Destroying angel
Encyclopedia
The name destroying angel applies to several similar, closely related species of deadly all-white mushroom
s in the genus Amanita
. They are Amanita bisporigera
and A. ocreata
in eastern and western North America, and A. virosa
in Europe. Another very similar species, A. verna
or fool's mushroom was first described in France.
Closely related to the death cap
(A. phalloides) they are among the most toxic known mushrooms, containing amatoxin
s as death caps do.
Destroying angels are characterized by having a white stalk and gills. The cap can be pure white, or white at the edge and yellowish, pinkish, or tan at the center. It has a partial veil, or ring (annulus
) circling the upper stalk, and the gills are "free," not attached to the stalk. Perhaps the most telltale of the features is the presence of a volva
, or universal veil, so called because it is a membrane that encapsulates the entire mushroom, rather like an egg
, when it is very young. This structure breaks as the young mushroom expands, leaving parts that can be found at the base of the stalk as a boot or cuplike structure, and there may be patches of removable material on the cap surface. This combination of features, all found together in the same mushroom, is the hallmark of the family. While other families may have any one or two of these features, none have them all. The cap is usually about 5–12 cm across; the stipe
is usually 7½–20 cm long and about ½–2 cm thick. They are found singly or in small groups.
Destroying angels can be mistaken for edible fungi such as the button mushroom, meadow mushroom
, or the horse mushroom
. Young destroying angels that are still enclosed in their universal veil can be mistaken for puffball
s, but slicing them in half longitudinally will reveal internal mushroom structures. This is the basis for the common recommendation to slice in half all puffball-like mushrooms picked when mushroom hunting
. Mushroom hunters recommend that people know how to recognize both the death cap
and the destroying angel in all of their forms before collecting any white gilled mushroom for consumption.
species form ectomycorrhizal
relationships with the roots of certain trees. Thus destroying angels grow in or near the edges of woodlands. They can also be found on lawns or grassy meadows near trees or shrubs. Several species called Destroying Angel are found all over the world.
. The toxin responsible for this is amatoxin. Symptoms do not appear for 5 to 24 hours, when the toxins may already be absorbed and the damage (destruction of liver and kidney tissues) done. As little as half a mushroom cap can be fatal if the victim is not treated quickly enough. The symptoms include vomiting, cramps, delirium, convulsions, and diarrhea. In one experiment, people who had ingested the toxin were treated with "fluid and electrolyte replacement, oral activated charcoal and lactulose
, IV penicillin, combined hemodialysis and hemoperfusion in two 8-hour sessions", some with "IV thioctic acid
, others IV silibinin
" and all received a "special diet." It was concluded that "...intensive combined treatment applied in these cases is effective in relieving patients with both moderate and severe amanitin poisoning."
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
s in the genus Amanita
Amanita
The genus Amanita contains about 600 species of agarics including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide. This genus is responsible for approximately 95% of the fatalities resulting from mushroom poisoning, with the death cap accounting for about 50% on its own...
. They are Amanita bisporigera
Amanita bisporigera
Amanita bisporigera is a deadly poisonous species of fungus in the Amanitaceae family. It is commonly known as the eastern North American destroying angel or the destroying angel, although it shares this latter name with three other lethal white Amanita species, A. ocreata, A. verna and...
and A. ocreata
Amanita ocreata
Amanita ocreata, commonly known as the death angel, destroying angel, angel of death or more precisely Western North American destroying angel, is a deadly poisonous basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita. Occurring in the Pacific Northwest and California floristic provinces of...
in eastern and western North America, and A. virosa
Amanita virosa
Amanita virosa, commonly known as the European destroying angel, is a deadly poisonous basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita. Occurring in Europe, A. virosa associates with various deciduous and coniferous trees...
in Europe. Another very similar species, A. verna
Amanita verna
Amanita verna, commonly known as the fool's mushroom, Destroying angel or the mushroom fool, is a deadly poisonous basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita. Occurring in Europe in spring, A. verna associates with various deciduous and coniferous trees...
or fool's mushroom was first described in France.
Closely related to the death cap
Death cap
Amanita phalloides , commonly known as the death cap, is a deadly poisonous basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita. Widely distributed across Europe, A. phalloides forms ectomycorrhizas with various broadleaved trees. In some cases, death cap has been introduced to new regions with...
(A. phalloides) they are among the most toxic known mushrooms, containing amatoxin
Amatoxin
Amatoxins are a subgroup of at least eight toxic compounds found in several genera of poisonous mushrooms, most notably Amanita phalloides and several other members of the genus Amanita, as well as some Conocybe, Galerina and Lepiota mushroom species.-Structure:The compounds have a similar...
s as death caps do.
Description
Annulus (mycology)
An annulus is the ring like structure sometimes found on the stipe of some species of mushrooms. The annulus represents the remaining part of the partial veil, after it has ruptured to expose the gills or other spore-producing surface. An annulus may be thick and membranous, or it may be cobweb-like...
) circling the upper stalk, and the gills are "free," not attached to the stalk. Perhaps the most telltale of the features is the presence of a volva
Volva (mycology)
The volva is a mycological term to describe a cup-like structure at the base of a mushroom that is a remnant of the universal veil. This macrofeature is important in wild mushroom identification due to it being an easily observed, taxonomically significant feature which frequently signifies a...
