Toadstool is an informal, folk term for a mushroom, usually one with an umbrella-like cap on a central stem, and often one that is inedible or poisonous. It has no scientific meaning and does not refer to any specific mushroom or group of mushrooms. Since about 1800 the word has been “popularly restricted to poisonous or inedible fungi, as distinct from edible mushrooms” (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989, as quoted by Etymonline).
The classic picture of a toadstool is the fly agaric, Amanita muscaria. It has a red cap with white warts and often a skirt-like ring on the stem. It contains ibotenic acid and muscimol and is considered poisonous. Some cultures eat it after repeated boiling in a large volume of water, which removes the water-soluble toxins, but that takes deliberate preparation and we don’t recommend it.
You can browse a selection of other Pacific Northwest Amanita species here.
Amanita Mushrooms
Other Poisonous Mushrooms
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.
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