If you want to collect mushrooms yourself, you should be very familiar. This is especially true for detecting poisonous mushrooms. The most common native toadstools are listed here.

A to F

Broad-leaved turnip (Megacollybia platyphylla)

Source: H. Krisp, Collybia platyphylla, Edited from Plantopedia, CC BY 3.0
  • Cap: 4 to 12 cm across, color variable from almost white to brown, cap skin dry, radial stripes
  • Stem: whitish or with some hat color, glabrous
  • Flesh: cap thin, light; Lamellae notched, distant, whitish to cream-colored, broad
  • Occurrence: June to October, on rotten deciduous or coniferous wood
  • Toxicity: Consuming large amounts of these mushrooms will cause nausea and vomiting

Spring Poisonous Orel (Gyromitra esculenta)

Source: ChristianSW, Spring Poisonous Lorel, LSG Seppenser Bach, 2022-04, Edited by Plantopedia, CC0 1.0
  • Cap: 3 to 12 cm across, reddish brown, brain-like whorls, forms cavities
  • Stem: light, short, pitted-wrinkled
  • Flesh: brittle
  • Odour: aromatic
  • Occurrence: typical spring fungus, March to May, sandy pine forest
  • Confusion: with spring morels (Hat honeycomb-like deepened, hollow inside)
  • Toxins: Gyromitrin, this toxic substance attacks the liver and kidneys, first symptoms after 4 to 8 hours

Tip: Since toadstools are often difficult to identify, a mushroom consultant should be consulted if in doubt. This safely sorts out poisonous mushrooms.

G to K

Yellow death cap (Amanita citrina)

Source: Danny Steven S., Amanita citrina-001, Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

Unlike their relatives, these toadstools are not quite as dangerous, but are more common.

  • Cap: 4 to 10 cm wide, pale yellowish, yellowish-greenish, rarely albino form, flat remnants of the same color or browned covering on the cap skin,
  • Stem: white to pale yellow; hanging ring, bulb with a sharp, surrounding edge, remains of the sheath are rarely visible
  • Flesh: pale yellowish, browning when pressed; Lamellae white, dense, not attached
  • Odour: like potato sprouts
  • Occurrence July to November, coniferous and deciduous forest, sandy soil
  • Tree partners: pine and spruce
  • Risk of confusion: with other death cap mushrooms
  • Toxins: bufotenin, heat unstable, accelerates cardiac activity

Common Sulfur Knightling (Tricholoma sulphureum)

Source: H. Krisp, Common Sulfur Knightling Tricholoma sulphureum, Adapted from Plantopedia, CC BY 3.0
  • Cap: 3 to 8 cm across, sulphur-yellow, mostly glabrous, dry, also silky
  • Stem: colored like a hat, darker fibrous
  • Flesh: sulfur yellow; Lamellae attached, thickened, distant
  • Odour: unpleasant, like carbide
  • Occurrence: July to October, deciduous and coniferous forest, undemanding
  • Mistake: Greenling (Real knightling, white flesh, floury odor)
  • Toxic substances: The toxic effect of these mushrooms is based on blood-dissolving substances that are particularly effective when they are raw.

Green-leaved sulfurhead (Hypholoma fasciculare)

Source: AnRo0002, 20221013Hypholoma fasciculare1, Edited from Plantopedia, CC0 1.0
  • Cap: 2 to 6 cm across, yellowish, yellow-greenish, unicolor or darker in the middle
  • Stem: pale yellowish, weakly fibrous
  • Flesh: light; Lamellae yellowish green, brownish when ripe
  • Taste: strongly bitter
  • Occurrence: May to November, on dead wood of coniferous and deciduous trees, always in clusters
  • Mix-up: smoke-leaved brimstone (not bitter, taste carefully if necessary)
  • Toxins: Fasciculols, causing diarrhea and vomiting after about 30 minutes to 3 hours

Green and White Death Cap (Amanita phalloides)

Source: Stanisław Skowron, Amanita phalloides adult 2, Edited from Plantopedia, CC0 1.0

Although these two toadstools are well known, they often lead to poisoning because they are not recognized with certainty. The treacherous thing about death cap mushrooms is that the symptoms usually only appear hours after the meal, when the organ damage is already well advanced.

