How to tell Deadly webcap from Fool's webcap
Deadly webcap and Fool's webcap look alike, so they're easy to mix up — but Deadly webcap is deadly poisonous, while Fool's webcap is deadly poisonous. The main visible difference: ring (veil): Deadly webcap — cobweb-like, Fool's webcap — ring remnants. The mushrooms also differ in the following features: cap surface, smell. If you have even the slightest doubt, leave the mushroom be.
Not sure? Identify by photoSide by side
| Characteristic | Deadly webcap | Fool's webcap |
|---|---|---|
| Cap colour | Deadly webcap: Orange, Rusty, Brown | Fool's webcap: Orange, Red, Brown |
| Cap shape | Deadly webcap: Conical, Convex, Umbonate | Fool's webcap: Convex |
| Cap surface | Deadly webcap: Fibrous, Dry | Fool's webcap: Velvety |
| Smell | Deadly webcap: Radish-like | Fool's webcap: Odourless |
| Stem | Deadly webcap: Central, Solid | Fool's webcap: Central |
| Ring (veil) | Deadly webcap: Cobweb-like | Fool's webcap: Ring remnants |
| Substrate | Deadly webcap: Soil, Moss | Fool's webcap: Soil |
| Partner trees | Deadly webcap: Spruce, Pine, Fir | Fool's webcap: Oak, Beech, Hornbeam, Pine |
| Growth habit | Deadly webcap: Solitary, In groups | Fool's webcap: In groups |
Same in both: edibility class, season, use, size, taste, flesh colour change, hymenophore, nutrition type.
DEADLY POISONOUS
Eating it can cause death. Do not pick it and do not taste it.
If you suspect poisoning, call your local emergency number (112 in the EU, 999 in the UK) immediately
DEADLY POISONOUS
Eating it can cause death. Do not pick it and do not taste it.
It contains orellanine (Cortinarius orellanus contains the highest concentrations of any webcap), along with the related compounds orelline and orellinine. Orellanine is a nephrotoxin: through oxidative stress it destroys the cells of the kidneys' proximal tubules. It builds up in the kidneys and causes symptoms slowly.
What sets it apart is a record delay before symptoms: in a review of 90 described poisonings (Danel et al., 2001), digestive upset usually appeared on the third day and signs of kidney damage on the eighth or ninth, sometimes only after two to three weeks. Because of this delay: people don't connect their worsening condition with a mushroom eaten a week earlier, several portions may have been eaten by then, medical help comes late, when the kidneys are already badly damaged, activated charcoal and gastric lavage no longer work.
Clinical phases:
Phase 1 (after several days, on average on day 3): thirst, dry mouth, headache, nausea, lower back (kidney) pain, mild gastroenteritis. People often put the symptoms down to a cold or food poisoning.
Phase 2 (on average from day 8 or 9, sometimes later): oliguria (reduced urination), then anuria (no urine at all). Creatinine and urea rise in the blood, along with hyperkalemia. This is full-blown acute kidney failure.
Phase 3 (the following weeks): either kidney function recovers (partially, with scarring), or the illness progresses to chronic kidney failure requiring lifelong hemodialysis or a kidney transplant.
Deaths have been described (rarely), but chronic kidney failure is the more common outcome: in the review by Danel et al. (2001) it developed in about half of the cases.
Treatment: there is NO specific antidote. Treatment is symptomatic: hemodialysis to remove toxins and support the kidneys, infusion therapy, electrolyte correction and, in severe cases, a kidney transplant. How well treatment works depends critically on early detection: the sooner doctors start monitoring the kidneys, the sooner they can begin supportive treatment and dialysis. No specific treatment has been proven to limit the damage.
Prevention: no orange-russet gilled mushroom with a cobwebby cortina goes into the basket. NO EXCEPTIONS. It's worthless in the kitchen, and no edible species resembles it closely enough to be a real risk (the chanterelle has ridges instead of gills; honey fungus has a ring and paler gills).
If you suspect poisoning, call your local emergency number (112 in the EU, 999 in the UK) immediately
When and where they meet
Together: July–November
What they look like
Cap, Hymenophore, Stem, Flesh, Smell
Cap
Deadly webcap
The cap is 3 to 8 cm across. It starts conical or bell-shaped, then becomes convex and flattened, but keeps a bump in the middle. The bump is often pointed but can be blunt, so it isn't a reliable feature.
The colour is tawny orange, fox brown or reddish brown. The surface is dry, finely felty and fibrous, sometimes finely scaly towards the margin.
