Death cap vs gem-studded puffball: a puffball is white all the way through

Quick answer

Only the death cap egg has a mushroom inside: sliced top to bottom, it shows the outline of a cap, gills and stem, while a gem-studded puffball is uniform pure white with no internal structure. On the surface, the puffball has short cone-shaped spines that rub off and leave a net of scars, while a death cap egg is smooth.

Deadly lookalike

The death cap is deadly.

Unlike the gem-studded puffball, the death cap (Amanita phalloides) 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.

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 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

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

How they differ

Differences between the death cap and the gem-studded puffball
Feature	Death Cap	Gem-Studded Puffball
Sliced top to bottom	Death CapThe outline of a cap, gills and stem inside a white skin.	Gem-Studded PuffballUniform pure white flesh with no internal structure.
Surface	Death CapSmooth and white.	Gem-Studded PuffballCovered in short cone-shaped spines that rub off, leaving a net of scars.
Shape	Death CapEgg-shaped, the base in a white sac.	Gem-Studded PuffballTop-shaped: round on top, narrowing to a thick stem-like base.
Base	Death CapA bulb in a white, membranous sac-like cup, often buried.	Gem-Studded PuffballA spongy sterile base that is part of the puffball; no cup.
Mature form	Death CapOpens into a greenish to olive cap with white gills, a ring and a cup.	Gem-Studded PuffballStays a ball; a pore opens at the top and the inside turns to olive-brown powder.

FAQ

Common questions

How do you tell a puffball from a death cap egg?

Sliced top to bottom, a puffball is solid white throughout; a death cap egg shows the outline of a developing mushroom.

Can a photo tell a puffball from an Amanita egg?

No. From the outside both can be small white balls on the ground. Only the inside tells them apart.

Sources

Where these facts come from

Lycoperdon perlatum
MushroomExpert.com
Amanita phalloides
MushroomExpert.com
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 round, yellowish-brown common earthball with a thick, scaly, cracked skin on the ground

Common earthball vs death cap

Toxic: Common Earthball
Deadly: Death Cap

Split top to bottom, a death cap egg shows a cap, gills and stem. An earthball is solid purple-black inside a thick, scaly rind.

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.

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