BASIDIOMYCETES: Agaricales, Amanitaceae

Destroying Angel, Amanita virosa

Basidiomycetes, order: Agaricales, family: Amanitaceae

Height to 8"

Cap is up to 5" wide, convex to flattened, smooth, bright white, which may darken in the center with age, and has a smooth margin. Stalk is white with a shaggy, cottony surface and a delicate, papery skirtlike collar that may be absent in older specimens. The base is bulbous and joins into a saclike volva. Gills are white and free or partly attached. Spore print is white. The Destroying Angel grows on the ground in grassy areas and mixed woodlands throughout North America during the summer and fall. It is poisonous and deadly. Also known as the Death Angel, it is one of many related species that carries this name.