Death cap mushrooms (Amanita phalloides) growing on a forest floor. These fruiting bodies appear during late summer and autumn. Their flesh is white and they have a sickly sweet smell, becoming stronger after they are picked. The death cap is the most deadly fungus known, with no antidote currently available to its toxins. These amatoxins induce violent diarrhoea and vomiting, accompanied by severe abdominal pain. After an apparent recovery the victim dies from kidney and liver failure. The most poisonous toxin is alpha- amanitin, which stops protein synthesis in liver cells and is repeatedly circulated by the kidneys into the blood.