Green

The chief killer with a green cap

When it comes to a green cap, the first thing every forager should think of is the death cap (Amanita phalloides).

According to descriptions by M.Ya. Zerova and David Arora, the classic death cap has a cap ranging from pale green to olive-green (sometimes with a silky sheen or darker innate fibrils). It contains deadly amatoxins. The tragedy is that its green cap makes it incredibly similar to a popular edible mushroom — the green brittlegill.

Edible green mushrooms

Roger Phillips lists edible mushrooms that have green pigments, but only very experienced mycologists should pick them:

1. Green brittlegill (Russula aeruginea) and greencracked brittlegill (Russula virescens): Excellent, tasty mushrooms with a grey-green or grassy-green (cracked) cap. They have no ring on the stem and no volva (sac) at the base, which is the main and only reliable way to tell them apart from the death cap.

2. Yellow knight (Tricholoma equestre): Has a yellow-green cap that is often completely buried in the sand of pine forests.

3. Verdigris agaric (Stropharia aeruginosa): A very beautiful small mushroom with a bright emerald-green slimy cap covered in white flakes. It is considered conditionally edible but is rarely picked.