''Lepiota brunneoincarnata'', the deadly dapperling, is a gilled

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

of the genus ''

Lepiota ''Lepiota'' is a genus of gilled mushrooms in the family Agaricaceae. All ''Lepiota'' species are ground-dwelling saprotrophs with a preference for rich, calcareous soils. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are agaricoid with whitish spores, typically ...

'' in the order Agaricales. Widely distributed in Europe and

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

regions of Asia as far east as China, it grows in grassy areas such as fields, parks and gardens, and is often mistaken for edible mushrooms. The mushroom has a brown scaled cap up to 4 cm wide with a pinkish brown stem and white gills. It is highly toxic, with several deaths having been recorded as it resembles the edible grey knight ('' Tricholoma terreum'') and fairy ring champignon ('' Marasmius oreades'').

Taxonomy

The species was described by Swiss botanists

Robert Hippolyte Chodat Robert Hippolyte Chodat (4 June 1865, Moutier – 28 April 1934) was a Swiss botanist and phycologist who was a professor and director of the botanical institute at the University of Geneva. He studied medicine and botany at Geneva, where he was ...

and Charles-Édouard Martin in 1889, who noted it growing on roadsides in Geneva in Switzerland. Genetic analysis of DNA showed it is closely related to other

amatoxin Amatoxin is the collective name of a subgroup of at least nine related toxic compounds found in three genera of poisonous mushrooms (''Amanita'', '' Galerina'' and '' Lepiota'') and one species ( Conocybe filaris) of the genus '' Conocybe''. Amatoxi ...

-containing species such as '' Lepiota subincarnata''.

Description

The cap is across, hemispherical at first before becoming more convex without an obvious boss. It is red-brown when young, before fading to a pale pinkish brown with darker brown scales. There is generally a large unbroken scale in the centre of the cap. The cap margin is inrolled and the cap is fleshy. The thick uncrowded

gills A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

are white, with occasional forks and smaller gills (lamellulae) in between. They are free (unattached to the stem). The

spore print 300px, Making a spore print of the mushroom ''Volvariella volvacea'' shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing pinkish-tan spore print. A 3.5-centimeter ...

is white. The cylindrical stem is tall by wide. The upper part of the stem is pinkish tan while the lower part is covered in dark brown scales. They are separated by a dark brown ring-like zone. The thick flesh reddens on bruising or cutting, and smells somewhat like unripe fruit. The taste is mild. The oval spores are 6–7.5 µm long by 3.5–5 µm wide, and are dextrinoid – they turn red-brown in

Melzer's reagent Melzer's reagent (also known as Melzer's iodine reagent, Melzer's solution or informally as Melzer's) is a chemical reagent used by mycologists to assist with the identification of fungi, and by phytopathologists for fungi that are plant pathogens ...

Distribution and habitat

The deadly dapperling is found in warmer parts of Europe, generally the south, but has also been recorded from Britain and Germany. In Asia, it has been recorded from Turkey, Israel, Pakistan, Iran and eastern China.

Toxicity

It is known to contain deadly amounts of alpha-amanitin and was responsible for a fatal poisoning in

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in 2002, and a poisoning outbreak in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in 2018 and for the deaths of four young members of the same family in

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in 2010. A person survived after eating five specimens picked alongside ''

Agaricus bisporus ''Agaricus bisporus'' is an edible basidiomycete mushroom native to grasslands in Eurasia and North America. It has two color states while immature – white and brown – both of which have various names, with additional names for the mature ...

'' in

Kaynarca, Sakarya Kaynarca, formerly Şeyhler, is a town and district of Sakarya Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. The mayor is Zeynur Özel ( AKP). The nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere ...

, in Turkey in 2013. The symptoms are initially gastrointestinal, with nausea and vomiting around ten hours after consumption, followed by liver damage a few days later. 100 g of ''Lepiota brunneoincarnata'' may result in severe liver damage. It resembles the fairy ring champignon ('' Marasmius oreades''), which is also found in grassy areas, though the pale brown cap of this species lacks scales. Mistakes are made when people pick mushrooms in their garden, as the dapperlings often grow in grassy areas. A family in Salon-de-Provence in France was poisoned after mistaking them for the grey knight ('' Tricholoma terreum''). Amanitin can be detected in the urine 36 to 48 hours after ingestion. The acute gastric symptoms may mislead medical management if the mushroom is not identified, and delay specific liver-protective measures. Intravenous

silibinin Silibinin ( INN), also known as silybin (both from ''Silybum'', the generic name of the plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that ...

has a role in reducing amanitin uptake. Other specific measures include

penicillin G Benzylpenicillin, also known as penicillin G (PenG) or BENPEN, and in military slang "Peanut Butter Shot" is an antibiotic used to treat a number of bacterial infections. This includes pneumonia, strep throat, syphilis, necrotizing enteroco ...

and

n-acetylcysteine Acetylcysteine, also known as ''N''-acetylcysteine (NAC), is a medication that is used to treat paracetamol overdose and to loosen thick mucus in individuals with chronic bronchopulmonary disorders like pneumonia and bronchitis. It has been used ...

as well as general supportive measures such as rehydration. If these measures fail, liver transplantation may be necessary

References

External links