List of deadly fungus species

Last updated January 16, 2024

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.

Fungi with significant risk of death if consumed


Scientific name	Common name	Active Agent	Toxicity	Habitat	Similar edible species
Amanita arocheae Tulloss, Ovrebo & Halling	Latin American death cap	amanitins	liver	Woodland (oak) Mexico
Amanita bisporigera G. F. Atk.	Eastern destroying angel	amanitins	liver	Woodland (pine and oak) Eastern North America	Agaricus silvicola , Volvariella volvacea
Amanita exitialis Zhu L. Yang & T.H. Li	Guangzhou destroying angel	amanitins ^[1]^[2]	liver	Deciduous woodland Guangdong province, China; India
Amanita fuliginea Hongo	East Asian brown death cap	amanitins	liver	Woodland China
Amanita magnivelaris Peck	Great felt skirt destroying angel	amanitins ^[3]	liver	Americas
Amanita ocreata Peck	Western destroying angel	amanitins	liver	Woodland (oak) Pacific Northwest North America
Amanita phalloides (Vaill. ex Fr.) Link	death cap	amanitins	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 subpallidorosea Qing Cai, Zhu L. Yang & Y.Y. Cui		amanitins	liver	Woodland China
Amanita subjunquillea S. Imai	East Asian death cap	amanitins	liver	Woodland East and Southeast Asia, Japan, India
Amanita verna (Bull.: Fr.) Lam.	Fool's mushroom	amanitins	liver	Woodland (various) Europe	Agaricus arvensis Agaricus campestris Lycoperdon spp.
Amanita virosa (Fr.) Bertillon	European destroying angel	amanitins	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 Clitopilus prunulus
Clitocybe rivulosa (Pers.) P. Kumm.	false champignon	muscarine	CNS	grassland Europe, North America	Marasmius oreades Clitopilus prunulus
Cortinarius orellanus Fries	Fool's webcap	orellanine	kidney	Coniferous woodland Northern Europe
Cortinarius rubellus Cooke	deadly webcap	orellanine	kidney	Coniferous woodland Northern Europe
Cortinarius eartoxicus Gasparini	deadly webcap	orellanine	kidney	Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania
Cortinarius splendens Rob. Henry	splendid webcap, yellow clubbed foot	orellanine	kidney
Galerina marginata (Batsch) Kühner	autumn skullcap	amanitins	liver	worldwide	Kuehneromyces mutabilis
Galerina sulciceps (Batsch) Kühner	toadstool	amanitins	liver	Indonesia
Gyromitra esculenta (Pers. ex Pers.) Fr.	false morel	gyromitrin and monomethylhydrazine	multiple (depletes PLP stores)	Coniferous woodlands in the Northern hemisphere	Morchella spp.
Inosperma erubescens (A. Blytt) Matheny & Esteve-Rav.	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	amanitins	liver	Coniferous woodland Europe	Tricholoma terreum , Marasmius oreades
Lepiota brunneolilacea Bon & Boiffard	star dapperling	amanitins	liver	Sand dunes of Western Europe
Lepiota castanea Quél	chestnut dapperling	amanitins	liver	Coniferous woodland Europe
Lepiota helveola Bres.		amanitins	liver	Coniferous woodlands of Europe
Lepiota subincarnata	deadly parasol	amanitins	liver	Asia, Europe, and North America
Pholiotina rugosa (Peck) Singer more commonly known as Conocybe filaris		amanitins	liver	grassland, lawns, rich soil and compost North America, Europe and Asia	Psilocybe spp.
Podostroma cornu-damae (Patouillard) Hongo & Izawa	poison fire coral	diacetyl satratoxin-H (ribosome inactivating small molecule)	bone marrow, brain and skin	Japan, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, Australia	Ganoderma
Paxillus involutus (Batsch ex Fr.) Fr.	brown roll-rim	unknown, possibly glycoprotein antigen	extreme autoimmune reaction with hemolysis	Europe and North America
Trogia venenata Zhu L.Yang, Y.C.Li & L.P.Tang	Little White	(2S,4R)‐2‐amino‐4‐hydroxyhex‐5‐ynoic acid ^[5]	Causes cardiac arrhythmia and hypoglycemia (Yunnan Sudden Death Syndrome)	Yunnan, China	white Pleurotus

