Death Cap

    Well, I have once again ticked another mushroom off my "wants" list, this time it's one of the most famous of all fungi, the Death Cap.

   The Death Cap(Amanita phalloides), is deadly poisonous, one of if not the most poisonous in the UK.  It was while on a trip to Thetford Forest that I stumbled on to this beautiful olive capped fungi. It was a very young example only just emerging from the volva and had a really nice light olive green colouring.


   Death Caps are often found near Oak or Beech from the middle of summer through until the end of autumn.

   After finding this first example it was just three days later while on an evening walk at Shouldham Warren that I spotted not just my second but around twenty more. These were all around the base of a small group of Beech trees, they ranged from very young just emerging to large mature examples that were around 7 inches in size.


   I really couldn't believe my eyes, only the second time of seeing a Death Cap and I stand looking at a whole large family, how lucky am I. I'm sure this won't happen again so I took my time to study these beautiful yet deadly mushrooms and as you can guess lots of photos were taken too.


   So keep your eyes open guys, you too may be lucky enough to meet the Death Cap, just please please remember no eating or tasting these mushrooms, they really can kill you.



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