  • Cap: 4 to 12 cm (exceptions up to 15 cm) wide, olive or yellow-green or white, mostly glabrous, radially fibrous, cap skin removable
  • Stem: whitish to greenish, often serpentine; Ring hanging, serrated on top
  • Flesh: white, not discolouring; Lamellae remain white
  • Base: bulbous thickened, white, membranous shell residue (sheath)
  • Odour: sweet
  • Taste: mild
  • Occurrence: June to October, deciduous and coniferous forests, parks, gardens, sometimes in large numbers
  • Tree partners: oaks and beeches
  • Risk of confusion: pearl mushrooms and button mushrooms (pay attention to discolored flesh or colored lamellae), russula and knightlings (brittle lamellae)
  • Toxic substances: amatoxins, destroy the liver, first symptoms are abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea, rescue usually only through liver transplantation

Carbolic mushroom (Agaricus xanthoderma)

Source: 2010-11-13_Agaricus_xanthodermus_Genev_120348.jpg.webp: This image was created by user Lord Mayonnaise at Mushroom Observer, a source for mycological images. You can contact this user here. Ak ccm, 2010-11-13 Agaricus xanthodermus Genev 120348 crop, Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

The Karbol Egerling is the only common, poisonous type of mushroom. If it cannot be determined with certainty, the mistake will be noticed during cooking at the latest, when the mushrooms turn yellow and the smell becomes very unpleasant.

  • Cap: 4 to 15 cm across, chalky white, sometimes also earth grey, apex flattened
  • Stem: white, slightly yellowish at the base, especially when pressed, with or without a tuber; Ring pendulous, sharply demarcated
  • Flesh: white, turning yellow when pressed or grated, stem base cut open chrome yellow; Lamellae pink or grey, close together, free
  • Odor: like disinfectant or ink
  • Taste: unpleasant
  • Occurrence: May to October, deciduous and coniferous forests, gardens, parks, meadows
  • Confusion: Meadow or city mushroom (reddening meat), sheep mushroom (anise smell)
  • Toxins: Toxic ingredients of various types can cause vomiting and diarrhea

Bald Krempling (Paxillus involutus)

Source: Karelj, Čechratka podvinutá 1, edited by Plantopedia, CC0 1.0

These toadstools used to be considered edible. It is now known that the poisonous active ingredients in these mushrooms have blood-dissolving and kidney-damaging effects.

  • Cap: 4 to 15 cm wide, ocher to cinnamon brown, humped when young, later flattened or with a deepening, rim long rolled up (rolled up, name!), felty
  • Stem: short, lighter than the cap, sometimes broadening towards the top
  • Flesh: lighter than the cap: lamellae ocher, slightly decurrent, browning on pressure, crowded
  • Odour: spicy sour
  • Taste: like smell
  • Occurrence: July to October, deciduous and coniferous forests, parks, meadows
  • Toxins: These toadstools also contain muscarine, making them even more toxic when raw.

Potato puffs (Scleroderma) - genus

Source: This image was created by user Herbert Baker (Herbert Baker) at Mushroom Observer, a source for mycological images. You can contact this user here., 2009-09-03 Scleroderma citrinum Pers 55647, Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

With the exception of the pea litter, which belongs to the same genus, all species are poisonous. Consuming large amounts causes nausea and vomiting.

  • Fruiting bodies: bulbous, 2 to 10 cm in size, from afar very similar to a potato, also in terms of color and texture of the "bark", yellow-brownish, beige, greyish
  • Stem: only very short, almost entirely without
  • Flesh: outer layer a few millimeters thick, depending on the species, dark inside, gray to blackish, when the spores are ripe, the outer skin breaks open and releases the blackish spores
  • Odour: pungent metallic
  • Occurrence: June to October, deciduous and coniferous forests, parks, rarely in other green areas

L to R

Softwood housling (Galerina marginata), Poison housling

Source: This image was created by user walt sturgeon (Mycowalt) at Mushroom Observer. You can contact this user here., Galerina marginata (Batsch) Kühner 274501, edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

This poisonous fungus can easily be confused with the edible and popular mutabilis.

  • Cap: 1 to 5 cm wide, ocher to reddish brown, amber-colored, often two-colored, shape hemispherical, flat or bell-shaped, cap skin mostly bare, slightly translucent and sticky when wet
  • Stem: colored like the cap, later darker, ringed, pale frayed below
  • Flesh: yellowish to dark brown; Lamellae yellowish to rusty brown, adnate or decurrent, crowded, narrow
  • Odour: ground like flour, also like rotting wood
  • Occurrence: September to November, mainly on old coniferous stumps, but also on hardwood, gregarious
  • Risk of confusion: mutabilis (dark stem below the ring, mushroom smell), smoky-leaved sulfur cap (gray lamellae)
  • Toxins: such as death cap mushroom

Notice: Since all of the aforementioned mushrooms can lead to fatal poisoning, tasting is strongly discouraged. Poisonous mushrooms are generally not recognizable by their taste.

