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Funeral Bell - Galerina marginata is a poisonous fungus

Funeral Bell - Galerina marginata
Syn. - Galerina autumnalis
Family - Hymenogastraceae
Also known as - Deadly Skullcap

This fungus is poisonous

The Funeral Bell mushroom is a very poisonous species containing Amatoxin, a group of at least eight toxic compounds found in several genera of poisonous mushrooms.  It is a small brown bell shaped striated fungi 1.7–4cm (0.7–1.6in) in diameter on a thin stipe up to 5cm (2in) tall which graduates from white at the top to brown at the bottom.  The gills are almost the same colour as the top of the stem and darken with age, the spore print is a rusty brown.

It is a saprobic species found mostly on decaying conifer wood.  The cap surface is smooth and changes colours with humidity (hygrophanous) to dull tan or darker brown when dry.  Moist, the cap is more transparent so that the outlines of the gills may be seen as striations.  The gills are typically narrow and crowded together, with a typical mushroom arrangement of attachment from the edge to the stem, interspersed with shorter gills (lamellulae) from the edge which do not extend entirely from the cap edge to the stem, interspersed with even shorter gills.  The spore print is rusty–brown.

FBCP do not advise or recommend that Funeral Bell – Galerina marginata is eaten or used as an herbal remedy.   Funeral Bell is one of the classic "little brown mushrooms", a category of brownish mushrooms which may be easily confused with several edible species.

Funeral Bell - Galerina marginata, click for a larger image Funeral Bell - Galerina marginata, click for a larger image Funeral Bell - Galerina marginata, click for a larger image
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