Estonian Mushrooms – The Funeral Bell

The Funeral Bell (Galerina marginata) is a highly poisonous mushroom whose consumption leads to amanitin poisoning. You should avoid picking it at all costs. It remains poisonous even when blanched.

The sticky cap of the Funeral Bell can be up to 3 cm in diameter and is two-toned: the watery, striped edges are a dark honey-yellow, while the dry centre part is a browny-yellow in colour. The stem resembles silk fibre, is whitish in colour but black-brown at its base, dry and with a permanent leathery ring in its upper part. Smelling like wheat, the mushroom often grows on the exposed or buried wood of conifers, typically in groups or small clusters, from August to October.

The Funeral Bell is easily confused with a similar mushroom that can be eaten, the Sheathed Woodtuft (Kuehneromyces mutabilis), which mainly grows on the exposed wood of hardwood trees.