Panther mushroom (Amanita pantherina)

Source: Σ64, Amanita pantherina 19, Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY 3.0
  • Cap: 4 to 10 cm wide, light or dark brown, edge not serrated, pure white remnants of velum on the cap skin
  • stem: white; Ring narrow, not serrated on top, bulb with offset edge bead (so-called mountaineering socks)
  • Flesh: white; Lamellae close together
  • Odour: radish-like
  • Occurrence: July to November, deciduous and coniferous forest, sandy soil
  • Danger of confusion: pearl mushrooms (serrated ring, flesh turning reddish) or gray amanita (serrated ring), neither of which have mountaineering socks
  • Toxins: Similar to fly agaric, these toadstools cause what is known as Pantherina Syndrome

Porphyry Amanita (Amanita porphyria)

Source: Karelj, Amanita porphyria 1prg, Edited from Plantopedia, CC0 1.0
  • Cap: 4 to 8 cm wide, porphyry brown, violet-grey remnants of velum on the cap skin, edge not serrated
  • Stem: pale with some hat color, brightly serpentine, ringed, tuber with a sharp peripheral edge, rarely remains of the sheath visible
  • Flesh: pale, lamellae detached, crowded, whitish
  • Odour: like potato sprouts
  • Occurrence: June to October, mainly coniferous forest, but also deciduous forest, acidic to calcareous soil
  • Tree partners: spruces and beeches
  • Risk of confusion: pearl mushrooms (ring striated on top, flesh turning reddish), gray amanita (ring striated, smell like radish or turnip)
  • Toxic substances: see yellow death cap

Rancid funnel larva (Clitocybe phaeophthalma)

Source: Strobilomyces, Clitocybe phaeophthalma 170827w, Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Cap: 2 to 7 cm across, dirty whitish or pale horn-colored, greyish-brownish, sunken in the middle
  • Stem: colored similar to hat, base overgrown with cotton-like mycelium
  • Flesh: colored like hat; Lamellae decurrent, rather thick
  • Odour: unpleasantly rancid-sweet
  • Taste: bitter
  • Occurrence: September to November, deciduous forest
  • Tree partners: European beech, oak
  • Toxins: These toadstools contain the neurotoxin muscarine. It leads to sweating, blurred vision, vomiting and gastrointestinal cramps after 15 minutes up to 4 hours.

Fissure fungi (Inocybe) - genus

Source: This image was created by user Ron Pastorino (Ronpast) at Mushroom Observer. You can contact this user here. 2011-11-26 Inocybe rimosa (Bull.) P. Kumm 185170, Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Cap: usually dry, conical to bell-shaped, often flattening with age, tearing radially (name!), color light whitish, light and dark brown to pink or brick red (brick red tear fungus)
  • Stem: colored like a hat, longitudinally fibrous
  • Flesh: whitish when young, often turning reddish when injured or in old age, lamellae attached, grayish or dirty brown
  • Odor often faintly fruity, not unpleasant
  • Occurrence: May to October, deciduous or coniferous forest
  • Tree partners: European beech, oak, spruce, hazel
  • Toxic substances: Toadstools of this genus contain similarly toxic substances as the poisonous funnel fungus.

Notice: Almost all crack fungi are poisonous, the few edible types should be avoided because of the risk of confusion.

Red and brown fly agaric (Amanita muscaria or A. regalis, synonym: king fly agaric)

Source: Stu's Images, Amanita muscaria UK, Adapted from Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

The toadstools of these species are well known and the red fly agaric is all but distinctive. The only exception is the still closed juvenile stage, then the mushrooms should be cut through. Toadstools have an easily recognizable orange-yellow to greenish line under the cuticle.

  • Cap: 5 to 15 cm wide, bright red or brown in color, typically white remnants of vellum on the cap skin, grooved on the edge
  • Stem: white, tuber without sheath, but with warts; Ring unscored on top
  • Flesh: white; Lamellae densely packed, bulbous, free
  • Odor: negligible
  • Occurrence: August to November, deciduous and coniferous forests, gardens, parks, very sociable
  • Tree partners: birch and spruce
  • Risk of confusion: Brown toadstools can be confused with pearl mushrooms (flesh discolouring red) or gray amanita (radish-like smell).
  • Toxins: ibotenic acid, muscazone, muscimol, act on the nervous system; Consuming these toadstools causes confusion, shortness of breath, speech impairment, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea after 30 minutes up to 2 hours

S to Z

Hygrocybe - Genus

Source: Andreas Kunze, 2007-06-16 Hygrocybe conica, Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Cap: usually small, 1 to 5 cm wide, exceptions up to 10 cm, very colourful, orange, red, yellow or greenish, glassy, greasy or dry depending on the weather
  • Stem: usually colored like a hat, lengthwise fibrous, blackens with age, becomes slimy when wet
  • Flesh: yellowish or orange to red, old turning black, fragile; Lamellae distant, ascending to descending attached, rather thick
  • Occurrence: June to October, damp meadows, forest edges, parks
  • Toxicity: With the exception of one grey-colored species, all other saplings are at least slightly poisonous.
    Consuming these toadstools causes indigestion, including vomiting and diarrhea.

