List of deadly fungi

Although many people have a fear of mushroom poisoning by "toadstools", only a small number of the many macroscopic fruiting bodies commonly known as mushrooms and toadstools have proven fatal to humans.

This list is not exhaustive and does not contain many fungi that, although not deadly, are still harmful. For a less detailed list on fungi that include non-deadly poisonous species, see List of poisonous fungi.

Deadly Fungi
Fungi with significant risk of death if consumed
Scientific name	Common name	Active Agent	Toxicity	Habitat	Similar edible species	Picture
Amanita arocheae Tulloss, Ovrebo & Halling	Latin American death cap	amatoxins	liver	Woodland (oak) Mexico
Amanita bisporigera G. F. Atk.	Eastern North American destroying angel	amatoxins	liver	Woodland (pine and oak) Eastern North America	Agaricus silvicola, Volvariella volvacea
Amanita exitialis Zhu L. Yang & T.H. Li	Guangzhou destroying angel	amatoxins[1][2]	liver	Deciduous woodland Guangdong province, China; India
Amanita magnivelaris Peck	Great felt skirt destroying angel	amatoxins[3]	liver	North America, Guatemala
Amanita ocreata Peck	Western North American destroying angel (also known as Medusoid Mycelulem)	amatoxins	liver	Woodland (oak) Pacific Northwest North America
Amanita phalloides (Vaill. ex Fr.) Link	death cap	α-Amanitin	liver	Woodland (various) Europe, North Africa, North America, Australia (SE), New Zealand	Volvariella volvacea, Russula virescens Amanita lanei Tricholoma equestre, Agaricus campestris
Amanita smithiana Bas	smith's lepidella	2-amino-4,5-hexadienoic acid	liver & kidney	Woodland Japan and Pacific Northwest
Amanita sphaerobulbosa Hongo	Asian abrupt-bulbed Lepidella	2-amino-4,5-hexadienoic acid	liver & kidney	Mixed woodlands, eastern Asia
Amanita subjunquillea S. Imai	East Asian death cap	amatoxins	liver	Woodland East and Southeast Asia, Japan, India
Amanita verna (Bull.: Fr.) Lam.	Fool's mushroom	amatoxins	liver	Woodland (various) Europe	Agaricus arvensis Agaricus campestris Lycoperdon spp.
Amanita virosa (Fr.) Bertillon	European destroying angel	amatoxins	liver	Woodland (various) Europe	Agaricus arvensis Agaricus campestris Lycoperdon spp.
Claviceps purpurea	Ergot	ergotamine	multiple	grass
Clitocybe dealbata (Sowerby) Gillet	ivory funnel	muscarine	CNS	grassland Europe, North America	Marasmius oreades
Clitocybe rivulosa (Pers.) P. Kumm.	false champignon	muscarine	CNS	grassland Europe, North America	Marasmius oreades
Cortinarius gentilis (Fr.) Fr.		orellanine	kidney
Cortinarius orellanus Fries	Fool's webcap	orellanine	kidney	Coniferous woodland Northern Europe
Cortinarius rubellus Cooke	deadly webcap	orellanine	kidney	Coniferous woodland Northern Europe
Cortinarius splendens Rob. Henry	splendid webcap, yellow clubbed foot	orellanine	kidney
Galerina marginata (Batsch) Kühner	autumn skullcap	amatoxins	liver		Kuehneromyces mutabilis
Galerina sulciceps (Batsch) Kühner		amatoxins	liver	Indonesia
Gyromitra esculenta (Pers. ex Pers.) Fr.	false morel	monomethylhydrazine	multiple	Coniferous woodland Northern latitudes	Morchella spp.
Inocybe erubescens A. Blytt	red-staining inocybe (prev. I. patouillardii)	muscarine	CNS	Deciduous woodland (beech) Europe	Calocybe gambosa, Agaricus spp., Cortinarius caperatus[4]
Lepiota brunneoincarnata Chodat & C. Martín	deadly dapperling	amatoxins	liver	Coniferous woodland Europe
Lepiota castanea Quél	chestnut dapperling	amatoxins	liver	Coniferous woodland Europe
Lepiota helveola Bres.		amatoxins	liver	Coniferous woodland Europe
Lepiota subincarnata	deadly parasol	amatoxins	liver	Coniferous woodland North America
Pholiotina rugosa (Peck) Singer more commonly known as Conocybe filaris		amatoxins	liver	grassland, lawns, rich soil and compost North America, Europe and Asia	Psilocybe spp.
Pleurocybella porrigens		non-proteinogenic amino acids	Liver	Woodland (various) North America, Europe and Asia
Podostroma cornu-damae (Patouillard) Hongo & Izawa		Trichothecene mycotoxins	Inhibits eukaryotic protein synthesis	Japan
Trogia venenata Zhu L.Yang, Y.C.Li & L.P.Tang	Little White	Two toxic amino acids [5]	Causes cardiac arrest (Yunnan Sudden Death Syndrome)	Yunnan, China
Fungi where isolated deaths have been reported
Scientific name	Common name	Active Agent	Toxicity	Habitat	Similar edible species	Picture
Amanita muscaria	Fly agaric	Muscimol, ibotenic acid	CNS	Northern hemisphere, coniferous and deciduous woodland	Puffball
Boletus pulcherrimus Fr.		muscarine	severe gastrointestinal	Woodland Western North America	Boletus edulis
Entoloma sinuatum (Bull.) P. Kumm.	Livid agaric	unknown	severe gastrointestinal	Deciduous woodland North America, Europe	Clitopilus prunulus Calocybe gambosa Entoloma abortivum
Hypholoma fasciculare (Huds.:Fr.) P. Kumm.	sulfur tuft	Fasciculol E	severe gastrointestinal	Woodland Western North America	Armillaria mellea Hypholoma capnoides
Lactarius torminosus (Schaeff.) Gray	woolly milk-cap	unknown	severe gastrointestinal	Woodland Northern Europe	Lactarius deliciosus
Paxillus involutus (Batsch ex Fr.) Fr.	brown roll-rim	unknown, possibly glycoprotein antigen	extreme autoimmune reaction with hemolysis	grassland Europe
Russula subnigricans Hongo		cycloprop-2-ene carboxylic acid	rhabdomyolysis	Japan, China and North America
Tricholoma equestre (L.) P. Kumm.	yellow knight, man-on-horseback	cycloprop-2-ene carboxylic acid	rhabdomyolysis	woodland Europe

