Amanita phalloides
(Fr.:Fr.) Link.
Handb. Erkenn. nutzb. hänfigst. ewächse 3: 272. 1833.
Common Name: Death Cap
Pileus
Cap 3.5-15 cm broad, convex, expanding to nearly plane, at maturity
the disc sometimes slightly raised or depressed; margin entire, seldom
striate, or if so, obscurely so; surface subviscid when moist, smooth,
occasionally with a faint, appressed, white universal veil patch; color:
olive, olive-brown, to yellowish-brown, rarely white, typically with innate,
darker streaks, the margin paler, fading overall to dull tan in age; flesh
soft, white, moderately thick at the disc, unchanging, at times yellowish-brown
just below the cuticle; odor slightly pungent; taste mild.
Lamellae
Gills free, close, moderately broad, white becoming cream, staining
pink to vinaceous with concentrated sulfuric acid.
Stipe
Stipe 4-18 cm long, 1-3 cm thick, equal to tapering to an enlarged,
sometimes bulbous base, usually solid but the apex sometimes stuffed; surface
finely striate at the apex, otherwise smooth or with scattered, flattened
small scales, white to pale yellowish; flesh white, firm, unchanging; partial
veil membranous, cream-colored to tinged like the cap, the upper surface
striate, lower surface slightly pubescent, forming a pendulous, superior
annulus; volva membranous, thin, white, sac-like, usually erect from the
stipe.
Spores
Spores 7-12 x 6-10 µm, ovoid to elliptical, amyloid; spore print white.
Habitat
Solitary, scattered, to gregarious under Coast Liveoak (Quercus agrifolia), occasionally with other oaks and ornamental hardwoods; fruiting sporadically
during the summer months in watered areas or from fog drip along the coast;
common from early to mid-winter.
Edibility
Deadly poisonous! A. phalloides contains both phallotoxins and amanitins. It is the amanitins that are responsible for the poisonings in humans. Amanitins are cyclic octapeptides that stop protein synthesis in the cells they encounter. All human organs are effected, but damage to the liver is most severe and liver failure is primarily responsible for the death of A. phalloides victims. Symptoms usually appear 8-12 hours after ingestion. Death occurs in 7-10 days in 10-15% of patients.
Comments
A large, handsome mushroom, the Death Cap is often abundant under oaks
in the Bay Area, especially in warm, wet years. Because of its toxicity,
it should be one of the first mushrooms learned. Fortunately, Amanita
phalloides is distinctive and with experience, easily identified. Important
field characters are the smooth, yellowish-green to yellowish-brown cap,
sometimes with a thin, appressed white universal veil patch, usually non-striate
cap margin, free, cream-colored gills, normally solid, not hollow stipe,
pendulous annulus, and thin, white, membranous, sac-like volva. The Death
Cap is found widely in coastal areas as well as inland at low elevations.
A rare, white form of this mushroom, var. alba resembling the Death
Angels of the Eastern U.S (Amanita verna, A. virosa ), also occurs
in the Bay Area. Another lethal Amanita found locally is Amanita ocreata.
Cream-colored, and similar in appearance to the Death Cap, it fruits under
Liveoak (Quercus agrifolia) during the spring.
References
Ammirati, J.F., Thiers, H.D. & Horgen, P.A. (1977). Amatoxin-containing mushrooms: Amanita ocreata and A. phalloides in California. Mycologia 69: 1095-1108.
Jenkins, David T. (1986). Amanita of North America. Mad River Press: Eureka, CA. 197 p.
Thiers, Harry D. (1982). The Agaricales (Gilled Fungi) of California. 1. Amanitaceae. Mad River Press: Eureka, CA. 53 p.
Other Descriptions and Photos
- Tom Duffy: Amanita phalloides (CP) -- young sporocarps just breaking through the universal veil
- Bill Freedman: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Fred Stevens: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Fred Stevens: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Fred Stevens: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Fred Stevens: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Fred Stevens: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Fred Stevens: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Fred Stevens: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Michael Wood: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Michael Wood: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Michael Wood: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Michael Wood: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Michael Wood: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Michael Wood: Amanita phalloides (CP) -- note the atypically thick voval cup and cap resembling Amanita calyptrata
- Michael Wood: Amanita phalloides (CP) -- these very small A. phalloides grow every August under a Quercus suber (Cork Oak)
- Michael Wood: Amanita phalloides (CP) -- note the atypical strongly striate margin
- Michael Wood: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Beverly Hackett: Amanita phalloides (I)
- Mushroom Observer: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Associació Micològica Joaquim Codina: Amanita phalloides (D & CP)
- The Bad and Ugly: Amanita phalloides (D & CP)
- Il Mondo dei Funghi: Amanita phalloides (D & CP)
- Terra Foundation: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Na Grzyby!: Amanita phalloides (D & CP)
- Informationszentrale gegen Vergiftungen der Universiteat Bonn: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Sommario funghi: Amanita phalloides (D & CP)
- Svampbok: Amanita phalloides (D & CP)
- Robert Rich: Amanita phalloides (D & CP)
- Pilze, Pilze, Pilze: Amanita phalloides (CP)
- Ammirati et al.: p.88 (D), fig. 36 (CP)
- Arora (1986): p. 269 (D & P), plate 50 (CP)
- Arora (1991): p. 64-65 (D & CP)
- Benjamin: Chapter 12 (Toxicity Info), plates 1, 2 (CP)
- Breitenbach & Kränzlin (vol. 4): sp. 154 (D, I, & CP)
- Fischer & Bessette: p. 151 (D & CP)
- Jordan: p. 198 (D & CP)
- Jenkins: p.149 (D), figs. 15, 16 (CP)
- Lincoff: p. 543 (D), plate 114 (CP)
- McKenny et al.: p. 39 (D & CP)
- Miller: p. 28 (D)
- Phillips: p.28 (D & CP)
- Smith: sp. 120 (D & CP)
- Smith & Weber: sp. 154 (D & CP)
- Spoerke & Rumack, eds.: Chapter 10 (Toxicity Info)
- Thiers (1982): p. 35 (D)
(D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)
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