Poisonous Mushrooms of Oregon Identifying dangerous species in Oregon and what to do if someone eats one
Most mushrooms won’t kill you. Of the thousands of species growing in Oregon, only a handful contain toxins that can cause serious organ damage or death. Those few cause nearly all the deaths: in the North American Mycological Association’s case registry, mushrooms containing amatoxins caused 16 of the 17 poisoning deaths in its 2006 summary, not counting allergic shock (Beug et al.), and several of them grow in Oregon, from Portland’s city parks to the Coast Range and the Cascades.
This page covers two things: which Oregon mushrooms are genuinely dangerous, and exactly what to do if you suspect someone has eaten one. Each species card also shows the edible mushrooms it gets mistaken for, linked to our edible mushrooms of Oregon guide.
Foraging in Washington or British Columbia too? See the Pacific Northwest edition of this guide.
If Someone Ate a Poisonous Mushroom
Time is critical. Amatoxin symptoms are delayed, and after the first bout of vomiting and diarrhea a person can seem to recover while liver and kidney damage continues (Siegel & Schwarz, Mushrooms of Cascadia; Benjamin). Don’t wait for symptoms to appear.
- Save a specimen. Collect a complete mushroom including the base (dig it up — the volva may be underground). Take clear photos of the top, gills, stem, and base. If no whole mushroom is available, save any leftover pieces.
- Call the Oregon Poison Center immediately. 1-800-222-1222 — this number reaches the Oregon Poison Center at OHSU, staffed 24/7. Or visit poison.org. For pets, call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control.
- Get an ID. Post clear photos to Mushroom Poisoning Identification on Facebook — toxicologists and experienced identifiers monitor this group. For PNW-specific help: PNW Mushroom ID.
- Go to the ER if you suspect an amatoxin mushroom: death cap, destroying angel, deadly Galerina, deadly Lepiota or conecap. Early treatment greatly improves outcomes.
Learn Mushrooms with Confidence
Forayz courses and field guides help you build real identification skills — not just memorizing names, but understanding the features that matter for safety.
Know the Dangerous Look-Alikes
The ForayzU Morels & Look-alikes deck drills the exact features that separate prized edibles from toxic mimics like false morels (Gyromitra) — photo flashcards that build real recognition, free to download.
How Toxic Is Toxic?
Mushroom poisonings range widely. Amatoxins are at the top: in the NAMA case registry, 147 people became ill from amatoxin mushrooms and 16 of them died (11%), while across every kind of mushroom 17 of 1,641 people died (1%) (Beug et al. 2006). Next come species that damage organs but have no deaths on record: Smith’s Amanita and brown roll-rim (kidney failure) and false morels (liver damage in 9 of 27 reported cases). Then come severe but usually short illnesses: muscimol and ibotenic acid from the fly agaric and western panther (218 people in the registry, no deaths), and muscarine from fibercaps. Most numerous by far are the mushrooms that cause hours of vomiting and diarrhea: 959 people in the registry, with one death, from a red-pored bolete.
Rare but deadly: the deadly webcap (Cortinarius rubellus), which occurs in the Pacific Northwest, contains orellanine, a kidney toxin whose symptoms appear long after the meal (Siegel & Schwarz; Benjamin). The registry had no North American orellanine poisoning on record through 2005. Species that cause only stomach upset don’t get full entries on this page, so treat any mushroom you haven’t identified to species as possibly toxic.
Amatoxin Mushrooms: The Deadly Ones
Amatoxins cause delayed liver and kidney failure, and they are behind nearly all mushroom deaths. Symptoms are delayed, so by the time someone feels ill, organ damage may already have begun (NAMA; Siegel & Schwarz, Mushrooms of Cascadia).
Death CapAmanita phalloides
Responsible for more mushroom deaths worldwide than any other species. Greenish-yellow to olive cap (can appear pale or white), white free gills, a white ring on the upper stem, and a bulbous base with a cup-like sac (volva), often buried underground.
- Habitat
- Urban areas under planted European hardwoods such as linden, oak, chestnut and beech.
- Toxin
- Amatoxins
- Onset
- Delayed: symptoms usually start many hours after the meal (NAMA).
- Effect
- Liver and kidney failure follow over the next days, often after a deceptive apparent recovery. Often fatal without aggressive medical treatment.
Also compare Destroying Angels (Amanita ocreata group) — The death cap can be all white. White death caps fruit in fall and early winter, often alongside greener ones, and their cap flesh does not turn yellow in KOH; the western destroying angel fruits in spring (Siegel & Schwarz). Both are deadly.
Mistaken for: Spring Coccora (Amanita vernicoccora); Coccora (Amanita calyptroderma); Meadow mushroom (Agaricus campestris): meadow mushrooms have dark brown to black spore prints and pink-to-brown gills, while the death cap has white gills, a white spore print and a sac-like volva at the base. Young death caps can also be mistaken for edible puffballs.
