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Pholiotina rugosa

Conocybe filaris · Deadly conocybe · Fool's conecap

Deadly

A small brown lawn mushroom with a ring, growing in exactly the grassy habitat people search for liberty caps. Formerly called Conocybe filaris, which is still the name most references use. It is the lawn counterpart to Galerina's wood-chip trap.

If you may have eaten this: get to an emergency department now and say you may have eaten an amatoxin-containing mushroom. Don’t wait for symptoms, the symptom-free window is part of the poisoning, not a sign you’re fine. Bring a sample if you can. Treatment works far better before liver damage sets in.

What it does

Toxin
Amatoxins, as in Galerina. Same mechanism, same destruction of the liver, same failure to be destroyed by cooking.
Time to symptoms
6 to 24 hours delayed, then the same biphasic course as Galerina.
Outcome
Liver failure. Fatal. Small, so people take several without thinking about it.

Decisive characters

Each of these settles the question on its own. If one says no, the answer is no, regardless of what everything else says.

Spore print
Psilocybin speciesDark purple-brown
Look-alikeRusty brown to cinnamon
Bruising
Psilocybin speciesBlue or blue-green, though weak in P. semilanceata
Look-alikeNone

Supporting characters

Useful corroboration. Not sufficient alone.

Cap shape
Psilocybin speciesP. semilanceata is sharply conical with a distinct nipple, and never flattens
Look-alikeConvex flattening to plane, often radially wrinkled, no nipple
Ring
Psilocybin speciesAbsent in P. semilanceata
Look-alikePresent, a distinct movable ring on the stem

Confused with