Death cap vs pear-shaped puffball: the puffball grows on wood

Quick answer

Pear-shaped puffballs grow in dense clusters on rotting wood, joined by white cords, and are pure white inside when young; a death cap egg grows from soil and shows the outline of a cap, gills and stem when sliced. Because pear-shaped puffballs can grow from buried wood and look like they are on soil, the inside is the surer difference.

Deadly lookalike

The death cap is deadly.

Unlike the pear-shaped 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

Brown, pear-shaped puffballs growing at the base of a moss-covered tree trunk — Pear-Shaped PuffballApioperdon pyriforme

How they differ

Differences between the death cap and the pear-shaped puffball
Feature	Death Cap	Pear-Shaped Puffball
What it grows from	Death CapSoil.	Pear-Shaped PuffballRotting logs, stumps and buried wood.
Growth	Death CapSingle or scattered.	Pear-Shaped PuffballDense clusters joined at the base by white cords.
Sliced top to bottom	Death CapThe outline of a cap, gills and stem.	Pear-Shaped PuffballUniform pure white when young.
Surface	Death CapSmooth and white.	Pear-Shaped PuffballFine granules or tiny spines that wear off; soon yellow-brown to tan.
Base	Death CapA bulb in a white, sac-like cup.	Pear-Shaped PuffballA short, narrowed sterile base with white cords.

FAQ

Common questions

Does the pear-shaped puffball grow on wood?

Yes. It grows on rotting logs, stumps and buried wood, usually in dense groups. Amanita buttons grow from soil.

How do you tell a puffball from an Amanita button?

Sliced top to bottom, a puffball is uniform white inside; an Amanita button shows a developing cap, gills and stem.

Sources

Where these facts come from

Lycoperdon pyriforme
MushroomExpert.com
Lycoperdon pyriforme, pear-shaped puffball (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 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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