Destroying AngelsAmanita ocreata group
An all-white Amanita with free white gills, a skirt-like ring on the stem and a sac-like cup (volva) at the base, which can sit below ground. The western destroying angel is rare in the Pacific Northwest; the death cap can also be pale or white, so an all-white Amanita is not safe just because it is not green.
- Habitat
- Lowland hardwood woods, especially with oak and often near water, on the ground.
- Season
- Spring.
- Toxin
- Amatoxins
- Onset
- Delayed: symptoms usually start many hours after the meal.
- Effect
- Vomiting and watery diarrhea come first, then an apparent recovery, followed by liver failure and sometimes kidney failure.
Mistaken for: Spring Coccora (Amanita vernicoccora); Coccora (Amanita calyptroderma); Meadow mushroom (Agaricus campestris) and other white button or lawn mushrooms: those have pink-to-brown gills, a dark brown spore print and no volva, while destroying angels have white gills, a white spore print and a sac-like volva. Dig up the whole base; the volva is often buried.
Also compare: Death Cap (Amanita phalloides)
Deadly GalerinaGalerina marginata group
A small brown mushroom on wood. The cap is ocher-brown, fades paler as it dries and shows translucent stripes at the edge when wet. Gills start pale and turn rusty brown; a thin ring or ring zone on the stem is often dusted with rusty spores. The spore print is rusty brown.
- Habitat
- Rotting logs, stumps, woody debris and wood chips of both conifers and hardwoods; occasionally in duff or moss.
- Season
- Late summer through fall, occasionally in winter and spring.
- Toxin
- Amatoxins
- Onset
- Delayed: symptoms usually start many hours after the meal.
- Effect
- Vomiting and diarrhea come first, then an apparent recovery, followed by liver failure and sometimes kidney failure. Poisonings have occurred when it was picked in mistake for Psilocybe growing in the same wood chips.
Also compare Common Conecap (Pholiotina rugosa group) — Both turn up in wood chips. Pholiotina has a thin, fragile stem with a conspicuous white, disc-like ring and a conical cap; Galerina’s ring is thin and often only a rusty-dusted zone (D. Miller). Both contain amatoxins.
Mistaken for: Candy Cap (Lactarius rubidus); Psilocybe species in wood chips: they have dark purplish-black spores and stain blue when handled, while Galerina has rusty-brown spores. The stem base of older Galerina darkens grayish to black, which should not be read as bluing. Also honey mushrooms (Armillaria), which are usually larger and leave a white spore print, and Kuehneromyces mutabilis, which has a scaly stem below the ring.
Sometimes compared with: Yellowfoot (Craterellus neotubaeformis)
Deadly LepiotaLepiota subincarnata and relatives
A small, slender mushroom with a felty pinkish-brown cap that breaks into rings of scales, free white to cream gills and a white spore print. The stem is shaggy with pinkish-tan fibrils, and its ring is only a faint zone that soon disappears, so it can look ringless.
- Habitat
- Wood chips, lawns, rich disturbed soil, and mossy duff under conifers.
- Season
- Mostly late summer and fall.
- Toxin
- Amatoxins
- Onset
- Delayed: symptoms usually start many hours after the meal.
- Effect
- Vomiting and diarrhea come first, then an apparent recovery, followed by liver failure and sometimes kidney failure. Often fatal without prompt hospital treatment.
Mistaken for: Other small, scaly Lepiota and Leucoagaricus species growing on lawns and in wood chips. Most of these are not deadly, but they are hard to separate by eye, and a few close relatives of the fatal dapperling may also carry amatoxins. Treat every small scaly white-gilled mushroom on lawns and chips as inedible.
Sometimes compared with: Shaggy Parasol (Chlorophyllum olivieri / C. brunneum)
Common ConecapPholiotina rugosa group
A small, fragile mushroom with a conical to bell-shaped cap that is reddish brown when wet and fades to buff as it dries. The slender, straight stem carries a conspicuous whitish, disc-like ring. Gills turn cinnamon-brown and the spore print is dark ocher-brown. It is a complex of several look-alike lineages.
- Habitat
- Wood chips, compost-rich soil, disturbed ground and woodland duff; also potted houseplant soil.
- Season
- Mostly spring and fall; indoors in potted-plant soil at any time of year.
- Toxin
- Amatoxins
- Onset
- Delayed: symptoms usually start many hours after the meal.
- Effect
- Vomiting and diarrhea, an apparent recovery, then liver failure and sometimes kidney failure.
