Pretty but Poisonous: 6 Mushrooms That Could Kill You
While some mushrooms may appear incredibly adorable, it’s important to remain vigilant. Not all of them are suitable for risotto, and even though mushrooms can be incredible delights, some of them are straight-up killers wearing earthly glam.
These are six of the world’s most dangerous fungi. Yes, they are dangerous, and most of the time mistaken for something harmless, but trust me, these cuties are far from wishing to become your forest friends.
1. Death cap (Amanita phalloides)
This one looks like any other ordinary mushroom you could spot on a hike, but you couldn’t be more wrong. The death cap is one of the deadliest mushrooms out there. Packed with amatoxins, it can look pale green or wear a yellowish cap, with an elegant stalk, nothing dramatic.
Maybe this is what makes it so terrifying: it hides in plain sight.
It can be found across Asia, North America, and Europe, as this one loves to cozy up near oak and pine trees like they’re its own forest.
Just half a cap can kill a full-grown adult with their amatoxins going straight for your liver and kidneys. And the cruel twist is that the symptoms won’t show up until hours later when the toxins have done irreversible damage.
People feel better after the first wave of symptoms passes, only to be kicked by organ failure shortly after. This is a mushroom that doesn’t just poison: it deceives.
2. Conocybe filaris
Even though it has the name of a harmless germ, this mushroom hides in urban parks and backyard mulch piles just like a silent assassin. It’s native to the Pacific Northwest, and unfortunately, it’s too often mistaken for being an innocent lawn mushroom. This one carries the same deadly amatoxins as the death cap.
With a thin, brown cap and a delicate structure, this mushroom is far from screaming danger. However, it’s got a proven track record in causing many hospitalizations and deaths.
Because people confuse it with edible varieties such as Psathyrella or Coprinopsis atramentaria, the result in many cases is liver failure, death, or, if they’re lucky, just a grim lesson in mushroom misidentification.
3. Autumn Skullcap (Galerina marginata)
Blending right into your forest walk with their small and brown appearance, these mushrooms have threat written all over them.
If you spot it in growing or dead trees and rotting logs, that’s exactly where the right edible mushrooms, like honey mushrooms, love to hang out, and this is a huge part of the problem.
This one contains potent toxins able to shut down your body’s ability to make proteins. Your organs will quickly stop functioning. It’s a slow, cruel type of poisoning, and it doesn’t take much. One moment you’re having a foraging day in the woods, the next you’re in for a toxicology report.
4. Podostroma cornu-demae
If Satan had a florist, this mushroom would be in the bouquet. It’s bright red and twisted like antlers, looking like a coral reef gone rogue. This is one of the rarest and most terrifying fungi on Earth. This Asia native doesn’t just kill; it obliterates.
It’s full of trichothecene mycotoxins, which are compounds so toxic they can make you lose a finger just by touching them. Ingesting a small amount will lead to multi-organ failure, skin peeling, hair loss, hallucinations, and death.
Even linked to several fatal poisonings in Korea and Japan, this mushroom is somehow so beautiful that it looks unreal. However, make sure you stay away and admire it from far, far away.
5. Webcaps (Cortinarius rubellus and Cortinarius orellanus )
This is your classic lurking danger mushroom. They have a dry, brownish-orange look, nothing flashy and easily forgettable. You’d better keep in mind the looks, because they pack a punch that takes time.
The toxin in these fungi is called orellanine, and it can take anywhere from 2 to 3 weeks to show symptoms. That’s weeks of thinking everything’s fine while your kidneys are slowly dying.
They can be found in forested areas, and they are often mistaken for chanterelles and other safe mushrooms. One serving can cause permanent kidney damage, so if a mushroom’s name sounds like it belongs to a Victorian ghost, better leave it alone.
6. Destroying Angels (Amanita virosa, Amanita bisporigera, etc.)
Delicate and pure white, this mushroom is almost holy in appearance. It can easily gain the title of Queen of Irony.
It gained the nickname of “Destroying Angel,” and this is a direct warning, far from being poetic. You can easily mistake them for the edible button mushrooms or young puffballs, especially if you’re new to the game of foraging.
Widely distributed in Europe and North America, like their sibling, the death cap, they are loaded with amatoxins. One bite will send you into liver failure, coma, or death. People don’t just die from this; they suffer. The toxins cause abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea, followed by a “recovery” period and ending in total system collapse.
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