It's mushroom season in the southern hemisphere, and I'm rediscovering just how much *worse* foraging resources are compared to even a few years ago.

There's a terrifying number of LLM-written mushrooming books and guides out there, and they just straight make stuff up.

Fungi are a particular risk to foragers, because humans straight up don't have the ability to taste some of the most deadly toxins. The fungi that cause the most poisonings are the ones that taste good.

As always, do not eat any fungi unless you are absolutely sure what it is, and just as importantly absolutely sure what it is not. Learning to identify dangerous species is even more important than being able to identify edible ones. There are just too many look-alikes.

Stay safe. Be extra cautious of books and guides written in this decade. Happy mushrooming!

#foraging #foragingAustralia #mushrooms #mushrooming

@pjf Amanita, pronounced as A-MAN-EATA

I was a stupid kid that foraged mushrooms, luckily didn't end up dead but did get very sick many times. The last one put me off mushrooms for a decade. I still love them, but am extremely careful.

@deepfryed : Yikes!!! I've been foraging mushrooms for ~25+ years, and fortunately have never been sick. But I have found plenty of dangerous and deadly mushrooms while out and about, and I tend very much to err on the side of caution.

I'm so glad you got through childhood mushrooming intact!

@pjf heh me too. It's so good when you do find the edible ones and fry them up in some butter, garlic, salt and pepper. My mouth is my enemy as usual.