Amanita phalloides
Description

The death cap has a large and imposing epigeous (aboveground) fruiting body (basidiocarp), usually with a pileus (cap) from 5 to 15 centimetres (2 to 5 + 7 ⁄ 8 inches) across, initially rounded and hemispherical, but flattening with age. The color of the cap can be pale-green, yellowish-green, olive-green, bronze, or (in one form) white; it is often paler toward the margins, which can have darker streaks; it is also often paler after rain. The cap surface is sticky when wet and easily peeled—a troublesome feature, as that is allegedly a feature of edible fungi. The remains of the partial veil are seen as a skirtlike, floppy annulus usually about 1 to 1.5 cm (3 ⁄ 8 to 5 ⁄ 8 in) below the cap. The crowded white lamellae (gills) are free. The stipe is white with a scattering of grayish-olive scales and is 8 to 15 cm (3 + 1 ⁄ 8 to 5 + 7 ⁄ 8 in) long and 1 to 2 cm (3 ⁄ 8 to 3 ⁄ 4 in) thick, with a swollen, ragged, sac-like white volva (base). As the volva, which may be hidden by leaf litter, is a distinctive and diagnostic feature, it is important to remove some debris to check for it. Spores: 7-12 x 6-9 μm. Smooth, ellipsoid, amyloid.

The smell has been described as initially faint and honey-sweet, but strengthening over time to become overpowering, sickly-sweet and objectionable. Young specimens first emerge from the ground resembling a white egg covered by a universal veil, which then breaks, leaving the volva as a remnant. The spore print is white, a common feature of Amanita. The transparent spores are globular to egg-shaped, measure 8–10 μm (0.3 – 0.4 mil) long, and stain blue with iodine. The gills, in contrast, stain pallid lilac or pink with concentrated sulfuric acid.
oulipo:avoid_letter[t], keywords:existence