How to tell Blushing wood mushroom from Death cap

The death cap's cap is 5–15 cm across, hemispherical when young, then opening out flat.

Its color ranges from olive green and yellowish green to grayish and almost white, which is exactly what makes it tricky to identify. The surface is smooth and a little slimy in wet weather, with a characteristic pattern of darker fibers radiating from the center. The margin is even, with no striations.

Cap 5-12 cm across, hemispherical to egg-shaped when young, opening to convex-flat with age. Brown to dark brown, with distinct dark brown or blackish-brown scales arranged radially. The center is solid-colored, and the scales thin out toward the edge. The surface is dry, not slimy.

The gills are crowded, thin and free, meaning they don't touch the stem. They stay pure white at every age, young or mature, and that's a critical diagnostic feature.

There's no hint of the pink, cream or ochre you'd see in true Agaricus mushrooms. The gap between gills and stem is clear. In young mushrooms a white, membranous veil covers the gills completely.

Gills free, crowded: pinkish-white when young, turning dark brown to chocolate-blackish with age. Spore print dark brown.

The stem is slender, 7–15 cm tall and 1–2 cm thick. It's cylindrical and swells at the base into a characteristic club-shaped bulb wrapped in a membranous, sac-like volva. That volva is the main diagnostic feature.

It's whitish green, often with a faint, banded snakeskin pattern. A well-developed white ring, left over from the veil, hangs in the upper third. Below the ring the surface is faintly scaly.

Stem 6-12 cm tall, 1-2 cm thick, cylindrical, slightly thickened at the base. White to cream, with fine brownish fibers or scales below the ring. A white membranous ring high on the stem, distinct in young mushrooms.

The flesh is white and doesn't change color when cut, and that's the treacherous part: none of the safety signs foragers usually rely on work here. It's thin and brittle in the cap, thicker and firmer at the base of the stem.

It doesn't darken in the air, not after a minute and not after an hour. Don't let "lovely white flesh" reassure you: the white flesh of the death cap is exactly where amanitins are most concentrated.

Flesh firm, white; when cut it quickly and distinctly turns wine-red, especially in the lower stem. This is the classic feature that protects you from mistaking it for Amanita. Pleasant mushroomy smell with an almond-anise note.

Fresh, it has a faint smell that's easy to miss, and young ones barely smell at all. Mature mushrooms pick up a slightly sickly-sweet note, like wilted honey or stale dough.

That smell isn't strong enough to warn an inexperienced forager. Like other poisonous amanitas (the fly agaric, the panther cap), the death cap smells faint and nondescript, so it gives you no warning at all, which is one more treacherous trait. Only rotting mushrooms smell any stronger.

Pleasant and mushroomy, with an almond-anise note. It does not smell of ink or medicine (that would point to the yellow stainer).