Don't go picking mushrooms (Poisonous Plants in General)

Member Name: Bryn Pearson

Product:	Poisonous Plants in General
Date:	15/03/02 (1958 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: free food

Disadvantages: unexpected hospital trips.

I know of a few people who have been tempted to go picking mushrooms, but this is a far more hazardous activity than it might first appear to be. If you aren't an expert, you can end up very sick, or seeing pink elephants. Here's some useful information to be going along with.

Most would be mushroom eaters go after field mushrooms - much like the mushrooms they sell you in the supermarket, only bigger. Field mushrooms grow on the ground, usually in long grass, they have whitish tops. The key thing is to look underneath - if they are also white round the gills, they are going to poison you. Field mushrooms have black undersides - again, like the shop bought ones, but they have some close relatives that look very similar but may leave you in hospital.

The easiest fungus to safely identify and eat is the puffball. The pufball is a large white ball, very much like a football. There are two problems - one they aren't that comman (I've only seen a couple ever) and two, they explode when ripe, to spread their spores, so you can get a bit of a shock if one goes off when you're carrying it home! Apparently they cook very well, and stuffing them with other mushrooms works nicely.

Many mushrooms and funguses are not so benevolent - likely to make you sick, if not worse. It is vital to keep children away from them - best not to even touch them, much less eat them.

However, there are many UK mushrooms that can safely be eaten, so there is always the temptation to go forraging - well, for some of us there is. I would recomend sticking with the two most obvious ones, if you ever find them.

Never experiment.

Never assume that you've got the right type - if you aren't carrying a good book to help you identify fungus, leave it where it is. Many of them look alike and you can't afford to make a mistake.

Colour is no indicator - some of the most innocent looking white mushrooms can have hide
ous effrects on you, as can some of the bright ones. There are no easy rules to follow. Many mushrooms can have psychadelic effects - again, not something to experiment with. Harvesting mushrooms for 'visionary' purproses is even more dangerous than trying to find edible ones - correct preperation is vital, and again, there are too many mushroms that look a great deal like other mushrooms, so you can get things wrong all too easily.

Just a little aside - you know the red mushrooms with the white spots? The ones you always get in pictures with gnomes or pixies? If you pick one, you have to scrap off all the white spots, as these are poisonous, but if you eat the red flesh, you may well see the pixies. (So I hear, I have't tried and I don't mean to.) You can understand then the risk of getting this wrong - leave just a little of the white stuff and you could be in trouble. There's a reason that pixies and mushroom rings tend to go together.

If you really want the whole 'pick the mushroom expereince', the best thing to do is go to a plant centre and buy yourself a mushroom growing kit - they aren't that costly, and you can be sure that the mushrooms you get will be safe to eat. My advice would be don't, with regards to picking wild ones - there's far too mcuh scope for things to go wrong.

Summary: