The Deadly Webcap (Cortinarius rubellus) – A Fatal Beauty in the Forest

🌲 Introduction

Some mushrooms stand out with bright colors, others with their size. The Deadly Webcap (Cortinarius rubellus), also known as the Fool’s Webcap, is most notorious for its treachery. With its rusty-red to brick-colored cap, it may appear harmless—even ordinary. Yet it is one of the most poisonous mushrooms in Europe. Its toxins can cause irreversible kidney damage, often with fatal results. Because it can be mistaken for edible species, it poses a deadly risk to foragers.

🔎 Identification Features

The Deadly Webcap has a few defining traits that can help identify it—if you pay close attention:

• Cap: 1–3 inches wide, pointed to conical with a central hump, rusty to brick red, dry and matte.

• Gills: yellowish when young, turning rusty-brown as spores mature, broadly attached.

• Stem: 2–4 inches long, slender, often the same color as the cap, with fine fibrous remains of the web-like veil (cortina).

• Flesh: thin, fibrous, orange-brown.

• Odor: faint, earthy to radish-like.

👉 The pointed hump on the cap is one of its most distinctive features.

☠️ Toxicity

The Deadly Webcap contains the highly dangerous toxin orellanine. Its effect is slow and deceptive: first symptoms may appear only 2–17 days after ingestion, when the kidneys are already severely damaged.

Common signs of poisoning include:

• Intense thirst, frequent urination

• Headaches, muscle pain

• Later: kidney failure, often irreversible

👉 The delayed symptoms make this mushroom especially insidious—by the time they appear, treatment is often too late.

🌟 Special Characteristics

• Look-alike danger: can be confused with edible chanterelles or small funnel mushrooms. The reddish color can mislead even experienced foragers.

• Silent destroyer: orellanine works slowly but relentlessly, leading to permanent kidney damage.

• Habitat: prefers coniferous forests, especially near spruce and pine, on acidic soils.

🧭 Foraging Tips

1. Avoid small rusty-red mushrooms unless you can identify them with certainty.

2. Look for the pointed hump—but don’t rely on it alone.

3. Don’t confuse with chanterelles—chanterelles have ridges, webcaps have true gills.

4. Remember the delayed danger—feeling fine after eating doesn’t mean you’re safe.

5. Only collect safe species—when in doubt, leave it.

🪵 Conclusion

The Deadly Webcap is a master of deception: plain-looking, yet one of the deadliest mushrooms in the forest. Its poison acts slowly but surely, leaving no second chances. For mushroom hunters, knowledge is survival. Rugged means not just being adventurous, but also wise—learn this mushroom, respect it, and leave it untouched.