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Funeral bell

Galerina marginata · Galerinas (Galerina)

Deadly poisonous
Funeral bell
📷 Author: see Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Deadly poisonous – the same toxin as the death cap. A single mushroom can kill. Cooking, drying or freezing do not destroy it.

Recognise it safely – what matters

  1. Stem below the ring silvery and fibrous – sheathed woodtuft: dark and shaggy-scaly
  2. Often grows on the same wood as the sheathed woodtuft, sometimes even between them
  3. When in doubt: leave every cluster

Features

Cap
1.5–5 cm, honey to ochre brown, dries paler from the centre; margin striate.
Underside
Gills: ochre, later rust brown.
Stem
Thin; short-lived ring. Below the ring silvery-fibrous with lengthwise streaks – not scaly.
Flesh
Brownish, thin.
Smell
Mealy
Spore print
Rust brown

Season

Habitat

In clusters on rotting wood and stumps, mainly of conifers, less often broadleaf wood. In mild weather almost all year round.

Gran, Furu, andre treslag

Risk of confusion

Svovelhatt Edible species The most dangerous lookalike of the sheathed woodtuft: same size, colour and wood. Only the stem below the ring reliably differs – scaly (woodtuft) or silvery-fibrous (funeral bell).

If someone has eaten it

Nothing at first. Then violent vomiting and diarrhoea, often followed by a deceptive improvement – while the liver is being severely damaged. Without early treatment, liver failure can follow. First symptoms: usually 6–24 hours after eating.

Act immediately – even without symptoms:

  • Emergency number 112 if someone feels unwell.
  • Poison centre: Germany – area code of the nearest city with a poison centre + 19240 (e.g. Berlin 030 19240, Munich 089 19240) · Austria +43 1 406 43 43 · Switzerland 145.
  • Keep leftovers, trimmings or vomit – it helps with identification.

Never identify mushrooms by pictures or an app alone. When in doubt, ask a mushroom expert – and only pick what you know for sure.

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