Browse Mushrooms

Poisonous Mushrooms

Learn to recognize poisonous mushrooms and the edible species they resemble. You learn these species not to eat them, but to make sure you never do by mistake.

POISONOUS Poisonous

DO NOT EAT. This mushroom is toxic and can cause serious illness or death. Learn it only so you can avoid it.

Thin white angel wing mushrooms in overlapping nearly stemless fans on a decayed conifer log

Angel Wing

Pleurocybella porrigens

Angel wing is a thin, white, nearly stemless fan growing in overlapping groups on decayed conifer wood. Its…

POISONOUS
Small honey-brown autumn skullcap mushrooms with rusty gills growing from a decaying mossy log

Autumn Skullcap

Galerina marginata

Autumn skullcap is a small rusty-spored mushroom on decaying wood that can contain amatoxins at levels…

POISONOUS
Beautiful clavaria coral fungus with a pale base, salmon-pink branches, and lemon-yellow forked tips in beech litter

Beautiful Clavaria

Ramaria formosa

Beautiful clavaria is a branching coral fungus with a whitish base, salmon-pink branches, and lemon-yellow…

POISONOUS
Large orange big laughing gym cluster with rusty gills and ringed stems - Big Laughing Gym | KnowTheSpore

Big Laughing Gym

Gymnopilus junonius

Big laughing gym is a large, bitter, orange-rust wood-decay mushroom with crowded gills, a stem ring, and a…

POISONOUS
Bitter beech bolete with a pale cap, yellow pores, and a red netted stem on woodland soil

Bitter Beech Bolete

Caloboletus calopus

Bitter beech bolete pairs a pale cap with yellow blue-bruising pores and a yellow-to-red netted stem. That…

POISONOUS
Large clay-brown bitter poisonpie with crowded brown gills and a coarse-scaled pale stem beneath beech

Bitter Poisonpie

Hebeloma sinapizans

Bitter poisonpie is a large clay-brown Hebeloma with rusty spores, a coarse scaley ringless stem, and radish…

POISONOUS
Blackedge bonnet showing lilac-gray cap and dark-edged pale gills - Blackedge Bonnet | KnowTheSpore

Blackedge Bonnet

Mycena pelianthina

Blackedge bonnet is a small lilac-gray woodland Mycena whose pale gills carry a narrow dark purple-brown…

POISONOUS
Blood-red webcap with red cap gills stem and cobwebby cortina in moss - Blood-Red Webcap | KnowTheSpore

Blood-Red Webcap

Cortinarius sanguineus

Blood-red webcap is a small conifer-woodland Cortinarius colored deep red across cap, young gills, stem, and…

POISONOUS
Booted amanita with pale patched cap free white gills ring and collared bulb - Booted Amanita | KnowTheSpore

Booted Amanita

Amanita multisquamosa

Booted amanita is a pale eastern North American Amanita with a darker cap center, white veil patches, a…

POISONOUS
Massive brawny bolete with red pores netted stem and dark blue-black cut flesh - Brawny Bolete | KnowTheSpore

Brawny Bolete

Imperator torosus

Brawny bolete is a rare massive European bolete with yellow-to-red pores, a yellow and red netted stem, and…

POISONOUS
A brown roll-rim mushroom with an inrolled cottony cap margin and yellowish gills running down the stem

Brown Roll-Rim

Paxillus involutus

Brown roll-rim is a poisonous mushroom group with two different clinical concerns. Gastrointestinal illness…

POISONOUS
Burnt knight with wet chestnut cap notched pale gills and brown lower stem - Burnt Knight | KnowTheSpore

Burnt Knight

Tricholoma ustale

Burnt knight is a brown, wet-sticky, white-spored Tricholoma with notched pale gills that develop brown spots…

POISONOUS
Copper roll rim mushroom in lawn grass beneath a birch tree with a coppery orange brown funnel shaped cap and inrolled margin

Copper Roll Rim

Paxillus cuprinus

The copper roll rim is one of the mushrooms that used to be called brown roll rim. Molecular work published…

POISONOUS
A tight cluster of small tawny deadly galerina mushrooms growing from rotting wood

Deadly Galerina

Galerina marginata

A small brown mushroom on wood can carry the same toxin as a death cap. The check that matters is the spore…

POISONOUS
A tawny orange deadly webcap with a dry pointed cap growing among woodland moss

Deadly Webcap

Cortinarius rubellus

Deadly webcap is a tawny, pointed webcap that contains orellanine. The defining danger is delayed acute…

POISONOUS
A pale greenish Death Cap mushroom showing white gills, a ring, and a cup-like base

Death Cap

Amanita phalloides

A possible death cap ingestion is an emergency before the species is certain. For prevention, inspect the…

