The other thing is that the truly deadly varieties, such as the subject of this article - Amanita phalloides, are really not that hard to avoid. When you're a novice forager, there are plenty of varieties that don't look remotely like Amanita, and are much easier to differentiate.
There are some hardcore foragers who even consume certain varieties of Amanita (some of which are edible!), but to me this would be too much of a hassle, since it would involve spore prints and maybe even microscopy of the spores to be absolutely sure.
I don't endorse any rules-of-thumb for foraging, but a much better differentiator for beginners is whether the mushroom has pores vs. gills under the cap. There are virtually no deadly varieties that have pores.
Never heard this one before. Adding it to my bug out notes. Thanks!
Put a few common pored edibles (Laetiporus sp., Cantharellus sp., Grifola frondosa, etc.) in your notes for sure though, with basic descriptions, as even their few remote lookalikes (at least pored ones -- some people think Omphalotus sp. look like Cantharellus for some reason) are just going to give you a moderate stomach upset at worst, and may be edible themselves.
Chantarelles don't have pores?
Everything else a good book for identification. If its not 100% clear that it is editable, it gets thrown away.
The most obvious examples are our two major trails, the Pacific Coast and the Appalachian, which take a full year to hike and are done by tens of thousands annually.
Then I moved to another city just a few hundreds of km away, and I couldn't collect many mushrooms anymore. The mushrooms variaties were quite different. The ones I could recognise were not so common anymore, and I didn't know the other ones. I stopped foraging now, because I don't have the urge to learn mushrooms again.
books with photos, very in-depth descriptions, pictures and descriptions sent to friends who also forage, and when all else fails, spore samples.
I've only had to make it to spore samples 6-7 times because I couldn't identify with the first three methods. I will note that I never ate any of the ones I took spore samples of - because I was then able to correctly identify them as poisonous (or close enough that I wasn't willing to take the chance).
When you get to know the specific bits of anatomy of the mushroom body, the trees with which they're symbiotic, the seasons in which they occur, etc., then identifying different varieties becomes as clear as identifying a baseball vs. a tennis ball.
E.g: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvopluteus_gloiocephalus#Edi... == In the United States, there have been several cases of Asian immigrants collecting and eating death caps (Amanita phalloides), under the mistaken assumption that they were Volvariella. ==
That has also happened here in Denmark.
When you put your fingers on the foot of a bolet, you know immediately, just from the firmness, relative temperature, etc.
It's magical.
He damn sure was not using an app on his phone to identify them.
In Western Europe, for instance, there is are edible wild champignons that are very similar “groene knol ameniet”, which is deadly.
I recently read that fatalities are on the rise because east europeans that migrate here look for wild champignons but do not know about the poisenous lookalike: it does not grow in the forests they grew up in.
Every region has some mushrooms species that you can learn to easily recognize and that don’t have “evil twins”. You should be aware that this varies by area.
So apps can be a useful tool but a good book that covers the region where you pluck is essential.
It's not like they're chocolate.
https://www.nhbs.com/the-third-hunt-book
I agree with the thread-starter that some actions look incredibly stupid, like an attempt to eat something similar to Amanita (indeed, no taste is worth the risk) or the belief that there any no deadly mushrooms in any given place on the planet. Exclusion first - as kids we were allowed to touch Boletuses only, and then some distinct non-boletuses that have no poisonous lookalikes.
But the described actions are not actually stupidity if you think about it. It’s an attempt to do something that can be done safely only if you are immersed in a culture that preserve and cherish knowledge on this subject and promotes safe indulgement in related pleasures.
We can respect all cultures, probably. But to gather and eat mushrooms safely you should follow (not necessarily) a culture you have grown up in but culture of people or groups who know how to do it safely.
Out of curiosity, have you used any of the apps?
They're really good at flora, and include identification of fungi because they are outdoors and attached to soil and flora. They greatly amplify the most passive and casual interest to something far the tools employed professionals would have. Even the state (but thats a low bar, admittedly).
But the identification isn't for eating things. But knowing that people do that, and for mushrooms I would say there is a case for a warning label in the apps, after positive identification of some things.
Technically the person themselves made the leap to calling it edible.
Although it wouldn’t hurt for the flora identification app to have warnings about not eating things unless you’re very certain and have expertise on the subject. Or make it clear it’s a well informed guess not a perfect identification.
The person went out of their way, but I could see many people going down the same path.
My dad always brought the stuff we picked there, it was close by enough and it's just a totally normal thing here.
I would imagine it would be a nightmare to do this in the US due to legal liabilities.
But if your grandma checks them, no need. :)
I've commented on this before, but it continues to baffle me how poorly-educated our public is about wild plants, berries, and mushrooms. And stories like this just perpetuate the fear (and stigma?) around foraging, when in fact there's a whole universe of flavors and textures to be had from wild mushrooms that are simply better, and more fun, than the grocery store.