Death cap
Amanita phalloides
A potentially lethal mushroom associated with amatoxin poisoning. California poisoning cases show the severe consequences of confusing wild mushrooms with familiar food species.
- Family
- Amanitaceae
- Regional status
- Introduced
- Habitat
- Woodland & urban trees
- Safety
- Potentially fatal
A closer look.
Amatoxins can cause severe liver injury. Illness may be delayed after ingestion, and temporary improvement does not establish recovery. Cooking does not make amatoxin-containing mushrooms safe. Photographs and brief feature lists cannot establish a safe mushroom identity.
CDC · Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2017 ↗ · National Capital Poison Center ↗
Compared with linked references on October 22, 2026. This is source verification, not independent expert review or an identification guarantee. Seasonal tags are approximate. Specimen maps show a selected historical subset.
Through the seasons
A wet-season awareness selection, not a prediction of fruiting or a claim that the species is absent in other seasons.
Knowledge has a context.
Historical accounts are presented as attributed records, not endorsed practices, medical advice, or permission to harvest.
No historical-use account is included. The verified focus of this record is poisoning risk; historical narratives must never imply that this mushroom is safe to ingest.
A record of where it was found.
California occurrence and poisoning are documented. Specimen records do not establish local safety or absence; poisonous mushrooms can occur outside recorded collection areas.
Woodland & urban trees
Northern California · Central California · Southern California
Historical collections are evidence of recorded locations, not a continuous range, current presence, abundance, native status, or confirmed identification. Unmapped places are not evidence of absence.
What this map includes
From the first 60 results returned by the stored GBIF query, 56 specimens met the coordinate and reuse filters; 4 were excluded. The query matched 60 records at retrieval. This subset is not random or exhaustive.
Records are labeled California, have coordinates, and lack GBIF geospatial-issue flags. We exclude known coordinate uncertainty above 25 km and use only CC0 or CC BY 4.0 records. 6 included records do not report coordinate uncertainty. A 0.25° cell is about 28 km north to south; it does not show an exact collecting site.
Matched taxon: Amanita phalloides ↗.
Inspect the stored query ↗ · Download the attributed snapshot ↓
CDC · Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2017 ↗ · National Capital Poison Center ↗
Data publishers & selected records
Dataset citations apply to the contributing specimens. The snapshot retains record IDs, original ownership, and reuse licenses; coordinates are generalized to a quarter-degree grid.
- University of Illinois, Illinois Natural History Survey Fungarium - Fungi ↗
Illinois Natural History Survey (2026). University of Illinois, Illinois Natural History Survey Fungarium - Fungi. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/4eknz8 accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-26.
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode · accessed October 26, 2026
- San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium ↗
Harry D. Thiers Herbarium (SFSU) (2026). San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/zvmmvn accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-26.
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode · accessed October 26, 2026
- Field Museum of Natural History (Botany) Fungi Collection ↗
Grant S, Webbink K, von Konrat M (2024). Field Museum of Natural History (Botany) Fungi Collection. Version 4.14. Field Museum. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/x2hjnp accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-26.
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode · accessed October 26, 2026
- Herbarium of Umeå University (UME) ↗
Ericson N, Stenman K (2026). Herbarium of Umeå University (UME). Umeå University. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/gatdg4 accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-26.
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode · accessed October 26, 2026
- University of Washington Herbarium (WTU) - Macrofungi Collection ↗
Giblin D (2025). University of Washington Herbarium (WTU) - Macrofungi Collection. University of Washington Burke Museum. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/ajny5r accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-26.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode · accessed October 26, 2026
- Denver Botanic Gardens, Sam Mitchel Herbarium of Fungi ↗
Sam Mitchel Herbarium of Fungi (Denver Botanic Gardens) (2026). Denver Botanic Gardens, Sam Mitchel Herbarium of Fungi. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/kuqgug accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-26.
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode · accessed October 26, 2026
- USDA United States National Fungus Collections ↗
USDA-ARS US National Fungus Collection (2026). USDA United States National Fungus Collections. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/w78rwb accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-26.
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode · accessed October 26, 2026
- The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY) ↗
Ramirez J, Watson K, Feder L, Gjieli E, Sessa E (2026). The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY). Version 1.104. The New York Botanical Garden. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/6e8nje accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-26.
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode · accessed October 26, 2026
- University of California Santa Cruz Fungal Herbarium ↗
Kenneth S. Norris Center for Natural History (2026). University of California Santa Cruz Fungal Herbarium. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/hpmk35 accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-26.