POISONOUS
A pure white destroying angel mushroom with free white gills, a skirt-like ring, and a sac around its base

Destroying Angel

Amanita bisporigera

A destroying angel is white from cap to spore print, which is exactly why it gets picked. Check for free…

POISONOUS
Eastern flat-top Agaricus with a dark scaly disc, pale cap margin, ringed stem, and yellowing bulbous base in leaf litter

Eastern Flat-Top Agaricus

Agaricus placomyces

Eastern flat-top Agaricus is a woodland mushroom with a white cap covered in gray-brown scales…

POISONOUS
A reddish-brown false morel with a brain-like wrinkled cap

False Morel

Gyromitra esculenta

Gyromitra esculenta is a poisonous spring cup fungus with a chestnut, brain-like cap and a pale stem. A…

POISONOUS
A bright red fly agaric mushroom covered in white cottony warts with a white ring and a banded swollen base

Fly Agaric

Amanita muscaria

Eurasian fly agaric is the scarlet Amanita with loose white veil patches, white free gills, a hanging ring…

POISONOUS
Gemmed amanita in pine needle duff with a pale creamy yellow cap bearing soft white veil patches

Gemmed Amanita

Amanita gemmata

The gemmed amanita is a pale yellow woodland mushroom that is poisonous, and that is the easy part. The hard…

POISONOUS
A cluster of pale cream ghost fungus caps on a eucalyptus stump in daylight, with crowded gills running down the stems

Ghost Fungus

Omphalotus nidiformis

Ghost fungus is the mushroom everybody knows for glowing green in the dark, and that is the one fact about it…

POISONOUS
A large white green-spored parasol with brown cap scales and a ringed stem growing in mown grass

Green-Spored Parasol

Chlorophyllum molybdites

Green-spored parasol is a large poisonous lawn mushroom whose gills change from white to gray-green as spores…

POISONOUS
A cluster of bright orange Jack O'Lantern mushrooms growing on a stump

Jack O'Lantern

Omphalotus illudens

A Jack O'Lantern is the orange mushroom you learn so you can reject it fast. The field pattern is true sharp…

POISONOUS
A brown panther cap mushroom scattered with white cottony warts, showing white gills and a collared bulb at the stem base

Panther Cap

Amanita pantherina

European panther cap combines a brown, white-warted cap with white free gills, a fragile ring, and a bulb…

POISONOUS
Sulphur knight mushroom in oak leaf litter with a bright sulphur yellow cap and slender yellow stem

Sulphur Knight

Tricholoma sulphureum

You will smell this mushroom before you reach it. The sulphur knight carries a strong smell of coal gas or…

POISONOUS
White-capped yellow stainer mushrooms with flattened tops growing in short lawn grass

Yellow Stainer

Agaricus xanthodermus

The yellow stainer is probably the most frequently eaten poisonous mushroom in the world, and the reason is…

POISONOUS
A cluster of gray bell-shaped common inkcap mushrooms with edges beginning to dissolve into black ink

Common Inkcap

Coprinopsis atramentaria

Common inkcap is a gray, clustered mushroom that digests its own gills into black liquid. Its defining safety…

POISONOUS
A small tan liberty cap mushroom in grass with a conical cap and a sharp pointed tip

Liberty Cap

Psilocybe semilanceata

Liberty cap is a small grassland mushroom with a sharply conical, hygrophanous cap and a dark purple-brown…

POISONOUS
A yellow knight mushroom with a greenish yellow cap and bright yellow gills growing in sandy soil

Yellow Knight

Tricholoma equestre

Yellow knight is a ringless, yellow-gilled Tricholoma of poor sandy ground under conifers. Fatal French case…

POISONOUS
Warty yellow-brown common earthballs in moss with one mature shell split open

Common Earthball

Scleroderma citrinum

Common earthball is a tough yellow-brown fungus with a warted rind and an internal spore mass that becomes…

POISONOUS
Small deadly dapperling mushrooms with pink-brown scaled caps and pale gills in damp soil

Deadly Dapperling

Lepiota brunneoincarnata

Deadly dapperling is a small pink-brown scaled *Lepiota* with free white gills, a fragile ring zone, and a…

POISONOUS
Pale deadly fibrecaps with fibrous caps and brick-red stains on soil beneath broadleaf trees

Deadly Fibrecap

Inosperma erubescens

Deadly fibrecap is a pale fibrous woodland mushroom that develops brick-red stains across its cap, gills…

POISONOUS
Tiny mature deadly parasol with a pink-brown scaled cap and slender stem beside grass

