Often confused,
to the folly of its pickers, with the Horse Mushroom, this species is a militant little bugger that will not only damage your insides but stain your clothes and fingers yellow when cut. The Horse mushroom is among the most common growing fungus, with a white creamy cap and grey-brown interior which are both features it shares with the Stainer. Fortunately the Stainer is easily identifiable due to its titular habit of bruising yellow should its stem be cut or its heads tapped even lightly.
2. Death Cap (Amanita phalloides)
Perhaps the most notorious threat among the picking community is the Death Cap, a clandestine foe that will often possess a pleasant taste to lull you into false security, not to mention a delayed toxic effect during which time many vital organs will be maliciously attacked by the toxin. Couple this with its apparent physical similarities to many edible species, namely the Puffballs from our previous list, and it becomes paramount you note its distinctions-particularly its overpowering sickly scent.
3. European Destroying Angel (Amanita virosa)
Aptly named for its pure white colouring and furled wing appearance, the Angel is closely related to the Death Cap in that they both comprise the amatoxins and phallotoxins that buy amanita muscaria make them so deadly. Recognizable by its spongy and wilted exterior, symptoms include diarrhoea, vomiting and liver failure making the European Destroying Angel one of the world’s most dangerous known toadstools.
4. Fool’s Mushroom (Amanita verna)
A coupling of these slender and aesthetic fungi might draw comparison to the saucers of the World’s Fair – kind, I suppose, to supply such a pleasing view to one they’ve just doomed! Possessing the same liver destroying component as the death cap, not to mention looks to kill, the Fool’s Mushroom is all too often mistaken for other common edible varieties and unfortunately, like the rest of this group, can be found widely distributed in English and European woodland.