Amanita phalloides

Amanita phalloides is a deadly poisonous basidiomycete fungus. It is estimated that as little as half a mushroom contains enough toxin to kill an adult human. The principal toxic constituent is α-amanitin, which damages the liver and kidneys, causing liver and kidney failure that can be fatal. It has been involved in the majority of human deaths from mushroom poisoning, possibly including the deaths of Roman Emperor Claudius in AD 54.

About Amanita phalloides in brief

Summary Amanita phalloidesAmanita phalloides is a deadly poisonous basidiomycete fungus. It is estimated that as little as half a mushroom contains enough toxin to kill an adult human. It has been involved in the majority of human deaths from mushroom poisoning, possibly including the deaths of Roman Emperor Claudius in AD 54 and Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI in 1740. The principal toxic constituent is α-amanitin, which damages the liver and kidneys, causing liver and kidney failure that can be fatal. A rarely appearing, all-white form was initially described A.  phalloides f. alba by Max Britzelmayr, though its status has been unclear. The true Amanita verna fruits in spring and turns yellow with KOH solution, whereas A. Phalloides never does. The death cap is a large and fruiting body, usually from 5 to 15cm across and hemispherical with a pileus across. The color of the cap can be pale-, yellow-, yellow-green-, or olive-green. The stipe is a scattering of grayish free-olive scales and is about 1 to 1.5cm long and 1 to 2cm wide. The surface is sticky and easily peeled when wet and easily easily peeled after rain. The white stipe and gills are a scattered scattering of white lamellae and are about 5 to 5cm below the cap. The cap can often be paler and often paler after rain, often toward the end of the season.

It can be seen as a skirt-like skirt, with a skirt, floppy annulus, and white stipes. It was first described by French botanist Sébastien Vaillant in 1727, who gave a succinct phrase name: \”Fungus phallus, annulatus, sordide virescens, et patulus\” – a recognizable name for the fungus today. In 1821, Elias Magnus Fries described it as Agaricus phalloideae, but included all white amanitas within its description. Finally in 1833, Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link settled on the name Amanita phaloides, after Persoon had named it Amanita viridis 30 years earlier. The type species of Amanita section PhalloideAE contains all of the deadly poisonous Amanita species thus far identified. Most notable of these are the species known as destroying angels, namely Amanita virosa and Amanita bisporigera, as well as the fool’s mushroom. The term ‘destroying angel’ has been applied to A phaloides at times, but ‘death cap’ is by far the most common vernacular name used in English. In 2004, a distinct variety and includes what was termed A verna var. tarda. was described, in 2004, it has been described as a distinct varieties and includes what was termed A.  vernA var. tardA.