How to tell St George's mushroom from Fool's funnel
How they differ, how to recognize them and which is more dangerous — a mushroom comparison
Warning: Fool's funnel(Clitocybe rivulosa)
POISONOUS
Eating it causes poisoning. Do not pick it unless you have identified it with certainty.
Toxin: muscarine in high concentration. Symptoms begin 15-60 minutes after eating (fast). The classic muscarinic syndrome (PSL): profuse salivation (liters of it), heavy sweating that soaks through clothing, tearing, runny nose, constricted pupils (miosis), bronchospasm with a feeling of suffocation, bradycardia down to 30-40 bpm, a drop in blood pressure, intestinal cramps, diarrhea, nausea. In severe cases — collapse, pulmonary edema, risk of cardiac arrest. The antidote is atropine, given in hospital under ECG monitoring. If you suspect poisoning, call 112 or your local emergency number immediately. Keep the mushroom remains and any vomit. The prognosis is favorable with prompt treatment (1-2 hours).
If you suspect poisoning, call an ambulance immediately: 112 (the European emergency number) or your local emergency number
The short answer
St George's mushroom and Fool's funnel look alike, so they're easy to mix up — but St George's mushroom is edible, while Fool's funnel is poisonous. The main visible difference: season: St George's mushroom — spring, Fool's funnel — summer, autumn. The mushrooms also differ in the following features: use, size, cap color. If you have even the slightest doubt, leave the mushroom be.
Fool's funnel
Clitocybe rivulosa
St George's mushroom
Calocybe gambosa
📊 Comparing characteristics
⚠ Highlighted rows are the key differences between the edible and the dangerous mushroom
| Characteristic | Fool's funnel | St George's mushroom |
|---|---|---|
| ⚠ Edibility class | Fool's funnel Poisonous | St George's mushroom Edible |
| ⚠ Season | Fool's funnel SummerAutumn | St George's mushroom Spring |
| ⚠ Use | Fool's funnel Not eaten | St George's mushroom Cook freshDryingPickling |
| ⚠ Size | Fool's funnel Small (up to 5 cm) | St George's mushroom Large (over 15 cm) |
| ⚠ Cap color | Fool's funnel WhiteCreamPink | St George's mushroom WhiteCream |
| ⚠ Cap shape | Fool's funnel Flat | St George's mushroom Convex |
| Cap surface | Fool's funnel Smooth | St George's mushroom Smooth |
| Taste | Fool's funnel Mild | St George's mushroom Mild |
| Smell | Fool's funnel Floury | St George's mushroom Floury |
| Flesh color change | Fool's funnel No change | St George's mushroom No change |
| Hymenophore | Fool's funnel Gilled | St George's mushroom Gilled |
| Stem | Fool's funnel Central | St George's mushroom Central |
| Ring (veil) | Fool's funnel No ring | St George's mushroom No ring |
| Volva | Fool's funnel No volva | St George's mushroom No volva |
| Substrate | Fool's funnel Soil | St George's mushroom Soil |
| Nutrition type | Fool's funnel Saprotroph | St George's mushroom Saprotroph |
📅 Seasonality
Fool's funnel
Fruiting season
August – November
St George's mushroom
Fruiting season
April – June
🔬 Morphology
Cap
Fool's funnel
The cap is 2-5 cm across, convex in young mushrooms, becoming flat and spread out or slightly funnel-shaped with a thin wavy margin. The color is whitish to cream, with characteristic pinkish-cream concentric zones or streaks from the center to the margin — a diagnostic feature. The surface is silky-matte; in wet weather the skin is somewhat sticky.
St George's mushroom
The cap is 5-15 cm across (large, fleshy); when young it is hemispherical with an inrolled margin, with age becoming flat-convex, and in old specimens flat and spread out with a wavy margin. The skin is smooth, dry and matte in wet weather, with a fine felty fibrousness. Color: creamy white, ochre-cream, with a faint brownish tint at the center; in old specimens creamy ochre. The margin is even — inrolled when young, wavy and irregular when old.
Hymenophore
Fool's funnel
Gilled hymenophore. The gills are crowded and thin, decurrent down the stem (a feature typical of the genus Clitocybe). Whitish to pale pink. The spore print is white.
St George's mushroom
Lamellate hymenophore: the gills are notched (emarginate) at the stem, very crowded, thin, fleshy. Color: pure white to creamy white, with no pink or green tint — a diagnostic feature (it sets the mushroom apart from the poisonous Entoloma sinuatum, whose gills turn pink). Spore print white.
Stem
Fool's funnel
The stem is 2-5 cm tall, 0.4-0.8 cm thick, slender, cylindrical, often curved. Whitish to cream, with white mycelial fuzz at the base. The surface is smooth, with no ring.
St George's mushroom
The stem is 3-7 cm tall, 1.5-3 cm thick — much shorter and thicker than the cap is wide (hence gambosa — "short-legged"). Cylindrical, thickening toward the base, firm, fleshy. Color: white to creamy white. Surface: smooth, with fine lengthwise fibers in the lower part. No ring.
Flesh
Fool's funnel
The flesh is thin, white, watery and brittle. It does not change color when cut. A faint, sweetish smell and mild taste — dangerously "normal".
St George's mushroom
The flesh is very firm, fleshy, pure white. It does not change color when cut. Smell: distinctly mealy, sharp and characteristic (like freshly milled flour or dough); taste sweetish and nutty, with no bitterness.
Smell
Fool's funnel
Faint, sweetish and not distinctive. Nothing alarming. The taste is mild. Neither smell nor taste gives away that it is poisonous.
St George's mushroom
Distinctly mealy, like freshly milled flour or raw dough — a diagnostic feature, easy to notice on a cut surface.
📍 Habitats
Fool's funnel
St George's mushroom
👀 Similar mushrooms — don't mix them up!
❓ Frequently asked questions
Can St George's mushroom and Fool's funnel be mixed up?
How to tell St George's mushroom from Fool's funnel?
Which is more dangerous — St George's mushroom or Fool's funnel?
Is Fool's funnel edible?
When do St George's mushroom and Fool's funnel grow?
Sources
- [1]Вікіпедія (українська)
- [2]Атлас грибів України, Зеров Д.К. (1979)
- [3]MycoBank Database
- [4]Index Fungorum
- [5]GBIF
- [6]iNaturalist Ukraine