http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode · accessed October 26, 2026
- Agaricales externi ↗
Finnish Museum of Natural History - Botany and Mycology Unit (2026). Agaricales externi. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/4kr67v accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-10-26.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode · accessed October 26, 2026
View 56 included specimen records
- GBIF 6249168301 ↗ · 2025Denver Botanic Gardens, Sam Mitchel Herbarium of Fungi · Andrew W. Wilson · License
- GBIF 3914973042 ↗ · 2012University of California Santa Cruz Fungal Herbarium · Christian Schwarz · License
- GBIF 3914973036 ↗ · 2011University of California Santa Cruz Fungal Herbarium · Christian Schwarz · License
- GBIF 3914973041 ↗ · 2011University of California Santa Cruz Fungal Herbarium · Noah Siegel · License
- GBIF 5069157672 ↗ · 2005San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D.E. Desjardin · License
- GBIF 5069157710 ↗ · 2004San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D.E. Desjardin · License
- GBIF 5069145193 ↗ · 2004San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D.E. Desjardin · License
- GBIF 1701207418 ↗ · 1998Field Museum of Natural History (Botany) Fungi Collection · D. Pruden · The Field Museum of Natural History · License
- GBIF 5069145188 ↗ · 1993San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · S. Kroll · License
- GBIF 5895586264 ↗ · 1989University of Washington Herbarium (WTU) - Macrofungi Collection · Kit Scates-Barnhart · University of Washington · License
- GBIF 5069157734 ↗ · 1988San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · P. Yurky · License
- GBIF 5069157721 ↗ · 1988San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · R. Zebell · License
- GBIF 5069157122 ↗ · 1986San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · M. T. Seidl · License
- GBIF 5069157074 ↗ · 1986San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · M. Heidt · License
- GBIF 5069145111 ↗ · 1986San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · B. Lachelt · License
- GBIF 5069157711 ↗ · 1984San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · M. T. Seidl · License
- GBIF 5069157673 ↗ · 1984San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · H. D. Thiers · License
- GBIF 5069145109 ↗ · 1983San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · C. J. Calhoun · License
- GBIF 5069157039 ↗ · 1982San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · H. D. Thiers · License
- GBIF 5069157027 ↗ · 1981San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · H. Saylor · License
- GBIF 5069145200 ↗ · 1981San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · H. D. Thiers; F. Stevens · License
- GBIF 5069157744 ↗ · 1981San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · H. D. Thiers; A. Methven · License
- GBIF 5069157749 ↗ · 1981San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · C. Bern · License
- GBIF 5069157718 ↗ · 1979San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · P. De Souza · License
- GBIF 5069157719 ↗ · 1979San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · C. Calhoun · License
- GBIF 5069145167 ↗ · 1977San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · C. Calhoun · License
- GBIF 4100027459 ↗ · 1977USDA United States National Fungus Collections · Stowe, S · License
- GBIF 5898600750 ↗ · 1973University of Illinois, Illinois Natural History Survey Fungarium - Fungi · W.J. Sundberg · License
- GBIF 5069145108 ↗ · 1972San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · H. D. Thiers; R. Brown · License
- GBIF 4099921399 ↗ · 1972USDA United States National Fungus Collections · Tavares, I. · License
- GBIF 4996367619 ↗ · 1972Herbarium of Umeå University (UME) · Isabelle Tavares · License
- GBIF 5069157671 ↗ · 1972San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · H. D. Thiers · License
- GBIF 4023672655 ↗ · 1972Agaricales externi · Tavares, Isabelle · License
- GBIF 4099921395 ↗ · 1970USDA United States National Fungus Collections · Tavares, I. · License
- GBIF 5898600874 ↗ · 1970University of Illinois, Illinois Natural History Survey Fungarium - Fungi · W.J. Sundberg · License
- GBIF 5069145112 ↗ · 1970San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · B. Shervanick · License
- GBIF 5069157704 ↗ · 1970San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · H. D. Thiers; P. Moorhead · License
- GBIF 5069145206 ↗ · 1969San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · R. Keller · License
- GBIF 5069145207 ↗ · 1968San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · D. Largent · License
- GBIF 5069157712 ↗ · 1968San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · R. Setzer · License
- GBIF 5069157165 ↗ · 1967San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · G. Breckon; H. D. Thiers · License
- GBIF 1929012064 ↗ · 1964The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY) · Collector unspecified · The New York Botanical Garden · License
- GBIF 5069157075 ↗ · 1963San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · G. Breckon · License
- GBIF 4099449407 ↗ · 1963USDA United States National Fungus Collections · Tavares, I. · License
- GBIF 5069145205 ↗ · 1963San Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · H. D. Thiers · License
- GBIF 1930362433 ↗ · 1962The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY) · R. T. Orr · The New York Botanical Garden · License
- GBIF 1930798043 ↗ · 1962The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY) · G. Holtz · The New York Botanical Garden · License
- GBIF 1929294656 ↗ · 1962The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY) · R. T. Orr · The New York Botanical Garden · License
- GBIF 1929525740 ↗ · 1962The New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY) · R. T. Orr · The New York Botanical Garden · License
- GBIF 4099442378 ↗ · 1939USDA United States National Fungus Collections · Morse, E. E. · License
- GBIF 4099909382 ↗ · 1934USDA United States National Fungus Collections · Wright, C. · License
- GBIF 4099921400 ↗ · 1916USDA United States National Fungus Collections · McMurphy, J. · License
- GBIF 1928222018 ↗ · year unrecordedThe New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY) · A. J. McClatchie · The New York Botanical Garden · License
- GBIF 1929104118 ↗ · year unrecordedThe New York Botanical Garden Herbarium (NY) · A. J. McClatchie · The New York Botanical Garden · License
- GBIF 4023672688 ↗ · year unrecordedAgaricales externi · Tavares, Isabelle · License
- GBIF 5069145186 ↗ · year unrecordedSan Francisco State University, Harry D. Thiers Herbarium · S. Hammer; Heidt · License
Darker = more included records, not abundance
Boundary: US Census Bureau TIGERweb ↗ · locations generalized to 0.25° cells
Trace the record.
References are attached to specific parts of this record. A citation is a route to evidence; it is not a claim that every field has completed review.
- 01Amanita phalloides Mushroom Poisonings — Northern California, December 2016 ↗
CDC · Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2017
Supports: Amatoxin poisoning and the danger of consuming misidentified wild mushrooms.
- 02Get help online or by phone ↗
National Capital Poison Center
Supports: Immediate US poison exposure advice and 1-800-222-1222 contact.
- 03GBIF occurrence records & citation guidance ↗
GBIF Secretariat and contributing data publishers
Supports: Specimen occurrence snapshot. Each contributing dataset, DOI where available, record identifier, and license is retained in the downloadable map data.
- 04TIGERweb — States and Counties ↗
US Census Bureau
Supports: Generalized California state outline only; does not imply a species distribution.