Fungi where isolated deaths have been reported

Scientific name	Common name	Active Agent	Toxicity	Habitat	Similar edible species
Amanita muscaria	Fly agaric	Muscimol	CNS	Northern hemisphere, coniferous and deciduous woodland	Lycoperdon spp. Calvatia spp. Amanita caesarea
Rubroboletus pulcherrimus Fr.	Devil's bolete	unknown	severe gastrointestinal	Woodland Western North America	Boletus edulis Neoboletus luridiformis
Entoloma sinuatum (Bull.) P. Kumm.	Livid pinkgill	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
Omphalotus illudens (Schwein.) Bresinsky & Besl	jack-o'lantern mushroom	Illudins M and S, Muscarine	severe cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea	North America	Cantharellus californicus
Omphalotus japonicus (Kawam.) Kirchm. & O.K.Mill. (2002)	jack-o'lantern mushroom	Illudins M and S, Muscarine	severe cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea	Japan	Pleurotus ostreatus Lentinula edodes Panellus serotinus
Pleurocybella porrigens	Angel Wings	Pleurocybellaziridine ^[6]	neurotoxic	Woodland (various) North America, Europe and Asia	Pleurotus pulmonarius
Russula subnigricans Hongo	Nisekurohatsu	cycloprop-2-ene carboxylic acid	rhabdomyolysis	worldwide
Tricholoma equestre (L.) P. Kumm.	yellow knight, man-on-horseback	possibly cycloprop-2-ene carboxylic acid?	rhabdomyolysis	worldwide

Footnotes

↑ Yang Z, Li T (2001). "Notes on three white Amanitae of section Phalloideae (Amanitaceae) from China". Mycotaxon. 78: 439–48. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
↑ 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. PMID 16281563.
↑ 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.
↑ Zeitlmayr L. (1976). Wild Mushrooms:An Illustrated Handbook. Hertfordshire: Garden City Press. p. 77. ISBN 0-584-10324-7.
↑ 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.
↑ Wakimoto T, Asakawa T, Akahoshi S, Suzuki T, Nagai K, Kawagishi H, Kan T (2011). "Proof of the existence of an unstable amino acid: pleurocybellaziridine in Pleurocybella porrigens". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 50 (5): 1168–1170. doi:10.1002/anie.201004646. PMID 21268219.

Related Research Articles

Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete of the genus Amanita. It is a large white-gilled, white-spotted, and usually red mushroom.

The Boletaceae are a family of mushroom-forming fungi, primarily characterised by small pores on the spore-bearing hymenial surface, instead of gills as are found in most agarics. Nearly as widely distributed as the agarics, the family is renowned for hosting some prime edible species highly sought after by mushroom hunters worldwide, such as the cep or king bolete . A number of rare or threatened species are also present in the family, that have become the focus of increasing conservation concerns. As a whole, the typical members of the family are commonly known as boletes.

Russula is a very large genus composed of around 750 worldwide species of ectomycorrhizal mushrooms. They are typically common, fairly large, and brightly colored – making them one of the most recognizable genera among mycologists and mushroom collectors. Their distinguishing characteristics include usually brightly coloured caps, a white to dark yellow spore print, brittle, attached gills, an absence of latex, and absence of partial veil or volva tissue on the stem. Microscopically, the genus is characterised by the amyloid ornamented spores and flesh (trama) composed of spherocysts. Members of the related genus Lactarius have similar characteristics but emit a milky latex when their gills are broken. The genus was described by Christian Hendrik Persoon in 1796.

Tapinella atrotomentosa, commonly known as the velvet roll-rim or velvet-footed pax, is a species of fungus in the family Tapinellaceae. Although it has gills, it is a member of the pored mushroom order Boletales. August Batsch described the species in 1783. It has been recorded from Asia, Central America, Europe and North America. Tough and inedible, it grows on tree stumps of conifers. The mushroom contains several compounds that act as deterrents of feeding by insects.

An artificial enzyme is a synthetic organic molecule or ion that recreates one or more functions of an enzyme. It seeks to deliver catalysis at rates and selectivity observed in naturally occurring enzymes.

Asymmetric hydrogenation is a chemical reaction that adds two atoms of hydrogen to a target (substrate) molecule with three-dimensional spatial selectivity. Critically, this selectivity does not come from the target molecule itself, but from other reagents or catalysts present in the reaction. This allows spatial information to transfer from one molecule to the target, forming the product as a single enantiomer. The chiral information is most commonly contained in a catalyst and, in this case, the information in a single molecule of catalyst may be transferred to many substrate molecules, amplifying the amount of chiral information present. Similar processes occur in nature, where a chiral molecule like an enzyme can catalyse the introduction of a chiral centre to give a product as a single enantiomer, such as amino acids, that a cell needs to function. By imitating this process, chemists can generate many novel synthetic molecules that interact with biological systems in specific ways, leading to new pharmaceutical agents and agrochemicals. The importance of asymmetric hydrogenation in both academia and industry contributed to two of its pioneers — William Standish Knowles and Ryōji Noyori — being collectively awarded one half of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Trogia is a genus of fungi in the family Marasmiaceae. It is named after a Swiss mycologist Jacob Gabriel Trog. The genus contains about 20 species that are widely distributed in tropical areas.