Fool's webcap
The cap is 4-7 cm across, hemispherical to conical-convex when young, later convex to flat with a low umbo. It's orange-red, fiery orange or russet-orange, darker in the centre and paler at the margin. The surface is velvety and dryish, microscopically scaly, not slimy. The margin is thin, with fine radial fibres in young mushrooms.
Hymenophore
Deadly webcap
The gills are true, thin and broad, fairly widely spaced and attached to the stem. In young specimens they're ochre to cinnamon-orange and hidden by a cobweb-like veil stretching from the cap edge to the stem. As the spores ripen, the gills turn rusty brown.
The spore print is rusty brown. Those true gills are what separate it from chanterelles, which have only thick, forked ridges underneath.
Fool's webcap
The gills are attached to the stem, widely spaced and broad. They start russet-orange and darken to rusty brown as the spores ripen. The spore print is rusty brown, a diagnostic feature of the genus Cortinarius. In young mushrooms the gills are covered by a cobweb-like partial veil (cortina).
Stem
Deadly webcap
The stem is 5 to 12 cm tall and 0.5 to 1.5 cm thick, cylindrical, slightly thickened or tapering at the base. It's the same colour as the cap or paler, with a fibrous surface.
The key feature is yellow to golden bands or a zigzag pattern left by the veil, clearest on young specimens. On old ones they can almost disappear.
Fool's webcap
The stem is 4-9 cm tall and 0.7-1.5 cm thick, cylindrical, long and relatively slender, often thickening toward the base. It's yellow-orange to yellow, paler toward the base, with fine lengthwise fibres on the surface. Remnants of the cobwebby cortina form a thin band on the stem, coloured by rusty-brown spores that have settled on it.
Flesh
Deadly webcap
The flesh is yellowish to orange-yellow, rusty brown at the stem base, and doesn't change colour when cut.
Fool's webcap
The flesh is firm, orange-yellow to brownish yellow and does not change colour when cut. The smell is faint and neutral, in some populations with a hint of radish. The taste is mild and indistinct (do NOT taste it: even a small amount of toxin is dangerous).
Smell
Deadly webcap
The smell is faint and slightly radish-like. It won't help you identify it. Never taste it, not even a small piece: the toxin works in small amounts.
Fool's webcap
Faint and neutral, with no distinctive notes. The smell is NOT a warning sign — the mushroom smells neutral, which makes it even more treacherous.
Related comparisons
Sources · 22
- [1]Index Fungorum
- [2]GBIF
- [3]Wikipedia (English)
- [4]Википедия (русская)
- [5]First Nature: Cortinarius rubellus, Deadly Webcap
- [6]NBN Atlas: Cortinarius rubellus, Deadly Webcap
- [7]GBIF: знахідка Cortinarius rubellus в Україні (заповідник «Ґорґани», 2010)
- [8]Short A.I.K., Watling R., MacDonald M.K., Robson J.S. Poisoning by Cortinarius speciosissimus. Lancet, 1980, 2(8201): 942–944, Short A.I.K. et al. (1980)
- [9]Holmdahl J., Blohmé I. Renal transplantation after Cortinarius speciosissimus poisoning. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, 1995, 10(10): 1920–1922, Holmdahl J., Blohmé I. (1995)
- [10]Lyons M.M. et al. Orellanine: from fungal origin to a potential future cancer treatment. Journal of Natural Products, 2023, Lyons M.M. et al. (2023)
- [11]Flament E. et al. Human poisoning from poisonous higher fungi: focus on analytical toxicology and case reports in forensic toxicology. Pharmaceuticals, 2020, 13(12): 454, Flament E. et al. (2020)
- [12]Helsenorge (Giftinformasjonen): spiss giftslørsopp er en meget giftig sopp
- [13]Folkehelseinstituttet: Отруйні гриби в Норвегії (українською), 2026
- [14]Wikigrib: Паутинник красивейший
- [15]The Naked Scientists: Nicholas Evans, a poisonous mistake (interview)
- [16]Fox News / AP: Author of The Horse Whisperer recovering after eating toxic mushrooms, 03.09.2008
- [17]Duffy T.J. Toxic Fungi of Western North America: orellanine (MykoWeb)
- [18]National Poisons Information Centre of Ireland
- [19]Вікіпедія (українська)
- [20]Атлас грибів України, Зеров Д.К. (1979)
- [21]MycoBank Database
- [22]iNaturalist Ukraine