Eastern North American Destroying Angel

(Amanita bisporigera)

Conservation Status
Eastern North American Destroying Angel
Photo by Jeffrey M. Arsenault
  IUCN Red List

not listed

 
  NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Eastern North American Destroying Angel is a common, medium-sized, deadly poisonous, gilled mushroom. As the common name implies, it occurs in eastern North America, specifically in the United States east of the Great Plains, in adjacent Canadian provinces, and in Mexico and Central America. It is found in deciduous and mixed woodlands in the summer and fall, alone, scattered, or in groups. It grows on the ground near oak trees and possibly other hardwoods. It is mycorrhizal, obtaining its nutrients from the rootlets of a tree while facilitating greater absorption of nutrients from the soil by the tree.

Eastern North American Destroying Angel is a tall white mushroom on a slender stalk. The cap on young mushrooms is oval or nearly round at first, becoming broadly convex then ultimately nearly flat at maturity. The mature cap is is 1 to 4 in diameter. The upper surface is hairless and usually dry to the touch, sticky when moist. It is white, rarely becoming yellowish or pinkish, and sometimes darkening in the center with age. There are no patches or warts on the surface. The margin is not lined with grooves (striated) and does not have remnants of the universal veil.

The stalk is solid, 2316 to 5½ (5.5 to 14 cm) tall, and 316 to ¾ (5 to 20 mm) thick. It tapers slightly to the top and has an expanded, cup-like base (volva) up to 1½ in height. The volva is a remnant of a protective, egg-like covering (universal veil) that completely envelopes the developing mushroom when young. It may be partially or completely buried in the ground. The volva sometimes breaks up as the stalk expands. Near the top of the stalk, below the cap and gills, is a membranous ring. This is the remnant of a protective covering (partial veil) of the developing gills.

The gills are white, closely spaced or crowded, and free, not attached to the stalk. Between adjacent gills there is frequently another short gill.

The flesh is white and deadly poisonous, not edible. Young mushrooms have no odor. Older mushrooms have a sickly sweet smell like rotting meat.

The spore print is white.

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat and Hosts
 
 

On the ground near oak trees

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Season

 
 

Summer and fall

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

4, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.

 
  9/3/2022      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Widely distributed and common

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Fungi (fungi)  
  Subkingdom Dikarya  
  Division Basidiomycota (club fungi)  
  Subdivision Agaricomycotina (jelly fungi, yeasts, and mushrooms)  
  Class Agaricomycetes (mushrooms, bracket fungi, puffballs, and allies)  
  Subclass Agaricomycetidae  
  Order Agaricales (common gilled mushrooms and allies)  
  Suborder Pluteineae  
  Family Amanitaceae (Amanita mushrooms and allies)  
  Tribe Amaniteae  
  Genus Amanita (Amanita mushrooms)  
  Subgenus Lepidella  
  Section Phalloideae  
       
 

Synonyms

 
     
       
 

Common Names

 
 

Destroying Angel

Eastern North American Destroying Angel

North American Destroying Angel

North American Two-spored Destroying Angel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Mycorrhizal

A symbiotic, usually beneficial relationship between a fungus and the tiny rootlets of a plant, usually a tree.

 

Partial veil

A protective covering over the gills or pores of a developing mushroom. At maturity it disappears, collapses into a ring around the stalk, or wears away into a cobwebby covering and ring zone.

 

Striate

Striped or grooved in parallel lines (striae).

 

Universal veil

An egg-like structure that envelopes all or most of a developing gill mushroom. Remnants of the universal veil sometimes visible on a mature mushroom are patchy warts on the cap, a ring on the stalk, and a volva at the base of the stalk.

 

Volva

Also called cup. A cup-like covering at the base of a mushroom stem, sometimes buried. In Amanita, Volvariella, and some other mushrooms, it is the remnants of the universal veil ruptured by the mushroom pushing through. In Phallales it is the remnants of the ruptured peridium.

 
 
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AGShep

 
    Eastern North American Destroying Angel      
 

FMF CHOP

 
 

White spore print. Found in grass near dying maple.

 
    Eastern North American Destroying Angel   Eastern North American Destroying Angel  
 

Jeffrey M. Arsenault

 
    Eastern North American Destroying Angel   Eastern North American Destroying Angel  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

 

 
           

 

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slideshow

       
 
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Other Videos
 
  One Poisonous Mushroom | One Poisonous Plant
Learn Your Land
 
   
 
About

Aug 23, 2017

In this video, we take a look at the lethal Destroying Angel mushroom (Amanita bisporigera/amerivirosa) and the toxic White Snake Root plant (Ageratina altissima).

Music: Small Tall Order — Poison In The Water https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode

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  ID destroying angel mushrooms, Amanita bisporigera and allies
Anna McHugh
 
   
 
About

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How to ID lethal destroying angel mushrooms, including safety info.

 
  Rhode Island Amanita Series: Amanita bisporigera
Spike M
 
   
 
About

Jul 22, 2021

 

 

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Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this fungus.

 
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  AGShep
9/2/2022

Location: Isanti County

my backyard

Eastern North American Destroying Angel  
  Jeffrey M. Arsenaul
7/14/2020

Location: Mankato

Eastern North American Destroying Angel  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
 

 

 

 

 

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Created: 7/31/2020

Last Updated:

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