See also

• List of poisonous fungi
• Mushroom poisoning
• Mycotoxicology

Footnotes

1. Yang Z, Li T. (2001). "Notes on three white Amanitae of section Phalloideae (Amanitaceae) from China". Mycotaxon 78: 439–48. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
2. Hu J, Chen ZH, Zhang ZG, Zhang P. (2003). "Analysis of the main amatoxins and phallotoxins in Amanita exitialis, a new species in China". Weishengwu Xuebao 43 (5): 642–46. ISSN 0001-6209.
3. Logemann H, Argueta J, Guzmán G, Montoya Bello L, Bandala Munoz VM, De Leon Chocooj R. (1987). "A deadly poisoning by mushrooms in Guatemala". Revista Mexicana de Micologia (in Spanish) 3: 211–16. ISSN 0187-3180.
4. Zeitlmayr L. (1976). Wild Mushrooms:An Illustrated Handbook. Hertfordshire: Garden City Press. p. 77. ISBN 0-584-10324-7.
5. Zhou, Z. Y.; Shi, G. Q.; Fontaine, R.; Wei, K.; Feng, T.; Wang, F.; Wang, G. Q.; Qu, Y.; Li, Z. H.; Dong, Z. J.; Zhu, H. J.; Yang, Z. L.; Zeng, G.; Liu, J. K. (2012). "Evidence for the Natural Toxins from the Mushroom Trogia venenata as a Cause of Sudden Unexpected Death in Yunnan Province, China". Angewandte Chemie International Edition 51 (10): 2368–2370. doi:10.1002/anie.201106502. PMID 22287497.