cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/39826218
California officials are warning foragers after an outbreak of poisoning linked to wild mushrooms that has killed one adult and caused severe liver damage in several patients, including children.
The state poison control system has identified 21 cases of amatoxin poisoning, likely caused by death cap mushrooms, the health department said Friday. The toxic wild mushrooms are often mistaken for edible ones because of their appearance and taste.
“Death cap mushrooms contain potentially deadly toxins that can lead to liver failure,” Erica Pan, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “Because the death cap can easily be mistaken for edible safe mushrooms, we advise the public not to forage for wild mushrooms at all during this high-risk season.”
I had to look up what possible edible someone might confuse with a death cap.
Apparently there’s an Asian mushroom that can be confused with death caps. The secret to not confusing it with a death cap is knowing it doesn’t grow in the US. I wonder if this is AI identification going amok, or if there are people from Asia who are foraging it and not realizing the problem until too late.
A sad reminder to make sure your foraging guide is tailored to the area you are in.
There’s other differences as well such as death caps having a ring on the stem and a thicker cap which lacks the striation you see on the paddy straw mushroom (Vovariella sp.) and the edible Amanitas (grisettes, cocorras, etc.).
They have deadly Amanitas in Asia too and they have many of the same features so Asian foragers should already know how to tell them apart.