How to tell Red banded webcap 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
Red banded webcap and Fool's webcap look alike, so they're easy to mix up — but Red banded webcap is inedible, while Fool's webcap is deadly poisonous. The main visible difference: cap surface: Red banded webcap — fibrous, Fool's webcap — velvety. The mushrooms also differ in the following features: partner trees. If you have even the slightest doubt, leave the mushroom be.
Red banded webcap
Cortinarius armillatus
Fool's webcap
Cortinarius orellanus
📊 Comparing characteristics
⚠ Highlighted rows are the key differences between the edible and the dangerous mushroom
| Characteristic | Red banded webcap | Fool's webcap |
|---|---|---|
| ⚠ Edibility class | Red banded webcap Inedible | Fool's webcap Deadly poisonous |
| Season | Red banded webcap SummerAutumn | Fool's webcap SummerAutumn |
| Use | Red banded webcap Not eaten | Fool's webcap Not eaten |
| Size | Red banded webcap Medium (5–15 cm) | Fool's webcap Medium (5–15 cm) |
| Cap color | Red banded webcap BrownRedOrange | Fool's webcap OrangeRedBrown |
| Cap shape | Red banded webcap Convex | Fool's webcap Convex |
| ⚠ Cap surface | Red banded webcap Fibrous | Fool's webcap Velvety |
| Taste | Red banded webcap Unknown | Fool's webcap Unknown |
| Smell | Red banded webcap Odorless | Fool's webcap Odorless |
| Flesh color change | Red banded webcap No change | Fool's webcap No change |
| Hymenophore | Red banded webcap Gilled | Fool's webcap Gilled |
| Stem | Red banded webcap Central | Fool's webcap Central |
| Ring (veil) | Red banded webcap Ring remnants | Fool's webcap Ring remnants |
| Volva | Red banded webcap No volva | Fool's webcap No volva |
| Substrate | Red banded webcap Soil | Fool's webcap Soil |
| Nutrition type | Red banded webcap Mycorrhizal | Fool's webcap Mycorrhizal |
| ⚠ Partner trees | Red banded webcap Birch | Fool's webcap OakBeechBirch |
📅 Seasonality
Red banded webcap
Fruiting season
August – October
Fool's webcap
Fruiting season
August – October
🔬 Morphology
Cap
Red banded webcap
Cap 5-12 cm across, hemispherical with an inrolled margin in young mushrooms, later becoming convex with a low umbo. Color red-brown, brick, russet-brown, with a pinkish tint when young. Surface velvety and dryish, with fine radial fibers. The cap margin is thin, with pinkish veil remnants in young mushrooms.
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
Red banded webcap
Gills — attached to the stem, moderately spaced. In young mushrooms light pinkish brown, becoming with age rusty brown, dark brick as the spore powder ripens. Spore print rusty brown. In young mushrooms the gills are covered by a cobweb-like partial veil (cortina).
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
Red banded webcap
Stem 8-15 cm tall, 1-2.5 cm thick, cylindrical, long, thickened toward the base. Color brownish cream, with 2-4 distinct red-orange ring-like "bracelet" bands on the lower half — the diagnostic feature of the species. The surface has fine lengthwise fibers. Near the top there is a faint band left by the cobwebby cortina.
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
Red banded webcap
Flesh firm, brownish cream. When cut, it does not change color. Smell faint; in some populations with a hint of radish.
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
Red banded webcap
Faint and neutral; in some populations with a subtle radish or resinous note.
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
Red banded webcap
Fool's webcap
👀 Similar mushrooms — don't mix them up!
Fool's webcap
Deadly poisonousGoatcheese webcap
InedibleCortinarius multiformis
InedibleBirch webcap
Conditionally edibleScaly knight
Conditionally edibleRed banded webcap
InedibleChanterelle
EdibleWhite webcap
EdibleGypsy mushroom
EdibleCortinarius esculentus
Conditionally edibleBooted knight
Conditionally edible❓ Frequently asked questions
Can Red banded webcap and Fool's webcap be mixed up?
How to tell Red banded webcap from Fool's webcap?
Which is more dangerous — Red banded webcap or Fool's webcap?
Is Fool's webcap edible?
When do Red banded webcap 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