Thanks Marts, interesting info there but many of the fungi you mention are found only in the US
Of the European ones all of the ones on the list have red in them , either from spores on the stem, or the cap is red or they stain reddish when cut,
Would a sensible rule of thumb be to avoid any bolete that has red ?
Tant
Thanks Marts, interesting info there but many of the fungi you mention are found only in the US
Of the European ones all of the ones on the list have red in them , either from spores on the stem, or the cap is red or they stain reddish when cut,
Would a sensible rule of thumb be to avoid any bolete that has red ?
Tant
Many in the Eastern US do use this rule of thumb but you will miss some red-staining edible ones.
Actually the only sensible rule is to know intimately how to identify any toxic or deadly mushroom that "could" be mistaken for your target mushroom.
One big problem is that books may be of great use in the area where the book came from, but a book written in America or England may actually be misleading in another part of the world.
This very reason is why it is best to avoid common names such as "Ceps" and use Boletus edulus or Boletus reginius (aka King and Queen bolete in the US, probably "Cep" in Poland/Russia) and use instead the universal Latin name.
Especially in the US, but also in Europe and Russia the ice ages sometimes penetrated South like fingers on a hand. If you hold your hand out you will see spaces between each finger. Each of these cells isolated specific species long enough that in cases they changed genetically becoming a new species. Thus, though they might look like the same species in one area, they can no longer interbreed, and their chemistry may have changed, especially in the way of toxic chemicals. So while the Amanita caesarea of Europe is considered edible, I will not eat what is known as Amanita caesarea from the US, and suspect that genetically they will eventually be proven to be either mild to moderately different and therefore a different variety or significantly different and therefore a new species.
So it is possible that the Devil's bolete (Boletus satanus) which is eaten "in San Francisco" may be a relative to a similar "Devil's bolete" in Russia, but now is a new specie. If so, they may look, smell and taste alike, but the ones in San Francisco (USA) may lack the toxin bolesatine, whereas the ones in parts of Russia may have significant quantities and therefore may be toxic.
For instance in the NE America if one wants to collect Chanterelles (Cantherellus cibarious) one MUST know the Jack-o-Lantern mushroom (Omphalotus olearius, or O. illudens) which are toxic but to some look similar.
I remember a time at a gathering of a mushroom club (of people quite knowledgeable (enough so that the group ID'd and had the genetic work done to identify and name a new species that we found)) where a couple that had been in British Columbia, Canada had purchased some Chants from a roadside stand--they wanted to make sure they were edible. Several knowledgeable people looked in the bag, hefted a few and each said "yup....chants ....excellent," or something to that nature.
I asked for the bag and showed them what to look for especially the lack of true gills and emphasized that each one should be inspected--and low and behold, one of the mushrooms in the bag was Ompholatus illudens. To me illudens and Chants look very different, but to the casual observer (ignoring gill structure and looking only at the color and shape) they were orange, thus it was assumed they were safe.
A single illudens mixed in with a few cups of chants probably guaranteed at least a few hours of misery on the toilet, eat several and as a friend of mine who once mistook illudens for Chants, well, he ended up at hospital having his stomach pumped.
The recent epidemic of poisoning is a bit confusing from a forensic point of viw because so many were involved and yet there were few deaths. I did find one Russian reference about this "epidemic" to three deaths related to the "Death Cap" (Amanita phalloides) the most common cause of mushroom poisoning deaths world wide, relating to one family, but I'd suspect another mushroom is at play here also because of so many survivors.
The lethal dose of alpha-amanatin (the worst of the group) is only 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of body weight--it does not take a lot of mushrooms to deliver this, often accepted at about 20grams.
Often the victim is Asian (often Loatian/Cambodian/Vietnamese) for their culture is such that foraging is important to them. In SE Asia the "paddy straw mushroom" (cultivated on rice straw) Volvariella Volvacea is common. There are NO deadly Amanitas in SE Asia. Therefore to them the vulva or found at the base of many amanitas and Volvarias is "proof positive" that they are the paddy straw mushrooms. Yet especially in the Western US Volvariella species are rare where the look alike/similar A phalloides is common. Often it is a family of SE Asia lineage who picks and eats the Death Cap. Most American mushroomers will not eat any mushroom with a volva. (remnants at base where the cap separated from the base) Some mushroom collecting groups/societies have placed warnings in multiple Asian languages to warn people from Asia of the potential danger.
Phalloides poisoning result in no symptoms for 6-24 hours, then severe symptoms. At the hospital a doctor or nurse may ask: "Have you eaten anything odd?" But the answer is likely to be, "no" or "not today." Often these people's symptoms disappear, and they are released. Unfortunately the predominant toxin alpha amanatin (plus other lesser toxins) slowly destroys the liver and/or kidneys, and death occurs several to five days later. Since as little as 20 grams (probably only one small mushroom) can be fatal--so I assume that there is more than one mushroom involved in this "epidemic."
I cannot help but wonder if the problem was a Xerocomus badius (edible and often known as Boletus badius) or other Xerocomus which due to its slimy top can sometimes grow toxic mold (mould) turning an otherwise non-toxic one into a toxic one. I believe that in Europe and Russia some Xerocomus species are collected as a "less desirable" form of Cep. This scenario could explain why hundreds were taken ill, as the mushroom was edible and recognizable, but may have become toxic due to the mold.
In America A. phalloides used to be non-existant to rare in certain areas such as Long Island near New York City. But decades ago conifers saplings from nurseries in the US NW were sold and planted in that area. The conifers were associated (mycorhizzal, a synergistic relationship between the conifer and the fungus) with the saplings, as a result A. phalloides is showing up in places where they have never been seen.
It is unwise to use pictures in a book. It is much better to learn to ID gill structure, spore prints (lay a gilled mushroom on a white piece of paper, cover it with bowl and look at the color the next day) or other taxonomically stable parts of the fungus. Color and shape are generally not good features to use.
So know the enemy first--know how to ID any possible toxic or deadly mushroom that grows in that region. And do not use information from one region in another.
Doctors should save samples of vomitus in suspected cases to determine if Amanita species was involved by microscopic spore analysis (as in the case of witnessing a child or pet eating a mushroom) and there is a urine test that detects alpha-amanatin or up to about 48 hours. About 20 years ago there was a supportive volunteer group associated with the North American Mycological Association who received training in identifying Amanita spores in vomitus--they may or may not be active today. There are also genetic methods of detecting amanatin within vomitus.
As we say here in New England: "There are old mushroomers and there are bold mushroomers, but there are no old and bold mushroomers.
Btw, I'm not an expert but I have eaten 40+ distinct species and gotten ill only once. That was not due to a mushroom toxin it was due to eating about a pound of edible slimy topped definately edible mushrooms cooked many different ways, along with at least a pound of butter--that's not called poisoning, that's called stupidity...*lol*
An odd footnote for those with a curiosity about folk-medicine:
In olden days in England a remedy was candied rabbit stomach as people noted that rabbits seemed immune to A. phalloides. As it turns out rabbits in these areas do indeed secrete an enzyme that destroys amanatin though I do not believe that it has been identified and synthesized yet. I suppose it is possible that if someone had eaten enough candied rabbit stomach (before symptoms set in) it could have helped.