Mistaken for: Psilocybe species that fruit in the same wood chips and compost: Psilocybe has dark purplish-black spores and stains blue, while Pholiotina has ocher-brown spores, a conspicuous white ring and no bluing. It can also be taken for other small brown mushrooms, including Galerina and Tubaria.
Also compare: Deadly Galerina (Galerina marginata group)
The Amatoxin Pattern
These species don’t share one look, and no single visual shortcut catches all of them. Only the two Amanita entries, the death cap and the destroying angels, have a sac-like volva at the base. Deadly Galerina, deadly Lepiota and the conecap are small brown or pinkish gilled mushrooms with no volva, the Lepiota has no true ring, and they turn up in places where people pick casually: logs, lawns, wood chips and garden beds. Treat any unidentified small brown mushroom in a garden bed with the same caution.
Oregon Cases on Record
The death cap (Amanita phalloides) was introduced from Europe and grows under planted oak, hornbeam and other ornamental hardwoods (Siegel & Schwarz). Research-grade iNaturalist sightings in Oregon come from Portland, Salem, Eugene, Corvallis and Ashland. In 1988 it poisoned five people in the Portland area who ate it in a stir-fry, and four of them needed liver transplants (Oregon Health Authority).
Smith’s Amanita (Amanita smithiana) has an Oregon record too: an OHSU case series in Portland traced kidney failure in four Pacific Northwest patients to picking it for matsutake (Tricholoma murrillianum) (Warden & Benjamin, Academic Emergency Medicine, 1998).
Other Seriously Toxic Mushrooms
Kidney failure
Smith’s AmanitaAmanita smithiana
Large and white to pale, with shaggy universal veil remnants on the cap and stem and a swollen, often rooting base. The NAMA registry lists 8 cases (British Columbia, Oregon and Washington), 6 with kidney failure and none fatal.
- Habitat
- Under conifers, mostly at mid-to-higher Cascade elevations.
- Season
- Fall.
- Toxin
- Allenic norleucine, possibly with a second compound, chlorocrotylglycine. Not orellanine, which it was once thought to contain.
- Onset
- Delayed: gastrointestinal symptoms usually start several hours after the meal.
- Effect
- Kidney failure developing over the following days. Dialysis is often required.
Mistaken for: Matsutake (Tricholoma murrillianum)
Gyromitrin: liver damage
False MorelsGyromitra esculenta
Wrinkled, brain-like reddish-brown cap on a relatively narrow stem; not honeycomb-pitted like a true morel. The most dangerous PNW false morel. In the Pacific Northwest this name covers a small species complex (Siegel & Schwarz), so treat all of them as toxic.
- Habitat
- On soil, litter, or rotting wood under conifers, especially pine.
- Season
- Late winter and spring.
- Toxin
- Gyromitrin, which the body converts to monomethylhydrazine
- Onset
- Delayed: symptoms usually start several hours after the meal.
- Effect
- Poisoning damages the liver and can cause seizures, coma, and kidney failure.
Sometimes compared with: Morel (Morchella spp.)
Muscimol and ibotenic acid: confusion, delirium, deep sleep
Fly AgaricAmanita muscaria
A large Amanita with a cap that ranges from red through orange and yellow to white, dotted with pale warts, over white gills, a hanging skirt-like ring and a swollen stem base ringed with scaly bands. The spore print is white. In the Pacific Northwest most collections may be a different species, A. chrysoblema (D. Miller), but the name A. muscaria is still in general use.
- Habitat
- On the ground, in many forest types, with conifers and hardwoods alike and often with planted trees in parks and yards.
- Season
- In the lowlands, mid-fall; higher up, from mid-summer into early fall; in towns, scattered finds through much of the year.
- Toxin
- Muscimol and ibotenic acid.
- Onset
- Usually within a few hours of the meal, not delayed like amatoxin poisoning.
- Effect
- Sweating, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, with effects on the mind that range from confusion and delirium to a deep sleep with vivid dreams. The NAMA registry authors call it not deadly in humans, though one man passed out after a large meal of it and froze to death in his tent. It can be lethal to cats and dogs.
Also compare Western Panther (Amanita pantherinoides) — The western panther has a cream, tan or brown cap with thick white warts and a bulb topped by a narrow, rim-like collar; fly agaric caps run red, orange, yellow or white, and its stem base has rings of scaly bands. Both contain muscimol and ibotenic acid.
Mistaken for: Usually eaten on purpose rather than by mistake. Some people boil it in plenty of water and discard the water, sometimes repeating this; Mushrooms of Cascadia advises caution even then, and we do not recommend it. Dogs and cats may eat it outdoors.
Western PantherAmanita pantherinoides
A stocky Amanita with a cream, tan or brown cap (sometimes yellowish) bearing thick white warts, white gills, a white ring, and a bulb whose top edge has a narrow, rim-like collar rather than scaly rings or a loose sac. The spore print is white. In the Pacific Northwest this species has long been called A. pantherina, a European name; Mushrooms of Cascadia and D. Miller use A. pantherinoides.
