Stamps of Estonia: The Death Cap Mushroom (2013)

Estonian mushrooms – the Death Cap / 549-12.09.13

Price: 0.45
Date: 12.09.2013
Designer: Ülle Marks, Jüri Kass
Quantity issued: 50 000
Sheets: 5 x 5
Perforation: 13¾ : 14
Print: ofset
Printing house: AS Vaba Maa

Amanita phalloides, commonly known as the death cap, is a deathly mushroom with a long period of latency as its poisons cause major damage to the liver and the kidneys. The death cap is so poisonous that it should not put even into the same basket with mushrooms intended for the kitchen, which can then become equally poisonous. In Estonia the death cap grows in broadleaved forests in August and September. Its cap is greyish, yellowish, and brownish green, olive brown in the centre. When old the cap is up to 15 cm across and slimy fibrous yellowish brown with no fluffs. The cap is slightly sticky in wet weather but dry and shiny on dry days. The gills do not reach the stem, but come close to it. The stem is white from 5 tp 15 cm long and 1 to 2 cm in diameter. The base of the stem is bulbous, up to 4 cm in diameter and is contained within a cup-like structure called the volva.