How to tell Paddy straw mushroom 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 5-12 cm across; when young it is completely wrapped in a whitish volva membrane (like an egg); with age it breaks free and becomes egg-shaped at first, then bell-shaped to convex, and flat and spread out in old mushrooms. The cap skin is smooth with fine radial fibers. The color is gray-brown, grayish-black in the center, paler toward the edge. The margin is even, with fine radial grooves in mature mushrooms.

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 from the stem (not attached!), crowded, thin. In young mushrooms they are whitish, and with age they turn pink to pinkish-brown, a diagnostic feature. The spore print is pink, and that is exactly what sets it apart from the white spore print of amanitas.

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 5-15 cm tall, 1-2 cm thick, firm, cylindrical, thickening toward the base. The color is white to cream, the surface smooth with fine lengthwise fibers. At the base there is a distinct SAC-LIKE VOLVA (a remnant of the universal veil) that stays for the mushroom's whole life. No ring.

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 firm, tender, white to grayish-cream; it doesn't change color when cut. The smell is pleasantly mushroomy with a hint of freshly ground flour, the taste mild, delicate, pleasantly mushroomy.

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.

Pleasantly mushroomy with a hint of flour, neutral and slightly sweet.