- Habitat
- On the ground, mostly under conifers and especially Douglas-fir, and sometimes with hardwoods, including in urban areas.
- Season
- Spring and fall.
- Toxin
- Muscimol and ibotenic acid.
- Onset
- Usually within a few hours of the meal, not delayed like amatoxin poisoning.
- Effect
- Similar to fly agaric poisoning: sweating, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, with confusion, delirium or deep sleep. The NAMA registry lists 30 Oregon and 14 Washington human cases. Not deadly to humans, but it can be lethal to cats and dogs.
Mistaken for: Coccora (Amanita calyptroderma); Grisettes (Amanita vaginata group): grisettes have no ring on the stem, a grooved cap margin, a cylindrical non-bulbous stem and a loose sac at the base, whereas the panther has a ring and a bulb with a rim-like collar.
Also compare: Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)
Muscarine: heavy sweating and drooling
FibercapsInocybe, Inosperma and Pseudosperma spp.
Small to medium mushrooms with dry, silky-fibrous or scaly caps that are often peaked and look torn along the fibres, a thin cobweb-like veil, and brown spores. Most can only be named to species under a microscope (D. Miller). The same toxin occurs in Collybia rivulosa (formerly Clitocybe dealbata), a small grayish-white funnel-shaped mushroom with running gills that fruits in arcs and rings on lawns.
- Habitat
- On the ground under conifers and hardwoods, often in younger forest and parks; C. rivulosa grows in grass.
- Season
- Fall into winter for the white fibercaps; the lawn Collybia mostly in fall, less often in spring.
- Toxin
- Muscarine, in most species.
- Onset
- Soon after the meal.
- Effect
- Heavy sweating, drooling and stomach upset. The NAMA registry records no human deaths, but six dogs in Oregon were poisoned and three died (white fibercaps, I. geophylla / lilacina), and Mushrooms of Cascadia warns that large amounts could be dangerous to small children and pets.
Mistaken for: Small brown mushrooms in general. The fairy ring mushroom (Marasmius oreades) grows in the same grassy places as C. rivulosa, though Mushrooms of Cascadia calls a mix-up unlikely.
Sometimes compared with: Blewit (Collybia nuda)
Other serious poisonings
Brown Roll-RimPaxillus involutus group
A squat brown mushroom whose cap margin stays rolled under for a long time, with crowded, forking, decurrent gills that scrape off easily and stain reddish brown when handled, and a short stout stem. The spore print is ocher to reddish brown. Most Pacific Northwest collections are probably P. cuprinus rather than the European P. involutus (Siegel & Schwarz; D. Miller).
- Habitat
- On the ground and in lawns around planted birch in towns and parks; some relatives grow with conifers or with hardwoods such as cottonwood and oak.
- Season
- Late summer through fall.
- Toxin
- Not identified; the harm comes from an immune reaction, not a direct poison.
- Onset
- Unpredictable: people have eaten it for years before reacting.
- Effect
- The immune system attacks the body’s own red blood cells, which can lead to kidney failure, and each meal may add to the risk. The NAMA registry lists 3 cases (Oregon and Washington), 2 with kidney failure and none fatal.
Mistaken for: Less a mistaken identity than a mushroom that was eaten on purpose: it was once widely eaten in Europe, and D. Miller notes the harm was recognised late because it is cumulative.
Red-pored BoleteRubroboletus pulcherrimus (including R. haematinus)
A large bolete with a rosy red to reddish-brown cap, small deep red pores, and a club-shaped stem covered in a red net, all bruising blue-black. R. haematinus, a close relative in high-elevation fir forests, has a paler brown cap and pores that are yellow or pale orange-red when young and redden with age, so a bolete without red pores is not cleared by that alone.
- Habitat
- Rare; on the ground with conifers, grand fir and western hemlock in particular, in coastal lowland forests and the Cascade foothills.
- Season
- Late summer and fall.
- Toxin
- Unknown.
- Onset
- Soon after the meal (NAMA).
- Effect
- Severe stomach and bowel distress. The NAMA registry holds one death from it, in Oregon, and calls it the only death among its roughly 2,000 reports from a mushroom with gastrointestinal symptoms and an unknown toxin. Treat red pores as a warning sign: check for the red net on the stem and fast blue staining.
Mistaken for: Other red-pored, blue-staining boletes, which lack the red net on the stem (D. Miller). Treat red pores on any bolete as a warning sign.
Sometimes compared with: King Bolete (Boletus edulis); Spring King Bolete (Boletus rex-veris)
Less Dangerous, Still Worth Avoiding
These cause unpleasant, sometimes severe, stomach upset but not organ damage. They don’t get full entries, but several are picked by mistake for edibles.
