Destroying angel

Destroying Angel

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Destroying angel

The name destroying angel applies to several similar, closely related species of deadly all-white mushroom

Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, hence the word mushroom is most often applied to those fungi that have a stem , a cap , and gills on the unde...
s in the genus Amanita
Amanita

The genus Amanita contains about 600 species of agarics including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide. This genus is responsible for approximately 95% of the fatalities resulting from mushroom poisoning, with the death cap accounting for about 50% on its own....
. They are Amanita bisporigera and A. ocreata
Amanita ocreata

Amanita ocreata, commonly known as the death angel, destroying angel or more precisely Western North American destroying angel, is a poisonous basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita....
in eastern and western North America, and A. virosa
Amanita virosa

Amanita virosa, commonly known as the destroying angel or more precisely as European destroying angel, is a poisonous basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita....
in Europe. Another very similar species, A. verna
Amanita verna

Amanita verna, commonly known as the fool's mushroom or the mushroom fool, is a poisonous basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita....
or fool's mushroom was first described in France.

Closely related to the death cap

Death cap

'Amanita phalloides' , commonly known as the 'death cap', is a poisonous basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita. Widely distributed across Europe, A....
(A. phalloides) they are among the most toxic known mushrooms, containing amatoxin

Amatoxin

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Encyclopedia

The name destroying angel applies to several similar, closely related species of deadly all-white mushroom

Mushroom

Death cap

Amatoxin

Description

Destroying angels are characterized by having a white stalk and gills. The cap can be pure white, or white at the edge and yellowish, pinkish, or tan at the center. It has a partial veil, or ring (Annulus

Annulus (mycology)

An annulus is the ring like structure sometimes found on the Stipe of a mushroom. The annulus represents the remaining part of the partial veil, after it has ruptured to expose the gill s or other spore-producing surface....
) circling the upper stalk, and the gills are "free," not attached to the stalk. Perhaps the most telltale of the features is the presence of a volva

Volva (mycology)

The volva is a Mycology term to describe a cup-like structure at the base of a mushroom which is a remnant of the Universal veil. This Macroscopicfeature is very important in wild mushroom identification due to it being an easily observed, taxonomically significant feature which almost always signifies a member of Amanitaceae....
, or universal veil, so called because it is a membrane that encapsulates the entire mushroom, rather like an egg

Egg (biology)

In most birds and reptiles, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo....
, when it is very young. This structure breaks as the young mushroom expands, leaving parts that can be found at the base of the stalk as a boot or cuplike structure, and there may be patches of removable material on the cap surface. This combination of features, all found together in the same mushroom, is the hallmark of the family. While other families may have any one or two of these features, none have them all. The cap is usually about 5–12 cm across; the stem is usually 7½–20 cm long and about ½–2 cm thick. They are found singly or in small groups.

Destroying angels can be mistaken for edible fungi such as the button mushroom, meadow mushroom

Agaricus campestris

Agaricus campestris, commonly known as the Field mushroom or, in North America, Meadow mushroom, is a widely eaten Agaricales closely related to the button mushroom....
, or the horse mushroom

Agaricus arvensis

The Horse Mushroom, Agaricus arvensis, is a mushroom of the genus Agaricus....
. Young destroying angels that are still enclosed in their universal veil can be mistaken for puffball

Puffball

A puffball is a member of any of a number of groups of fungi in the division Basidiomycota. The puffballs were previously treated as a taxonomic group called the Gasteromycetes or Gasteromycetidae, but they are now known to be a polyphyletic assemblage....
s, but slicing them in half longitudinally will reveal internal mushroom structures. This is the basis for the common recommendation to slice in half all puffball-like mushrooms picked when mushroom hunting

Mushroom hunting

Mushroom hunting, mushrooming, mushroom picking and similar terms describe the activity of hunter-gatherer mushrooms in the wild, typically for eating....
. Mushroom hunters recommend that people know how to recognize both the death cap

Death cap

'Amanita phalloides' , commonly known as the 'death cap', is a poisonous basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita. Widely distributed across Europe, A....
and the destroying angel in all of their forms before collecting any white gilled mushroom for consumption.

Distribution and habitat

All Amanita
Amanita

The genus Amanita contains about 600 species of agarics including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide. This genus is responsible for approximately 95% of the fatalities resulting from mushroom poisoning, with the death cap accounting for about 50% on its own....
species form ectomycorrhizal

Mycorrhiza

A mycorrhiza is a symbiosis association between a fungus and the roots of a plant. In a mycorrhizal association the fungus may colonize the roots of a host plant either intracellularly or extracellularly....
relationships with the roots of certain trees. Thus destroying angels grow in or near the edges of woodlands. They can also be found on lawns or grassy meadows near trees or shrubs. Several species called destroying Angel are found all over the world.

Toxicity

The destroying angel Amanita bisporigera and the death cap

Death cap

'Amanita phalloides' , commonly known as the 'death cap', is a poisonous basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita. Widely distributed across Europe, A....
(Amanita phalloides) are responsible for the overwhelming majority of deaths due to mushroom poisoning

Mushroom poisoning

Mushroom poisoning, also known as mycetism, refers to deleterious effects from ingestion of toxic substances present in a mushroom. These symptoms can vary from slight Gastrointestinal tract discomfort to death....
. The toxin responsible for this is amatoxin

Amatoxin

Amatoxins are a subgroup of at least eight toxin compounds found in several genera of poisonous mushrooms, most notably Amanita phalloides and several other members of the genus Amanita, as well as some Conocybe, Galerina and Lepiota mushroom species....
. Symptoms do not appear for 5 to 24 hours, when the toxins may already be absorbed and the damage (destruction of liver and kidney tissues) done. As little as half a mushroom cap can be fatal if not treated quickly enough. The symptoms include vomiting, cramps, delirium, convulsions, and diarrhea. One experiment treated some patients with "fluid and electrolyte replacement, oral activated charcoal and lactulose

Lactulose

Lactulose is a synthetic sugar used in the treatment of constipation and hepatic encephalopathy, a complication of liver disease. It is a disaccharide formed from one molecule each of the simple sugars fructose and galactose....
, IV penicillin, combined hemodialysis and hemoperfusion in two 8 hour sessions", some with "IV thioctic acid

Lipoic acid

Lipoic acid is an organic compound, one enantiomer of which is an essential cofactor for many enzyme complexes. The molecule consists of a carboxylic acid and a cyclic Disulfide bond....
, others IV silibinin

Silibinin

Silibinin , also known as silybin, is the major active constituent of silymarin, the mixture of flavonolignans extracted from Silybum marianum ....
" and "all received a special diet." It was concluded that "...intensive combined treatment applied in these cases is effective in relieving patients with both moderate and severe amanitin poisoning."

"Physicians have had success in treatment of amatoxin poisoning using "anti-hepatotoxic" compounds from the milk thistle

Milk thistle

Milk thistles are thistles of the genus Silybum Adans., flowering plants of the daisy family . They are native to the Mediterranean regions of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East....
, Silybum marianum. A crude extract of flavolignans from S. marianum seeds, called silymarin (trade name Legalon) has proven useful in amatoxin poisoning cases. In a recent trial of one of the flavolignans silybin, in 60 patients poisoned by amatoxin-containing Amanita species, there were no deaths. (see Der Marderosian & Liberti 1988 and Foster 1991 for a summary of this work)."

Destroying angel

Description

Distribution and habitat

Toxicity

See also

External links