Deadly Parasol

Lepiota subincarnata

Deadly parasol is a small scaled *Lepiota* with free white gills, a fragile veil zone, and felty pink-brown…

POISONOUS
Massive devil's bolete with a pale cap, red pores, and bulbous red-netted stem in leaf litter

Devil's Bolete

Rubroboletus satanas

Devil's bolete is a heavy pale-capped European bolete with red pores, a bulbous netted stem, and flesh that…

POISONOUS
Felt-ringed agaricus mushrooms in western conifer woodland

Felt-Ringed Agaricus

Agaricus hondensis

Felt-ringed agaricus is a poisonous western woodland mushroom with free gills that mature from pink toward…

POISONOUS
Tiny fool's conecap mushrooms with cinnamon caps and slender ringed stems among wet wood chips

Fool's Conecap

Pholiotina rugosa

Fool's conecap is a tiny moisture-changing brown mushroom with attached rusty-brown gills and a membranous…

POISONOUS
Small white fool's funnel mushrooms with shallow caps and descending gills in short grass

Fool's Funnel

Clitocybe rivulosa

Fool's funnel is a small whitish grassland mushroom with crowded gills running down a ringless stem. A…

POISONOUS
Fool's mushroom with a white cap, free gills, upper ring, and baglike volva in spring oak litter

Fool's Mushroom

Amanita verna

Fool's mushroom, *Amanita verna*, is a deadly white amanita associated with European broadleaf woodland in…

POISONOUS
Fool's webcap with a dry tawny cap, rusty gills, and fibrous stem in oak leaf litter

Fool's Webcap

Cortinarius orellanus

Fool's webcap is a deadly orange-brown woodland mushroom whose gills and fine cobweb veil become rusty as…

POISONOUS
Inky mushrooms with dark gray cap scales and yellow-stained stem bases

Inky Mushroom

Agaricus moelleri

The inky mushroom, *Agaricus moelleri*, is a poisonous gray-scaled Agaricus that yellows strongly at the stem…

POISONOUS
Ivory funnels with pale frosted caps and short stems growing in autumn grass

Ivory Funnel

Clitocybe dealbata

Ivory funnel is a small pale grassland mushroom with a frosted cap, crowded white gills that run down a short…

POISONOUS
Livid pinkgill with a large pale lobed cap, salmon gills, and ringless stem in broadleaf litter

Livid Pinkgill

Entoloma sinuatum

Livid pinkgill is a large pale *Entoloma* whose broad gills begin yellowish white and mature to salmon pink…

POISONOUS
Dense sulphur tuft cluster with yellow caps and tan centers on a decaying stump

Sulphur Tuft

Hypholoma fasciculare

Sulphur tuft forms tight yellow clusters on dead wood. Its tan-centered caps, crowded gills that shift from…

POISONOUS
Western destroying angel with a white cap, free gills, fragile ring, and membranous volva in oak leaf litter

Western Destroying Angel

Amanita ocreata

Western destroying angel is California's native white amatoxin-producing *Amanita*. Its free white gills…

POISONOUS
Tiny white fibrecap with a pointed silky cap and slender ringless stem beside moss and a beech leaf

White Fibrecap

Inocybe geophylla

White fibrecap is a small pointed white mushroom whose silky cap, attached gills, ringless stem, and…

POISONOUS
Pink zoned woolly milkcaps with shaggy inrolled margins among birch leaves

Woolly Milkcap

Lactarius torminosus

Woolly milkcap is a pink, concentrically zoned birch partner whose young cap margin rolls inward beneath a…

POISONOUS

Learn these to avoid them

This tier runs from mushrooms that cause a miserable night to a few that can kill. Knowing them by sight is the core skill of safe foraging.

Toxic is not the same as deadly

Many poisonous species cause severe cramps and vomiting but pass. A small number, led by the death cap, destroy the liver and can be fatal.

Warning

The most dangerous toxins act with a delay. Feeling fine hours after eating is not proof of safety. If in doubt after eating any wild mushroom, call Poison Control.

The habits that keep you safe

Study the deadly lookalikes of anything you forage, check every feature including the base of the stem, and when you are not certain, throw it out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are all poisonous mushrooms deadly?
No. Many cause severe cramps and vomiting but pass. A small number, led by the death cap, damage the liver and can be fatal, which is why every unknown deserves caution.
Why learn poisonous mushrooms if I will not eat them?
Because knowing the dangerous species by sight is how you avoid eating one by mistake. Most serious poisonings come from confusing a toxic mushroom with an edible one.
What should I do if I think I ate a poisonous mushroom?
Call Poison Control or emergency services right away, even before symptoms start, because the deadliest toxins act with a delay. Save a sample of the mushroom for identification.

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