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Deadly☠️ To avoid

🍄 Deadly dapperling (toxic group)

Lepiota brunneoincarnata · Agaricaceae

🌳 Temperate Europe
🧠 To remember it“Small and brown, leave it on the ground” — only the large parasol mushroom with a patterned stem and movable ring is safe to eat.
Deadly dapperling (toxic group) — Lepiota brunneoincarnata

🔍 Identify it without mistakes

Small brown dapperlings found in lawns and open woodlands containing the same deadly amatoxins as the death cap, despite their tiny size. The main danger is confusing them with the parasol mushroom (a large edible giant) by foragers who ignore size and ring mobility, which are two decisive criteria.

  1. cap small (rarely over 5 cm), reddish-brown, covered with concentric scales on a lighter background
  2. gills white, free, crowded
  3. ring thin, membranous, often fleeting on the slender stem
  4. grows in lawns, gardens, open woods — never as large as a parasol mushroom
Sizecap 2-5 cm, stem 3-6 cm — significantly smaller than the edible parasol mushroom (cap 10-30 cm)
Floweringsummer-autumn
Habitatlawns, gardens, parks, open woods on rich soil

⚠️ Not to be confused with

Parasol mushroom (large edible dapperling) (Macrolepiota procera)none for the parasol mushroom, deadly confusion documented multiple times

To tell them apart: ABSOLUTE RULE: never pick a small dapperling with a cap under 10 cm — the edible parasol mushroom is always large, with a snake-patterned stem and a movable ring sliding freely along the stem, unlike small toxic dapperlings with plain stems

☠️ What kills

nomAmatoxins (chemically identical to those in the death cap)
dose letale estimeedespite the small size, a handful of specimens is enough to deliver a lethal dose of amatoxins (approx. comparable in concentration to the death cap)
delai6 to 24 hours with the same misleading false improvement as phalloidin syndrome
symptomessevere vomiting and diarrhea, temporary recovery, followed by severe liver failure
antidoteno universally validated antidote; silibinin and N-acetylcysteine for support, liver transplant possible in severe cases
morts documenteesyes — several documented deaths in Southern Europe, particularly in Spain and France, due to confusion with small dapperlings mistaken for unknown edible mushrooms or young parasol mushrooms

First steps : Call poison control immediately if you have any doubts, even without symptoms. Do not induce vomiting. Never pick a small dapperling with a cap under 10 cm; keep a whole specimen for identification.

Sources (3)

No entry replaces a certain identification in the field, or medical advice. When in doubt: don't eat it. If ingestion is suspected: poison control or 112/911.