Satan's boletus (Boletus satanas)

Source: H. Krisp, Satan's boletus Boletus satanas, Edited from Plantopedia, CC BY 3.0

There are few toadstools among boletus. Two of them are presented here. They can be confused with other boletes, which also have a red stalk.

  • Cap: 8 to 25 cm across, chalky white, greyish, yellowish where snails have been recently eaten, dull, dry
  • Stem: reddish or yellow with reddish base, netted
  • Flesh: whitish to yellowish, bluing a little when pressed; Tubes bright red, tending to yellow with age
  • Odour: sweet-fruity, later carrion-like
  • Taste: mild
  • Occurrence: July to October, deciduous forest, chalky soil
  • Tree partners: oaks, red beeches
  • Risk of confusion: witch boletes
  • Toxicity: The mushrooms cause gastrointestinal problems.

Boletus boletus (Boletus calopus)

Source: H. Krisp, Boletus calopus, Adapted from Plantopedia, CC BY 3.0
  • Cap: 5 to 18 cm across, dirty whitish, light grey, light brown, grey-brown, dull, dry
  • Stem: reddish, yellow in the upper part, netted
  • Flesh: whitish to yellowish, turning blue-green when cut; Tubes lemon yellow, later olive yellow
  • Taste: bitter
  • Occurrence: July to October, deciduous and coniferous forest, acidic soil
  • Tree partners: spruce, common beech
  • Toxicity: This mushroom is inedible due to its bitterness, raw it causes gastrointestinal problems.

Soap Knightling (Tricholoma saponaceum)

Source: This image was created by user Drew Parker (mycotrope) at Mushroom Observer. You can contact this user here. 2011-06-07 Tricholoma saponaceum (Fr.) P. Kumm 149944, Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Cap: 4 to 10 cm wide, color variable from light to dark, also yellowish-green or greenish, cap edge always light, smooth, glabrous, not greasy
  • Stem: lighter than the cap, longitudinally fibrous or scaly
  • Flesh: light, reddening after a while; Lamellae thick, distant, attached
  • Smell: if these toadstools lie for a long time after soapy water
  • Taste: unpleasant, possibly floury
  • Occurrence: September to November, deciduous and coniferous forest, undemanding
  • Confusion: with other knightlings (without red flesh and soapy smell)
  • Toxic substances: similarly toxic effect as sulfur knightling

Pointed Roughneck (Cortinarius rubellus)

Source: Andreas Kunze, 2006-07-12 Cortinarius rubellus 2, Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Cap: 3 to 8 cm across, orange-brownish, rusty or cinnamon-orange, colorful appearance, thin, pointed or rounded in the middle (name!), cap skin finely felted or scabbed
  • Stem: color like hat, light serpentine
  • Flesh: yellowish to rusty brown; Lamellae distant, thick
  • Odour: faintly radish-like
  • Occurrence: August to October, coniferous forest, acidic soil, in peat moss, sociable
  • Tree partners: spruces
  • Risk of confusion: Mainly with other roughnecks, which, however, are not all edible.
  • Toxins: Orellanine, can cause fatal kidney failure

waxy, white lead and Runny-frosted hopper (Clitocybe candicans, C phyllophila, C.rivulosa)

Source: Jerzy Opioła, Clitocybe phyllophila T71 (1), Edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

These mushrooms are so similar that they can easily be confused with one another. All three species are toadstools.

  • Cap: 1 to 8 cm wide, whitish to flesh-colored when young, frosted, cap skin later spotted, often flat, funnel only indicated
  • Stem: whitish, base often overgrown by mycelium
  • Flesh: whitish to flesh-colored; Lamellae straight or decurrent, first white later flesh-colored
  • Odour: sweet and sour
  • Taste: mild
  • Occurrence: August to November, rarely also December, deciduous and coniferous forests, parks, field edges, meadows, sometimes forming witch rings
  • Confusion: Larger specimens can be confused with red-bellied knightlings
  • Toxic substances: toxic effect similar to rancid funnel larvae

Brick red sulfurhead (Hypholoma sublateritium)

Source: Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand, Hypholoma sublateritium (Brick Woodtuft) (19323557631), Edited by Plantopedia, CC0 1.0
  • Cap: 3 to 10 cm wide, brick-red, especially in the middle, lighter towards the outside, yellowish, edge covered with vellum flakes
  • Stem: light, whitish to yellowish, base rather brownish
  • Flesh: light; Lamellae grey-green, olive-brown with age
  • Taste: bitter
  • Occurrence: August to November, in clusters on deciduous stumps
  • Toxic substances: The toxic effect is based on the same ingredients as in the green-leaved brimstone.

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