How to tell Gypsy mushroom from Fool's webcap
How they differ, how to recognize them and which is more dangerous — a mushroom comparison
Warning: Fool's webcap(Cortinarius orellanus)
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 among webcaps), as well as the related compounds orelline and orellinine. Orellanine is a nephrotoxin that destroys the cells of the kidneys' proximal tubules through oxidative stress. It accumulates in the kidneys and produces symptoms slowly.
Its unique feature is a record delay of 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, occasionally even later. Because of this delay: people don't link their worsening condition to a mushroom eaten a week earlier, by then several portions may already have been eaten, medical help comes late — when the kidneys are already badly damaged, activated charcoal and gastric lavage are no longer effective.
Clinical phases:
Phase 1 (from day 2, most often days 3-7): thirst, dry mouth, headache, nausea, lower back (kidney) pain, mild gastroenteritis. The symptoms are often written off as a cold or food poisoning.
Phase 2 (days 7-14): oliguria (reduced urination), then anuria (no urine at all). Rising creatinine and urea in the blood, hyperkalemia. This is the phase of full-blown acute kidney failure.
Phase 3 (day 14+): either recovery of kidney function (partial, with scarring), or progression to chronic kidney failure requiring lifelong hemodialysis or a kidney transplant.
Deaths have been described (for instance in a mass poisoning in Poland), but the more common outcome is chronic kidney failure: in the review by Danel et al. (2001) it developed in about half of the cases.
Treatment: there is NO specific antidote. Symptomatic: hemodialysis to remove toxins and support the kidneys, infusion therapy, electrolyte correction, and in severe cases a kidney transplant. The effectiveness of treatment depends critically on early detection — the sooner doctors start monitoring the kidneys, the sooner they can begin supportive treatment and dialysis. There is no specific treatment proven to limit the damage.
Prevention: no orange-russet gilled mushroom with a cobwebby cortina goes into the basket. NO EXCEPTIONS. It has no culinary value, and there are no similar edible species on a dangerous scale (the chanterelle has ridges instead of gills, honey fungus has a ring and paler gills).
If you suspect poisoning, call an ambulance immediately: 112 (the European emergency number) or your local emergency number
The short answer
Gypsy mushroom and Fool's webcap look alike, so they're easy to mix up — but Gypsy mushroom is edible, while Fool's webcap is deadly poisonous. The main visible difference: use: Gypsy mushroom — cook fresh, drying, pickling, salting, Fool's webcap — not eaten. The mushrooms also differ in the following features: cap color, cap surface, taste. If you have even the slightest doubt, leave the mushroom be.
Gypsy mushroom
Cortinarius caperatus
Fool's webcap
Cortinarius orellanus
📊 Comparing characteristics
⚠ Highlighted rows are the key differences between the edible and the dangerous mushroom
| Characteristic | Gypsy mushroom | Fool's webcap |
|---|---|---|
| ⚠ Edibility class | Gypsy mushroom Edible | Fool's webcap Deadly poisonous |
| Season | Gypsy mushroom SummerAutumn | Fool's webcap SummerAutumn |
| ⚠ Use | Gypsy mushroom Cook freshDryingPicklingSalting | Fool's webcap Not eaten |
| Size | Gypsy mushroom Medium (5–15 cm) | Fool's webcap Medium (5–15 cm) |
| ⚠ Cap color | Gypsy mushroom YellowOrangeBrown | Fool's webcap OrangeRedBrown |
| Cap shape | Gypsy mushroom Convex | Fool's webcap Convex |
| ⚠ Cap surface | Gypsy mushroom Cracked | Fool's webcap Velvety |
| ⚠ Taste | Gypsy mushroom Mild | Fool's webcap Unknown |
| ⚠ Smell | Gypsy mushroom Pleasant | Fool's webcap Odorless |
| Flesh color change | Gypsy mushroom No change | Fool's webcap No change |
| Hymenophore | Gypsy mushroom Gilled | Fool's webcap Gilled |
| Stem | Gypsy mushroom Central | Fool's webcap Central |
| ⚠ Ring (veil) | Gypsy mushroom Ring present | Fool's webcap Ring remnants |
| Volva | Gypsy mushroom No volva | Fool's webcap No volva |
| ⚠ Substrate | Gypsy mushroom SoilMoss | Fool's webcap Soil |
| Nutrition type | Gypsy mushroom Mycorrhizal | Fool's webcap Mycorrhizal |
| ⚠ Partner trees | Gypsy mushroom SprucePineFirBirchBeech | Fool's webcap OakBeechBirch |
📅 Seasonality
Gypsy mushroom
Fruiting season
August – October
Fool's webcap
Fruiting season
August – October
🔬 Morphology
Cap
Gypsy mushroom
The cap is 4-10 cm across, egg-shaped or hemispherical in young mushrooms, becoming convex and spread out with a broad umbo in the center. The color is ochre-yellow, egg-yolk colored, parchment-yellow, with a characteristic violet-grayish floury bloom in young mushrooms (especially in the center of the cap) — this silvery-violet crust often rubs off with age. The surface is radially wrinkled, as if crumpled. The skin is thin.