- Sulfur tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare) — Clusters of yellow caps on wood, with yellow-green young gills that turn purplish gray. Causes gastrointestinal distress (Siegel & Schwarz; Arora). The similar H. capnoides has gray young gills (Siegel & Schwarz; D. Miller).
- Scaly chanterelle (Turbinellus floccosus) — A tall orange vase with shaggy scales on top and a wrinkled, veined, pale underside, sometimes compared with chanterelles. Upsets the stomach in some people (Siegel & Schwarz; Benjamin).
- Yellow-staining Agaricus (Agaricus xanthodermus and relatives) — Brief but unpleasant stomach upset for most people who eat it (Siegel & Schwarz; Arora). It bruises yellow fast, especially at the stem base. Don’t rely on its smell, because not everyone can detect it.
- Jack-o’-lantern (Omphalotus olivascens) — A bioluminescent orange mushroom in clusters on wood, sometimes confused with chanterelles, causing severe vomiting and diarrhea but not organ damage. Mainly a California species that only occasionally reaches southern Oregon (D. Miller, Danny’s DNA Discoveries).
- Green-spored parasol (Chlorophyllum molybdites) — Severe vomiting and diarrhea, not organ damage. Grows in rings on lawns. Still rare in the Pacific Northwest but spreading north (Siegel & Schwarz; D. Miller). Its gills turn greenish and its spore print is green; the shaggy parasols print white.
- Entoloma — Pink-spored gilled mushrooms; several species cause vomiting, diarrhea and cramps (Arora). A few are quite poisonous, and which ones is not well recorded, so none are worth eating (D. Miller).
- Poison pie (Hebeloma crustuliniforme group) — Pale brown-capped mushrooms of lawns, gardens and woods that cause mild to severe stomach upset (Arora). The species are hard to tell apart even with DNA (D. Miller), so treat every Hebeloma the same way.
- Peppery bolete (Chalciporus piperatus) — A small bolete with cinnamon-brown pores that don’t bruise blue and a bright yellow stem base, often near fly agaric. Siegel & Schwarz advise avoiding it as possibly toxic, at least raw; older authors disagree on whether cooking makes it safe (Thiers).
When Edible Mushrooms Make People Sick
Even good edibles disagree with some people, and a few once-popular species turned out to be dangerous.
- Individual reactions. The NAMA registry holds reports, mostly of stomach upset, for chicken of the woods (37 people), chanterelles (17), shaggy parasol (15), king bolete (13), oysters (9), shaggy mane (9), blewit (6) and the Prince (4). These are counts of voluntary reports, not rates.
- Raw or undercooked. At one British Columbia banquet, 77 of 483 diners who ate raw morels became ill (Beug et al.). Morels should be well cooked (Siegel & Schwarz). Some people report reactions when eating morels with alcohol, though the evidence is mixed.
- Alcohol. Inky caps (Coprinopsis atramentaria and relatives) contain coprine, which interferes with the body’s handling of alcohol: a drink within a few days of the meal can bring flushing, tingling, a racing heart and nausea (Siegel & Schwarz; D. Miller).
- Edible species, unsafe specimen. The registry authors put some cases down to spoiled mushrooms, old before they were cooked or frozen raw, and raise the question of pesticides or heavy metals in mushrooms from lawns, roadsides and golf courses (Beug et al.). Eat only fresh, firm mushrooms from clean ground.
- Former edibles. Brown roll-rim and false morels were once widely eaten. Angel wings (Pleurocybella porrigens) were linked to 17 deaths in Japan in 2004, most or all of them people with kidney disease (Beug, via MycoMatch); Siegel & Schwarz treat western North American angel wings as a separate species and call them best avoided. Man on horseback (Tricholoma equestre group) has been linked to deaths in Europe after large meals eaten day after day (Siegel & Schwarz; D. Miller). Neither has a North American case in the registry.
The first time you eat a new wild mushroom, cook a small portion and wait a day before eating more. That tests for a personal reaction; it is no test of whether the identification was right.
Build Your Identification Skills
Our in-person mushroom classes and guided forays teach safe identification in the field — including how to recognize and avoid the dangerous species on this page.
Know Where You’re Foraging
Forayz shows ecoregion data, public land boundaries, and habitat information to help you understand what species to expect in your area.
How to Avoid Poisonous Mushrooms
There are no shortcuts or folk tests that reliably separate edible from poisonous species. Silver spoons, peeling the cap, and animal behavior are all myths. What actually works:
- Learn specific species, not general rules. Know the exact features of each species you plan to eat. Don’t eat anything based on “it looks like” a photo.