, or universal veil, so called because it is a membrane that encapsulates the entire mushroom, rather like an egg
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
, when it is very young. This structure breaks as the young mushroom expands, leaving parts that can be found at the base of the stalk as a boot or cuplike structure, and there may be patches of removable material on the cap surface. This combination of features, all found together in the same mushroom, is the hallmark of the family. While other families may have any one or two of these features, none have them all. The cap is usually about 5–12 cm across; the stipe
Stipe (mycology)
thumb|150px|right|Diagram of a [[basidiomycete]] stipe with an [[annulus |annulus]] and [[volva |volva]]In mycology a stipe refers to the stem or stalk-like feature supporting the cap of a mushroom. Like all tissues of the mushroom other than the hymenium, the stipe is composed of sterile hyphal...
is usually 7½–20 cm long and about ½–2 cm thick. They are found singly or in small groups.
Agaricus campestris
Agaricus campestris is commonly known as the field mushroom or, in North America, meadow mushroom. It is a widely eaten gilled mushroom closely related to the cultivated button mushroom Agaricus bisporus.-Taxonomy:...
, or the horse mushroom
Agaricus arvensis
Agaricus arvensis, commonly known as the Horse Mushroom, is a mushroom of the genus Agaricus.-Taxonomy:Described as Agaricus arvensis by Jacob Christian Schaeffer in 1762, and given numerous binomial descriptions since. Its present name arvensis means 'of the field'.-Description:The cap is similar...
. Young destroying angels that are still enclosed in their universal veil can be mistaken for puffball
Puffball
A puffball is a member of any of several groups of fungus in the division Basidiomycota. The puffballs were previously treated as a taxonomic group called the Gasteromycetes or Gasteromycetidae, but they are now known to be a polyphyletic assemblage. The distinguishing feature of all puffballs is...
s, but slicing them in half longitudinally will reveal internal mushroom structures. This is the basis for the common recommendation to slice in half all puffball-like mushrooms picked when mushroom hunting
Mushroom hunting
Mushroom hunting, mushrooming, mushroom picking, and similar terms describe the activity of gathering mushrooms in the wild, typically for eating...
. Mushroom hunters recommend that people know how to recognize both the death cap
Death cap
Amanita phalloides , commonly known as the death cap, is a deadly poisonous basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita. Widely distributed across Europe, A. phalloides forms ectomycorrhizas with various broadleaved trees. In some cases, death cap has been introduced to new regions with...
and the destroying angel in all of their forms before collecting any white gilled mushroom for consumption.
Distribution and habitat
All AmanitaAmanita
The genus Amanita contains about 600 species of agarics including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide. This genus is responsible for approximately 95% of the fatalities resulting from mushroom poisoning, with the death cap accounting for about 50% on its own...
species form ectomycorrhizal
Mycorrhiza
A mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular plant....
relationships with the roots of certain trees. Thus destroying angels grow in or near the edges of woodlands. They can also be found on lawns or grassy meadows near trees or shrubs. Several species called Destroying Angel are found all over the world.
Toxicity
The destroying angel (Amanita bisporigera) and the death cap (Amanita phalloides) are responsible for the overwhelming majority of deaths due to mushroom poisoningMushroom poisoning
Mushroom poisoning refers to harmful effects from ingestion of toxic substances present in a mushroom. These symptoms can vary from slight gastrointestinal discomfort to death. The toxins present are secondary metabolites produced in specific biochemical pathways in the fungal cells...
. The toxin responsible for this is amatoxin. Symptoms do not appear for 5 to 24 hours, when the toxins may already be absorbed and the damage (destruction of liver and kidney tissues) done. As little as half a mushroom cap can be fatal if the victim is not treated quickly enough. The symptoms include vomiting, cramps, delirium, convulsions, and diarrhea. In one experiment, people who had ingested the toxin were treated with "fluid and electrolyte replacement, oral activated charcoal and lactulose
Lactulose
Lactulose is a synthetic, non-digestible sugar used in the treatment of chronic constipation and hepatic encephalopathy, a complication of liver disease. It is a disaccharide formed from one molecule each of the simple sugars fructose and galactose...
, IV penicillin, combined hemodialysis and hemoperfusion in two 8-hour sessions", some with "IV thioctic acid
Lipoic acid
Lipoic acid , also known as α-lipoic acid and Alpha Lipoic Acid is an organosulfur compound derived from octanoic acid. LA contains two vicinal sulfur atoms attached via a disulfide bond and is thus considered to be oxidized...
, others IV silibinin
Silibinin
Silibinin , also known as silybin, is the major active constituent of silymarin, standardized extract of the milk thistle seeds, containing mixture of flavonolignans consisting of among others of silibinin, isosilibinin, silicristin and silidianin. Silibinin itself is mixture of two diastereomers...
" and all received a "special diet." It was concluded that "...intensive combined treatment applied in these cases is effective in relieving patients with both moderate and severe amanitin poisoning."
See also
External links
- Amanita bisporigera: the destroying angel
- Experience: I nearly died after eating wild mushrooms The Guardian 13 November 2010