DON'T EAT ME: Some of the world's most toxic mushrooms look dangerously similar to those harvested for food--or recreation.
Image: TAYLOR LOCKWOOD
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Mushrooms can be delicious, beautiful and even, well, "magical". But if tough times send you out to forage for food—beyond the nearest fast-food restaurant—be wary of some of nature's more toxic temptations.
Whether mistakenly—or maliciously—used, mushrooms have claimed the lives of many, including the Roman emperor, Claudius, who is rumored to have been poisoned by a mushroom dish administered by his wife. The death of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, which prompted the war of Austrian Succession, may also have resulted from feasting on foul fungi.
Although some toxic mushrooms, such as the false morels (in the Gyromitra genus), are still prepared in traditional dishes, evidence is mounting that even in cooked form the meaty mushrooms aren't totally safe for consumption.
Even the deadliest mushrooms, including the aptly named death cap, are reported to taste pretty good, and symptoms often don't appear for hours. So as mycologists (mushroom scholars) everywhere warn: know your fungi. Otherwise you may be in for a nasty—if not fatal—case of mycetism (mushroom poisoning).
Nature photographer and author Taylor Lockwood shares photographs of some of the more deadly 'shrooms.
Slide Show: Seven Poisonous Mushrooms
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26 Comments
Add CommentThanks for this. I would like to know how best to instruct my students to find this information (on a regular basis ) from their classroom based computers. Lets get together and make science education free to all who will participate!!! LOVE will
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisgreetings science community. Thanks for your work and dedication to learning
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBeautiful photos of killers from neither the plant world nor the animal world.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe mushroomers have a saying:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere are old mushroomers
And there are bold mushroomers
But there are no old bold mushroomers.
Summary: if you aren't 120% sure about a mushroom, leave it where you found it!
Hmmm, shrooms from the 70s totally ROCKED. Boy, those were the days!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRiff
www.privacy-tools.echoz.com
I'm not quite sure what this article was supposed to be about, exactly. Its not enough information to be useful, you'd need a really good funghi field guide for that, but it also doesn't have any obvious message, except perhaps 'look, we've got some pretty pictures of toadstools and a space to fill on our website'...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA useful piece of advice for those wanting to collect mushrooms is to get a good field guide and don't collect any gilled funghi at first, especially those that grow on the ground. You're safer sticking with boletes, hedgehog fungus, puffballs and oyster mushrooms at first since its harder to confuse these with anything really deadly.
Instead of punctuating the two independent clauses with a semicolon, the author of this article uses a comma in the title. That bugs me. The article will be good, though, I am sure.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI remember picking a bunch of Deadly Gals a long time ago. They really do look a lot like another popularly picked mushroom. They even stained green. Only after a spore print was I able to confirm that they were extremely toxic.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisForgive me. I am slow. I am teaching myself grammar. The article will be good, though. I am sure. About the mushrooms or the interest in harvesting such mushrooms, I would be inclined to say that psychic hand holding is out of the question during any type of mushroom trip.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree with Ian the Chemist. Great photos but article falls far short of being scientific enough to be of much use. Title and prose remind me more of the Enquier than SA. Needs a lot more info on sizes, comparisons, spore prints. spore shape and color, regions, seasons, vegitative localities and more.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn fact the nontoxic mushroom is called "jizong" by chinese that be found in yunnan province may be more dangerous than that toxic ones.because it is very delicious you could burst.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn fact the nontoxic mushroom is called "jizong" by chinese that be found in yunnan province may be more dangerous than that toxic ones.because it is very delicious you could burst.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI read years ago that the rules for identifying non-poisonous fungi on one side of the globe do not apply to the other side. So unless you're an expert, don't be tempted to pick them in the wild, just buy them from the supermarket. They have little nutritious value, so why risk it?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThose pictures are really beautiful...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisuhhh, Colin they very high in protein...that's like asking why risk eating chicken! Fry up some morels in butter and there is no better meal.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhere did you get your nutritional information, rockjohny? The chart at the site listed below only shows 3 grams per 100 which is a very low protein content: http://www.ntwrks.com/~mikev/chart3a.htm
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAn old wive's tale says you can eat any mushrooms that are being fed on by slugs, as this proves they are not poisonous.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBeware! this old saying is totally false, as slugs can eat amanites which are absolutely lethal to humans...