Amanita exitialis, also known as the Guangzhou destroying angel, is a mushroom of the large genus Amanita. It is distributed in eastern Asia, and probably also in India where it has been misidentified as A. verna. Deadly poisonous, it is a member of section Phalloideae and related to the death cap A. phalloides. The fruit bodies (mushrooms) are white, small to medium-sized with caps up to 7 cm (2.8 in) in diameter, a somewhat friable ring and a firm volva. Unlike most agaric mushrooms which typically have four-spored basidia, the basidia of A. exitialis are almost entirely two-spored. Eight people were fatally poisoned in China after consuming the mushroom in 2000, and another 20 have been fatally poisoned since that incident. Molecular analysis shows that the species has a close phylogenetic relationship with three other toxic white Amanitas: A. subjunquillea var. alba, A. virosa and A. bisporigera.

Yunnan sudden death syndrome is a sudden unexplained death from cardiac arrest, which afflicted significant numbers of rural villagers in Yunnan province in southwest China. Cases almost always occurred during the midsummer rainy season, at an altitude of 1,800–2,400 m (5,900–7,900 ft). An estimated 400 deaths occurred over three decades.

Pleurocybella porrigens is a species of fungus in the family Phyllotopsidaceae. The species is widespread in temperate forests of the Northern Hemisphere. P. porrigens, known as the angel wing, is a white-rot wood-decay fungus on conifer wood, particularly hemlock. The flesh is thin and fragile compared to the oyster mushrooms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1,1'-Azobis-1,2,3-triazole</span> Chemical compound

1,1'-Azobis-1,2,3-triazole is a moderately explosive but comparatively stable chemical compound which contains a long continuous chain of nitrogen atoms, with an unbroken chain of eight nitrogen atoms cyclised into two 1,2,3-triazole rings. It is stable up to 194 °C. The compound exhibits cis–trans isomerism at the central azo group: the trans isomer is more stable and is yellow, while the cis isomer is less stable and is blue. The two rings are aromatic and form a conjugated system with the azo linkage. This chromophore allows the trans compound to be isomerised to the cis when treated with an appropriate wavelength of ultraviolet light.

Trogia venenata, also known as the little white mushroom, is a species of fungus in the family Marasmiaceae indigenous to Yunnan province, in southwest China. Consumption is deadly for both humans and mice, as the mushroom contains three toxic amino acids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulrich Kortz</span> German chemist

Ulrich "Uli" Kortz is a German chemist and professor, working in the area of synthetic polyoxometalate chemistry.

Amanita sphaerobulbosa, commonly known as the Asian abrupt-bulbed Lepidella, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Amanitaceae. First described by mycologist Tsuguo Hongo in 1969, it is found in Southern Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metallabenzene</span>

The parent metallacyclobenzene has the formula L_nM(CH)₅. They can be viewed as derivatives of benzene wherein a CH center has been replaced by a transition metal complex. Most metallabenzenes do not feature the M(CH)₅ ring itself, but, instead, some of the H atoms are replaced by other substituents.

Suning Wang was a Chinese-born Canadian chemist. She was a Professor of Chemistry, Research Chair and head of the Wang Group at Queen's University, Canada, having joined the Department of Chemistry at Queen's University in 1996. Wang worked on the development of new Organometallic chemistry and luminescent materials chemistry. Her research interests also included the work on organic Photovoltaics and Nanoparticle, stimuli-responsive materials as well as OLEDs. Wang and her group developed a simple method of producing graphene-like lattice through light exposure, which may contribute to a huge field of future use. Wang held several patents related to the application of luminescent compounds and boron compounds.

The selenide iodides are chemical compounds that contain both selenide ions (Se²⁻) and iodide ions (I⁻) and one or metal atoms. They are in the class of mixed anion compounds or chalcogenide halides.

The iodate fluorides are chemical compounds which contain both iodate and fluoride anions (IO₃⁻ and F⁻). In these compounds fluorine is not bound to iodine as it is in fluoroiodates.

The sulfate fluorides are double salts that contain both sulfate and fluoride anions. They are in the class of mixed anion compounds. Some of these minerals are deposited in fumaroles.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Yang2001-1] Yang Z, Li T (2001). "Notes on three white Amanitae of section Phalloideae (Amanitaceae) from China". Mycotaxon. 78: 439–48. Retrieved 2010-05-03.

[Hu2003-2] 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. PMID 16281563.

[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.

[Zeitl76-4] Zeitlmayr L. (1976). Wild Mushrooms:An Illustrated Handbook. Hertfordshire: Garden City Press. p. 77. ISBN 0-584-10324-7.

[Trogiavenenata-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.

[aziridine-6] Wakimoto T, Asakawa T, Akahoshi S, Suzuki T, Nagai K, Kawagishi H, Kan T (2011). "Proof of the existence of an unstable amino acid: pleurocybellaziridine in Pleurocybella porrigens". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 50 (5): 1168–1170. doi:10.1002/anie.201004646. PMID 21268219.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

List of deadly fungus species

Contents

Fungi with significant risk of death if consumed

Fungi where isolated deaths have been reported

See also

Footnotes

Related Research Articles