- Always check the base. Dig up the entire mushroom. The volva (sac) at the base of deadly Amanita is the single most important safety feature to look for — and it’s often hidden underground.
- Take a class. In-person instruction from an experienced mycologist is the fastest way to build safe identification skills. Salish Mushrooms classes cover dangerous lookalikes alongside edible species.
- Start with distinctive species. Chanterelles (Cantharellus), hedgehogs (Hydnum), morels (Morchella), and chicken of the woods (Laetiporus) have few dangerous lookalikes compared to “little brown mushrooms” or white-gilled ground mushrooms.
- When in doubt, don’t eat it. No mushroom meal is worth the risk. If you can’t confidently identify a mushroom to species, leave it.
Edible or Toxic? Telling Look-Alikes Apart
The edible mushrooms that get mistaken for, or compared with, the species on this page. Edible species link to their entries in the edible mushrooms guide.
| Edible | Look-alike | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|---|
| ChanterelleCantharellus formosus | False chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca group) | Orange, with crowded, thin true gills that fork repeatedly, and thin, soft flesh rather than thick and stringy. Grows on rotting wood, coarse humus and wood chips. Best avoided: it has caused mild reactions in some people. |
| ChanterelleCantharellus formosus | Scaly chanterelle (Turbinellus floccosus) | Tall and vase-shaped, with a red to orange shaggy-scaly cap and a hollow center. Not a true chanterelle; it causes gastrointestinal upset in some people. |
| ChanterelleCantharellus formosus | Chroogomphus spp., especially C. tomentosus | Similar orange colors, but Chroogomphus has true, blade-like gills (thick, widely spaced and running down the stem) where C. formosus has shallow, blunt ridges. Its flesh is thin and pale orange rather than whitish, and its spore print is smoky gray to black (Arora; Siegel & Schwarz). C. tomentosus has a fuzzy, matted cap and grows with western hemlock. Also edible. |
| MorelMorchella spp. | False MorelsGyromitra esculenta | Shares a spring season and a wrinkled cap, but looks quite different once you have seen both: brain-like folds rather than a honeycomb of pits, and cut lengthwise it has chambered, cottony, or folded tissue inside rather than one continuous hollow. |
| MorelMorchella spp. | Early morel (Verpa bohemica) | The cap of Verpa bohemica is attached only at the very top, hanging free like a skirt. |
| King BoleteBoletus edulis | Red-pored BoleteRubroboletus spp. | Red-pored boletes have red pores, a red-netted stem and flesh that stains blue-black almost at once. Red pores are a warning sign, not an automatic discard: some old king boletes have reddish pores too. Young pores of the related Rubroboletus haematinus can be yellow (D. Miller), so a bolete that stains blue is not cleared by its pore colour. |
| King BoleteBoletus edulis | Bitter boletes (Caloboletus spp.) | They stain strongly blue when cut or bruised, while B. edulis flesh stays white. |
| Spring King BoleteBoletus rex-veris | Red-pored BoleteRubroboletus spp. | Red-pored boletes have red pores, a red net on the stem and flesh that turns blue when cut; B. rex-veris has white to yellow pores and white flesh that stays unchanged. Treat red pores as a warning sign and check the stem net and the staining. |
| Spring King BoleteBoletus rex-veris | Smith’s bolete (Boletus smithii) | Its cap also shows pink to red, but it is velvety and fades in patches through yellow to gray, and its flesh is yellow, not white. The yellow pores can bruise blue, and the stem is rosy pink near the top and yellow below, with no net (Siegel & Schwarz; Thiers). It grows under hemlock, fir and spruce in summer and fall rather than in spring. Edibility is disputed: Bessette and Phillips list it as edible, while Siegel & Schwarz call it unknown and note a mildly toxic eastern relative. |
| Admirable BoleteAureoboletus mirabilis | Boletus fibrillosus | Grows on the ground, with a smoother, flattened-fibrous brown cap, and its pores start out white. Also edible. |
| Admirable BoleteAureoboletus mirabilis | Xerocomellus atropurpureus | Cap is not velvety, and the stem is red-dotted rather than roughened and ridged. Also edible. |
| Hedgehog MushroomsHydnum spp. | Shingled hedgehog (Sarcodon imbricatus) and Hydnellum spp. | Caps are scaly or scaly-cracked rather than smooth, and Sarcodon leaves a brown spore deposit where hedgehogs leave a white one. |
| YellowfootCraterellus neotubaeformis | False chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca) | Has thin, crowded, true gills instead of blunt ridges. |