Always start collecting mushrooms with an expert, and learn but one or two varieties per season thoroughly, especially finding out which look-alike varieties to avoid... There are thousands of species of mushrooms and toadstools, and even the top experts need to examine the spores of some varieties under a microscope to identify them. Most varieties are simply indigestible, but it is easy to get poisoned by collecting young species as they have no distinguishing features, so only collect adult fungi...Buy several good illustrated books on the subject, as fungi colours often vary a lot and you will need to consult several works to match the hues. Beware of over simplified advice such as 'collect all boletus fungi', as even boletus have poisonous varieties...
As we are on a scientific web-site, perhaps the best advice to give is to buy a book which shows exactly how to determine a fungi species in a logical way. This involves observing each characteristic of the fungi in turn, and therby proceeding to an exact determination by a process of elimination. I could recommend a good book, but as it is in french it would not be suitable for most readers. Be methodical...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJust the pictures are good enough to warn you against picking them. If that isn't a recognizable message, then I'm afraid you missed the point.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'd like to know if the toxicity of some mushrooms gives them a measurable survival advantage over those that look almost exactly the same but aren't toxic. Are the toxic ones mimicking the non-toxic, and of so, how does that benefit them? Or have the non-toxic found that they will derive some benefit from being eaten, and if so what would that be? Or is it none of the above?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisExactly - I was excited to understand the difference between a toxic and safe mushroom. I am leave this article afraid of all mushrooms and wondering how my grocery supplier is doing. I presume SciAm is a resource. Photographs were beautiful, but a side by side of good and bad would have been appreciated.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThese are beautiful photographs but I have to agree with those that say this is a useless article as a guide to identifying poisonous mushrooms. However, it does increase awareness of the dangers in eating wild mushrooms. The best advice so far in the comments is to get a field guide. Even that is poor advice. Get three or more. I have seen two books disagree about the edibility of the same species. Make sure a least one of your field guides has paintings instead of photographs. A painting can show the typical morphology of a species instead of the specific appearance of a single specimen. By using a variety of references, you are more likely to avoid an error.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDo not use common names for mushrooms. The same name common name may be applied to more than one species and the same species may have more then one name. The Latin names are not rally all that difficult; they are just different from what you are used to.
Most of the poisonous species in this article belong to the Aminita genus. Typical characteristics of this mostly (always?) poisonous group are: a ring or anulus on the stipe (stem), a vulva or cup at the base of the stipe, and white spores and gills.
Avoid all mushrooms with a vulva or white gills.
When starting, to gather and eat mushrooms, stick to a few easily identified species. I typically add only one species every two or three years. Regardless of what the books may state, limit your first meals of a new species to one bite. If you show symptoms after a couple of days, a small serving may be consumed in the next meal. It is not possible to determine adverse reactions an individual may have to a new species.
Some mushrooms can give a very nasty reaction when consumed with alcohol.
Do a lot of research about this fascinating hobby before you eat a single bite.
THERE IS NO SINGLE TEST TO DETERMINE TH EDIBILITY
OF A MUSHROOM.
The only way to tell is to positively identify the species and then consult the literature. If you cannot identify it, DO NOT EAT IT!
Even is you choose not to eat them mushroom gathering and identification is interesting and fun.
Oh my, what a bunch of twits we are. Thanks for the informative article. Not everyone want to get a PhD every friggin time they read something interesting.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI only hunt for Morels, but lately hunting has been impossible due to poor weather conditions. I will say that the "morel-like" mushrooms shown here don't look anything like the real thing!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI only hunt Morels, but the local hunting has been poor in the last couple of years due to poor weather. I do know that I would never confuse the "morel-like" mushrooms to the real thing!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIan really got it right, there wasn't enough information to be truly useful. At best it was a nice article with pristine images that had more of an enjoyment value than a scientific value, but at worst it was a waste of time.
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