asks people in British Columbia to report sightings; CDPH points medical providers to the North American Mycological Association's case reporting.
• Any bite eaten by a child or pet is an emergency: call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 (U.S.) now, before symptoms start, or call your veterinarian.