BearfaceBrendaAug 5, 2023
Cab
Boost please British folk. Woods here are FULL of death caps. Amanita phalloides. In decades of picking I have never seen as many as here on Cambridge today. It not even usually common here. It's brutally poisonous, please share a warning to avoid it #mushtodon #fungi #mushrooms
Aug 5, 2023 at 7:05pmWeb
Show threadCabAug 6, 2023
More pics of deathcaps. Avoid. Really.
Show threadbodhidaveAug 5, 2023

@cabd

Not that I'd be tempted with this one, but I'm reminded — this is my first summer in a home outside Asheville, North Carolina. And I'm finding a surprising number of plants which grow in my hillside yard are edible and medicinal ... but not this one:

"Cuckoo Pint" is described as "highly poisonous."

(P.S. I've learned that "pint" here has a rather, um, colorful etymology.)

Show threadCabAug 5, 2023
@bodhidave Beautiful plant isn't it? Is it native there? A common native woodland plant here in the UK.
Show threadbodhidaveAug 6, 2023

@cabd

I'm in the mountains of North Carolina. Wikipedia tells me Cuckoo Pint is not native here. But there are several in the overgrown bank behind my house, as are a few other non-native plants in the area.

I also have a Rose of Sharon flowering in the front yard, which I read is native to China, but there are a number of them in my neighborhood.

Show threadlaen🪻Aug 9, 2024

@bodhidave @cabd

i had the misfortune to eat one of its young leaves once, as it was in a local salad bag with its semi-lookalike ramsons (wild garlic) and husband didn't think to examine each leaf when he washed the salad. (why would he? but you can bet he does now!)

it was not a pleasant experience.

Show threadbodhidaveAug 9, 2024

@moonrabbit @cabd

yikes!

This is a leaf from the Cuckoo Pint.

(And that original picture was from last spring; there are several more of the plants in that location here now.)

Show threadlaen🪻Aug 9, 2024

@bodhidave @cabd

very yikes. i felt pretty rubbish for a few days and drank *a lot* of charcoal!

the young leaves look much more delicate than that and much more like wild garlic. and they often grow together, so eek! i don't eat wild garlic now (or anything which it in), just in case ...

Show threadLucyKemnitzerAug 5, 2023
@cabd I think it should be gospel among mushroom pickers to avoid things that look like the top poisonous mushrooms. There are so many _distinctive_, tasty & safe fungi, nobody needs to take risks with doubtful ones.
Show threadneville parkAug 6, 2023
@cabd I don't know enough about mushrooms to describe it accurately, I am afraid, so if you add alt text I'll gladly boost it
Show threadSamhain NightAug 6, 2023
@cabd Also, the little collar on the stem can break off a death cap, so if you see any mushroom that even resembles death caps, stay away.
Show threadPapá RobotAug 6, 2023
@cabd and which are the magic ones ?
#askingforafriend
Show threadCabAug 6, 2023
@papa_robot not those ones.
Show threadBenjamin S-B Aug 6, 2023
@cabd are you sure about amanita phalloides? Veil looks right, can't see the bulb but I guess it was there. The cap colour and shape look a bit off to me though. I miss the greenish tint and slightly more arched shape.
Show threadCabAug 6, 2023
@bensb yes. 100% sure
Show threadBenjamin S-B Aug 6, 2023
@cabd that looks 💯 indeed!
Show threadClyde DaviesAug 7, 2023
@cabd I was told to always avoid those with white gills. I took it further and never pick anything with gills, period.😉
Show threadCabAug 7, 2023
@deadlyvices many white gilled mushrooms are delicious. Some of them only once
Show threadClyde DaviesAug 7, 2023
@cabd Truly cuisine to die for.
Show threadMarkAug 7, 2023
@cabd
Case in point:
"Daughter-in-law served poisonous mushroom meal that killed three, Victoria Police believe
Police say those who fell ill displayed symptoms of eating death cap mushrooms, but that had not been confirmed."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-07/victoria-mushroom-deaths-gippsland-korumburra-leongatha/102696100
Victorian mushroom deaths under investigation as Korumburra mourns 'pillars' of community

A community in Victoria's east mourns the loss of three people as police and the health department continue to investigate suspected fatal mushroom poisoning.

ABC News
Show threadCabAug 7, 2023
@zl2tod Rare, but it happens. Most often here in the UK it's folk from China, mistaking them for rice straw mushrooms. Not exclusively an immigrant problem by any means, but last time we had a big year for death caps that really was apparent.
Show threadMarkAug 7, 2023
@cabd
then there's this:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/300882307/siouxsie-wiles-promising-signs-in-dealing-with-mushroom-poisoning
Siouxsie Wiles: Promising signs in dealing with mushroom poisoning

OPINION: There’s a good reason the fungus Amanita phalloides is called the death cap mushroom. It irreversibly damages the liver, killing about nine out of every ten people who die from eating poisonous mushrooms.

Stuff
Show threadCabAug 7, 2023
@zl2tod yeah, I've seen that. It's interesting, and might lead to a treatment that saves lives if a cluster of poisonings is found. Trouble is the damage is usually so severe by the time a source is found that it's too late.
Show threadMarkAug 8, 2023
@cabd
Another report:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/300945429/lethal-meal-i-nearly-died-after-eating-a-killer-mushroom-for-dinner
Lethal meal: I nearly died after eating a killer mushroom for dinner

Her fish, veges and mushroom tasted delicious, but it could have been the last supper for Hamilton's Anna Whitehead.

Stuff
Show threadCuprohastesAug 7, 2023
@cabd @cstross
Boosted.
I do like mushroom posts, on the grounds that they’re fascinating, albeit sometimes horribly toxic. But looking at images is always safe… so far.
Show threadCabAug 7, 2023
@Cuprohastes @cstross "so deadly that even looking at pictures is dangerous" is worse even than death caps :)
Show threadCuprohastesAug 7, 2023
@cabd @cstross
Yeah, but there's no known fatal images of mushrooms.
Or none that get reported because of course there are never survivors to explain the situation.
Show threadLaurence M 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Aug 7, 2023
@cabd are you on bird site ?? I had a look and couldn’t see a definite link - I posted a copy on my own timeline, if that’s ok?
Show threadCabAug 7, 2023
@LaurenceMorgan I am (find me there as @gnomeicide) - feel free to nick that image or the ones in my own reply to that toot and share widely.
Show threadLaurence M 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Aug 7, 2023
@cabd got you - and followed
Show threadTristanAug 7, 2023
@cabd im jelous of how many amanita mushrooms you guys have in europe. Much less common here and so beutiful.
Show threadCabAug 7, 2023
@tristan Where are you? Here in Cambridgeshire I often find death caps, also Amanita solitara (which is boring and white), sometimes A. citrina (almost white) and blushers (they're quite pretty). Fly agarics are unusual here in Cambridge, common in other places. Colourful ones here are more often russulas, various boletes, and milk caps.
Show threadMikiAug 8, 2023

@cabd

They would make lovely sauce for certain people.

Show threadCabAug 8, 2023
@miki1 As Agrippina famously said of the Emperor Claudius.
Show threadMhairiAug 9, 2024
@cabd Thank you I have shared ,foraging is increasing but I dont think people are being properly trained as theres very few people who are used to picking mushrooms ,and who can teach others unless you pay for courses ,I would personally avoid picking puff balls too ,unless you cut them in half to make sure they are puffballs and not "eggs" where the tops of developing toxic mushrooms are pushing through the soil as I know some people have been poisoned that way