| YellowfootCraterellus neotubaeformis | Deadly GalerinaGalerina marginata group | Small orange-brown gilled mushrooms on wood can be mistaken for yellowfoot; G. marginata has true gills, a ring or faint ring zone, and a rusty-brown spore print, where yellowfoot has blunt ridges, a hollow stem and a white print. |
| YellowfootCraterellus neotubaeformis | Small yellow to orange gilled mushrooms on wood, such as Xeromphalina and sulfur tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare) | These have true, blade-like gills and grow straight from logs and stumps, often in troops or tufts. Xeromphalina is tiny, with a thin, wiry stem that turns dark reddish brown toward the base; sulfur tuft grows in tight clusters, its greenish-yellow gills darken to purplish brown, and it causes stomach upset. C. neotubaeformis has blunt, forking ridges and a hollow, grooved stem, and grows mostly from moss and litter (Siegel & Schwarz; Arora). |
| Black TrumpetCraterellus calicornucopioides | Craterellus atrocinereus | Its underside has obvious veins, and young fruitbodies are not tubular. Also edible, and less common. |
| Western Cauliflower MushroomSparassis radicata | Cabbage-head fungus (Daleomyces phillipsii) | Less leafy, with more brittle flesh; often fruits in spring, half-hidden in the forest floor, and favors recently burned ground. |
| Western Cauliflower MushroomSparassis radicata | Coral fungi (Ramaria spp.) | Similar colors, but Ramaria is built from clumps of upright branches rather than ruffled, flattened lobes. |
| Chicken of the WoodsLaetiporus spp. | Pycnoporellus fulgens | Considerably smaller, with large, pale, often maze-like pores instead of tiny round yellow ones. |
| Bear’s HeadHericium abietis | Coral fungi (Ramaria spp.) | Branch tips point upward and most species fruit from soil, while Hericium spines hang downward from wood. |
| Oyster MushroomsPleurotus ostreatus complex | Angel wings (Pleurocybella porrigens) | Smaller, thin-fleshed, pure white and wavy or lobed, with little or no stem, on conifer wood; Pleurotus are thicker-fleshed, usually gray, tan or brown, and more often on hardwood. Not recommended: once eaten widely, now uncertain after deaths in Japan in 2004 (mostly people with kidney disease) linked to a related species; no North American cases are in the NAMA registry. |
| Shaggy ManeCoprinus comatus | Alcohol inky caps (Coprinopsis atramentaria and relatives) | Inky caps have grayish, smooth or faintly scaly caps, not a tall white shaggy one. They contain coprine, which can make a person ill if alcohol is drunk in the days after eating them. |
| Shaggy ParasolChlorophyllum olivieri / C. brunneum | Green-spored parasol (Chlorophyllum molybdites) | Poisonous. Its spore print is dull olive-green and the mature gills turn greenish, while C. olivieri and C. brunneum keep white to cream gills and a white print. Rare in the Pacific Northwest but spreading north, mostly in open lawns. |
| Shaggy ParasolChlorophyllum olivieri / C. brunneum | Deadly LepiotaLepiota subincarnata and relatives | Deadly Lepiota are small: caps about 1.5 to 6 cm across on thin stems with only a faint ring zone. C. olivieri and C. brunneum are much larger (caps 6 to 18 cm, stems 8 to 20 cm) with a prominent double-edged ring; do not collect small, scaly-capped parasol-like mushrooms. |
| The PrinceAgaricus augustus | Yellow-staining Agaricus (A. xanthodermus and the A. moelleri group) | A. augustus also bruises yellow on the cap, so staining alone does not separate them. Yellow-stainers have grayish caps with small, tightly pressed scales and a smooth stem, and the A. moelleri group stains brilliantly yellow at the stem base; some people cannot smell the phenol odor, so do not rely on it. |
| BlewitCollybia nuda | Purple webcaps (Cortinarius spp.) | Webcaps leave a rusty-brown spore print and show cobwebby fibers (a cortina) on the stem, while C. nuda has a pinkish spore print and no cortina. |
| BlewitCollybia nuda | FibercapsInocybe and relatives | Lilac fibercaps (Inocybe spp.) leave a brown spore print; C. nuda is stout with a smooth cap and a pinkish spore print. |
| Milk CapsLactarius rubrilacteus and L. deliciosus group | Yellow-staining milk cap (Lactarius xanthogalactus) | Poisonous. Its latex is white and turns bright yellow within seconds, rather than orange or red as in L. rubrilacteus and the L. deliciosus group, and the cap is often pinker and spotted. Most frequent in southern Oregon, uncommon farther north. |
| MatsutakeTricholoma murrillianum | Smith’s AmanitaAmanita smithiana | T. murrillianum‘s cottony veil leaves a persistent ring. A. smithiana has a fragile, powdery veil, fluffy warts on the cap, scruffy scales down the stem, and a scaly bulb above a root that breaks off, so dig out the whole base. Firmness and smell do not separate them. |