Fool's webcap
Cap 3-8 cm across, hemispherical to conical-convex in young mushrooms, later becoming convex to flat with a low umbo. Color orange-red, fiery orange, russet-orange, darker in the center, paler at the margin. Surface velvety and dryish, microscopically scaly, not slimy. The cap margin is thin, with fine radial fibers in young mushrooms.
Hymenophore
Gypsy mushroom
Gilled hymenophore. The gills are fairly crowded, notched where they meet the stem. In young mushrooms they are cream, clay-ochre in mature ones, turning rusty brown with age (because of the spore color). The spore print is rusty brown — typical of the genus Cortinarius. In young mushrooms the gills are covered by a thin cobweb-like veil (the cortina) — the main feature of the genus Cortinarius.
Fool's webcap
Gills — attached to the stem, widely spaced, broad. In young mushrooms russet-orange, darkening over time to rusty brown as the spore powder ripens. Spore print rusty brown — a diagnostic feature of the genus Cortinarius. In young mushrooms the gills are covered by a cobweb-like partial veil (cortina).
Stem
Gypsy mushroom
The stem is 6-12 cm tall, 1-2 cm thick, cylindrical or slightly thickened toward the base. White to cream, with white mycelial fuzz at the base. It has a simple membranous ring in the upper part — a remnant of the partial veil. This ring is a diagnostic feature of the species that sets it apart from other Cortinarius.
Fool's webcap
Stem 4-9 cm tall, 0.7-1.5 cm thick, cylindrical, long, relatively slender, often thickening toward the base. Color yellow-orange to yellow, paler toward the base. The surface has fine lengthwise fibers. Remnants of the cobwebby cortina on the stem form a thin band with rusty-brown spores that have settled on the veil remnant.
Flesh
Gypsy mushroom
The flesh is firm, white, meaty. It does not change color when cut. It has a pleasant mushroomy aroma and a delicate nutty taste.
Fool's webcap
Flesh firm, orange-yellow to brownish yellow. When cut, it does not change color. Smell faint, neutral; in some populations with a hint of radish. Taste mild, indistinct (do NOT taste it — even a small amount of toxin is dangerous).
Smell
Gypsy mushroom
Pleasantly mushroomy, with a note of fresh nuts. The taste is mild and delicate. One of the finest aromas among forest mushrooms of the genus Cortinarius.
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.
📍 Habitats
Gypsy mushroom
Fool's webcap
👀 Similar mushrooms — don't mix them up!
❓ Frequently asked questions
Can Gypsy mushroom and Fool's webcap be mixed up?
How to tell Gypsy mushroom from Fool's webcap?
Which is more dangerous — Gypsy mushroom or Fool's webcap?
Is Fool's webcap edible?
When do Gypsy mushroom and Fool's webcap grow?
Sources
- [1]Вікіпедія (українська)
- [2]Атлас грибів України, Зеров Д.К. (1979)
- [3]MycoBank Database
- [4]Index Fungorum
- [5]GBIF
- [6]iNaturalist Ukraine