Key Features:

• Cap pale green to green, greenish-yellow, or oIive- brown when fresh (but often fading to tan or paler).

• Cap usually bald (without warts, but sometimes with a thin white patch of universal veil tissue).

• Edge of cap typically without radial lines or furrows.

• Gills white in all stages.

• Partial veil present, at first covering the gills, then usually forming a skirtlike ring on upper stalk.

• Universal veil white, enveloping the young mushroom, then forming a sack or cup (valva) at base of stalk.

• Always growing near or under trees.

 Other Features: Medium-sized; cap often with a metallic luster; odor usually pungent in age; stalk white or tinged green, base usually thickened or with a bulb; spores white.

 Where: On ground in woods and near planted trees, often in groups; abundant throughout much of California under oak, and recently found in Oregon and Washington. It was probably introduced from Europe, and appears to be spreading.

 Edibility: Deadly poisonous! A single mushroom can be fatal if eaten, but there is no harm in handling it.

 Note: Some death caps may lack one or more of the above features. For instance, rain or sun can bleach the cap or cause small furrows to form on its edge, the ring may disappear, or the volva can be carelessly overlooked. If you value your life, learn to recognize the deadly amanitas in all their guises before eating any white-gilled mushroom.