Common earthball vs death cap: an earthball is purple-black inside

Quick answer

A young death cap in its egg stage shows the outline of a cap, gills and stem inside a white skin; an earthball is solid, with a thick white rind around an interior that turns purple-black early and later to dark powder. On the outside, earthballs are hard and scaly yellow-brown like pigskin, and death cap eggs are smooth and white.

Deadly lookalike

The death cap is deadly.

The common earthball is poisonous, but the death cap (Amanita phalloides) is deadly: it contains amatoxins, which halt protein production in cells by binding the enzyme RNA polymerase II. The CDC describes a delay of 6 to 24 hours before vomiting and diarrhea begin, an apparent recovery 24 to 36 hours after the meal, and liver and multiorgan failure typically 3 to 5 days after it. Amatoxins are heat stable and are not inactivated by cooking. In the 2016 northern California outbreak, three of 14 patients needed liver transplants. The University of British Columbia's Mushrooms Up! guide records vomiting, stomach cramps and watery diarrhea starting 10 minutes to 5 hours after eating; the toxins have not been identified.

If someone has eaten a wild mushroom and feels unwell, or may have eaten one of these, call poison control now: 1-800-222-1222 in the US. Do not wait for symptoms.

Side by side

The tell for each

A round, yellowish-brown common earthball with a thick, scaly, cracked skin on the ground — Common EarthballScleroderma citrinum

A death cap with a pale olive-green cap, a white skirt on the stem and a cup at the base, among dead leaves — Death CapAmanita phalloides

How they differ

Differences between the common earthball and the death cap
Feature	Common Earthball	Death Cap
Outside	Common EarthballHard, yellowish to ochre-brown, cracked into coarse scales like pigskin.	Death CapSmooth and white.
Sliced top to bottom	Common EarthballA thick white rind around a purple-black interior with white veins.	Death CapThe outline of a cap, gills and stem.
Base	Common EarthballNone, or a short wrinkled base with cord-like strands.	Death CapA bulb inside a white, sac-like cup, often buried.
Where it grows	Common EarthballSoil of woods, trail edges and mossy banks, near oaks, birches and conifers.	Death CapSoil under oaks and planted trees in parks, gardens and streets.

FAQ

Common questions

How do you tell an earthball from a puffball?

An earthball is firm with a thick rind and a dark interior; a puffball feels softer, like a marshmallow, and is pure white inside when young.

Is the common earthball poisonous?

Field guides list it as poisonous, with vomiting, cramps and diarrhea. The toxins have not been identified.

Sources

Where these facts come from

Scleroderma citrinum
MushroomExpert.com
Scleroderma bovista, potato earthball (Mushrooms Up!)
Beaty Biodiversity Museum, University of British Columbia
Amanita phalloides, death cap (Mushrooms Up!)
Beaty Biodiversity Museum, University of British Columbia
Amanita phalloides Mushroom Poisonings, Northern California, December 2016
CDC, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

Keep checking

Read both pages in full

This page states what field guides record. It is not advice to eat, taste or handle anything, and a photo cannot settle edibility. If someone has eaten a wild mushroom that may be toxic, call poison control (1-800-222-1222 in the US) right away, before symptoms start: the deadliest species act hours later.

More comparisons

Two American Caesar's mushrooms with orange caps edged in yellow, standing in brown leaf litter

American Caesar's mushroom vs death cap

Deadly: Death Cap

Both grow from a white cup. Caesar's mushroom has an orange cap and yellow gills; the death cap has a greenish cap and white gills. Their eggs differ.

A common stinkhorn with a white spongy stem and a dark olive slimy cap rising from pine needles

Common stinkhorn vs death cap

Deadly: Death Cap

Sliced top to bottom, a stinkhorn egg shows jelly around a folded stalk. A death cap egg shows a cap, gills and stem. Both start as white eggs.

A pale, club-shaped gem-studded puffball with a bumpy surface, with a smaller one beside it, in leaf litter

Death cap vs gem-studded puffball

Deadly: Death Cap

Sliced top to bottom, a puffball is pure white with no structure. A death cap egg shows a cap, gills and stem.

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