| Spring CoccoraAmanita vernicoccora | Death CapAmanita phalloides | A. phalloides has a greenish-yellow to whitish cap that is usually bare, with a plain margin and a solid stem; A. vernicoccora‘s cap is pale yellow with a short-grooved margin and usually one thick veil patch, over a hollow or stuffed stem. A faded or rain-washed specimen can blur every one of these, so use them together and leave any doubtful one alone. |
| Spring CoccoraAmanita vernicoccora | Destroying AngelsAmanita ocreata group | A. ocreata also fruits in spring under oaks. Its cap is white and mostly bare with a smooth margin, and a drop of KOH turns its cap flesh bright yellow (Arora); A. vernicoccora‘s cap is yellow with a grooved margin and does not react to KOH (Bojantchev). Leave any all-white Amanita alone. |
| Candy CapLactarius rubidus | Deadly GalerinaGalerina marginata group | Galerina marginata grows on rotting wood and has a smooth honey-brown cap, a partial veil that leaves a ring or faint ring zone, and a rusty-brown spore print. L. rubidus leaves a white to pale cream print. Do not rely on latex alone: it is scant or absent in L. rubidus. |
| Candy CapLactarius rubidus | Poisonous milk caps (Lactarius rufus, L. xanthogalactus) | L. rufus has a duller, reddish-brown cap with creamy white latex; L. xanthogalactus has a peach-buff cap, and its white latex soon changes to yellow. |
| Oregon White TruffleTuber gibbosum complex | Earthballs (Scleroderma spp., including the partly buried S. hypogaeum) | Toxic. Earthballs have a thick, tough rind, and the inside, white only when very young, soon turns purplish black and then to dark powder. An Oregon white truffle has a thin skin and stays solid inside, with white marbling veins. |
| Oregon White TruffleTuber gibbosum complex | False truffles (Rhizopogon, Melanogaster and Alpova spp.) | Rhizopogon species (pogies), common under Douglas-fir and pine, are rubbery and bounce, often wrapped in root-like strands, with a spongy interior of tiny chambers that turns olive. Melanogaster and Alpova have gel-filled chambers inside. Oregon white truffles are firm and solid all the way through. |
| CoccoraAmanita calyptroderma | Death CapAmanita phalloides | The death cap’s cap is cooler in tone, greenish-yellow fading to whitish and usually bare, with a solid stem and a plain margin; the coccora usually shows one thick, cleanly peeling veil patch, a hollow stem and a grooved margin even when young. These work in combination, not alone, and both have white gills and a white spore print. |
| CoccoraAmanita calyptroderma | Western PantherAmanita pantherinoides | Panthers are smaller (caps 4 to 10 cm, rarely 15), tan to brown and dotted with many small white warts rather than one large patch, with a narrow rim-like collar around a bulbous stem base rather than a large sac. |
| CoccoraAmanita calyptroderma | Destroying AngelsAmanita ocreata group | White forms of coccora occur (Siegel & Schwarz). Coccora’s cap margin is distinctly grooved even when young and it usually carries a thick, cleanly peeling veil patch; the western destroying angel’s margin is usually smooth, its cap mostly bare, and it fruits in spring under oaks. A drop of KOH turns destroying angel cap flesh bright yellow (Arora) but leaves coccora unchanged (Tulloss). Leave any all-white Amanita alone. |
Resources
- Poison Control (poison.org) Call 1-800-222-1222 for immediate poisoning guidance — 24/7
- Mushroom Poisoning Identification (Facebook) Emergency ID group monitored by toxicologists and experienced identifiers
- PNW Mushroom ID (Facebook) Pacific Northwest regional identification help
- Oregon Mycological Society Portland-based club — forays, ID clinics, and an annual mushroom show
- Cascade Mycological Society Eugene-based club serving the southern Willamette Valley and Oregon coast
- NAMA: Mushroom Poisoning in Dogs and Cats North American Mycological Association guide for pet owners
- Bay Area Mycological Society: Amatoxins Detailed overview of amatoxin chemistry and treatment
- NAMA Poisoning Reports Summary (2018–2020) Data on mushroom poisoning incidents across North America
- Thirty-Plus Years of Mushroom Poisoning (Beug, Shaw & Cochran, 2006) Summary of about 2,000 reports in the NAMA case registry, the source of the case counts on this page
Sources: Mushrooms of Cascadia (Siegel & Schwarz, 2024); MycoMatch (© Ian Gibson), a compilation of published descriptions through which most other field-guide authors named here are quoted; Danny’s DNA Discoveries and the PNW Pictorial Key (© Danny Miller); the NAMA mushroom poisoning case registry (Beug, Shaw & Cochran, McIlvainea 16(2), 2006); Benjamin, Mushrooms: Poisons and Panaceas (1995). Season strips: iNaturalist research-grade observations in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia. Photo credits are on each photo.