How to tell Grisette from Destroying angel

Cap 5-12 cm across, hemispherical to egg-shaped in young mushrooms, becoming convex to flat with age. Color entirely white, creamy white, slightly yellowish in the center in old specimens. Surface smooth, slightly sticky in wet weather. No scales, no warts, no veil on the mature cap (unlike the fly agaric or Caesar's mushroom).

Cap 5-10 cm across, hemispherical to egg-shaped when young, later becoming convex-flat with a low umbo. Color gray, ash-gray, mouse-gray, darker at the center. Surface smooth, slightly slimy in wet weather. The cap margin has characteristic radial grooves (like the ribs of an umbrella), a diagnostic feature of section Vaginatae. Whitish patches of veil remnants may stay on the cap.

Gilled hymenophore — gills white, free (not attached to the stem), moderately crowded. Spore print white. As in the rest of Amanita section Phalloideae, to which this species belongs, the gills are always white and free, even in mature specimens — unlike those of Agaricus.

Gilled hymenophore: the gills are free, crowded, pure white. Spore print white.

Stem 8-15 cm tall, 1-2 cm thick, cylindrical, long, slender, with a sac-like volva at the base (a remnant of the universal veil that looks like an eggshell). Color entirely white. In the upper part — a white membranous ring; firm in young specimens, may disappear in old ones. The stem surface often has thin white flaky scales and fibers.

Stem 10-18 cm tall, 0.8-1.5 cm thick, thin, slender, tall, slightly thickened toward the base. Color whitish, sometimes with fine grayish fibers or a zigzag pattern. No ring. At the base: a sac-like, eggshell volva, just like the destroying angel's.

Flesh firm, entirely white. It does not change color when cut (unlike, for example, Agaricus mushrooms, which turn pink and darken). The smell gradually becomes unpleasant, with a hint of stale potato or chlorine — hence the epithet "stinking" in its Ukrainian name. In young mushrooms the smell is still faint, so don't rely on it as the only sign.

Flesh thin, soft, white. When cut, it does not change color. Smell faint and neutral.

Faint and unpleasant, with a hint of old potato, chlorine or fish — especially in old specimens and when the flesh is damaged. Not diagnostic for safety: the smell develops only after some time, and a young mushroom with no distinct smell can still end up in the basket and cause fatal poisoning.

Faint, neutral, mushroomy, with no distinctive notes.