Panther cap

Statema, B. C. P.

Fungus

Panther cap

Amanita pantherina

Known today as: A brown, white-spotted amanita of European woods.
Kind: Fungus
Constituents: ibotenic acid, muscimol
Poisoning: Ibotenic acid and muscimol (pantherine syndrome)
In other databases: GBIF search · Wikidata search

Caution. Poisonous; severe delirium.

Panther cap: what was it used for?

None.

Panther cap: what does modern science say?

Carries more ibotenic acid and muscimol than the fly agaric, and poisons more severely.

Panther cap: is it poisonous?

Yes, in some form or dose. Poisonous; severe delirium. Its poisoning is ibotenic acid and muscimol (pantherine syndrome): Thirty minutes to two hours. Historical description, not medical advice; in a poisoning, call a poison centre.

Pharmacognosy & Toxicology

Constituents

ibotenic acid ChEMBLseveral times the fly agaric’s
muscimol ChEMBL

Mechanism

As the fly agaric.

Toxic dose

One cap; severe delirium and coma.

Syndrome

Ibotenic acid and muscimol (pantherine syndrome)

Standing

None.

Michelot, D., and Melendez-Howell, L. M. (2003). Mycological Research 107. Book, not indexed

The abstract of each source, beneath its citation. For Club members. About the Club or sign in.

Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.

Panther cap: what lore surrounds it?

The fly agaric’s darker cousin.

In Their Own Words

Mrs Grieve, after saying that the Fly Agaric is used to make people drunk in Kamchatka, adds that Amanita pantherina is used in Japan for the same purpose.

“Although justly considered injurious, it is used as a means of intoxication by the natives of Kamschatka. A. pantherina is used in Japan for like purposes.”

Mrs. M. Grieve, A Modern Herbal: “Fungi”, “Fungi”: the Amanitas (A. muscaria). The text of A Modern Herbal as published on botanical.com. The text, read in part

George Massee describes Amanita pantherina as having a viscid, striate cap, yellow-brown, grey or whitish, with flat mealy warts and white gills.

“=pantherina=, Fr. P. 7-10 cm. soon plane, viscid, striate, yellow-brown, grey, or whitish, with flat mealy warts; g. free but close to stem, white”

George Massee, F.L.S., European Fungus Flora: Agaricaceae, Amanita, A. pantherina. London: Duckworth & Co., 3 Henrietta Street, W.C., 1902 (Project Gutenberg eBook #33013). The text, read in part

Each passage is quoted from the text named, which the press fetched and read, and was checked word for word against a fresh copy of it; the link opens that copy. Passages are given as printed, without the editors’ footnote numbers, and with words broken across lines joined.

Sources

Benjamin, D. R. (1995). Mushrooms: Poisons and Panaceas. Verified against its record · doi:10.1016/0165-6147(96)81595-1

Verification

Checked

October 1, 2026

Passes

Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database

Sources

2 cited: 1 verified against its record, 1 book, not indexed. 1 with the abstract on file.

Corrections

None were needed.

What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.

Cite This Entry

Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026

Chicago: “Panther cap.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified September 25, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/panther-cap.
MLA: “Panther cap.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 25 Sept. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/panther-cap. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
APA: Panther cap. (2026, September 25). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/panther-cap

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