Topic: Are these mushrooms edible?

[gavinjconway]

Hi all - as the heading... are these edible? I picked them in a local residential plot in a small forest..  I google them and come up with Field or Wood Mushroom... both edible..

[ceres]

Please don't take the word of an anonymous stranger on the internet to determine if wild mushrooms are edible.  Get yourself some books, go on a course, find a local expert.

The Forager's Warning:

You can eat any wild mushroom. But some you will only eat once.

[gavinjconway]

good point...

can anyone identify these for me..

[betula]

Gavin,it is a poor picture and you could be dicing with death....no joke.

[gavinjconway]

I'll get some advice from someone local first...

[antipodes]

In France, where wild mushrooms are very popular, all pharmacists are required to be able to expertly identify mushrooms. Many species are deadly, that is no joke, some are highly poisonous. People die here in France every year from mushroom poisoning.
I personally would not even rely on a field guide, here people will ask an "old boy" who has years of experience of what mushrooms you can eat. You really have to be able to look at them, and smell them too.

I think they will end up on the compost....

[OllieC]

Good advice so far, although I disagree that "many" species are deadly - it's really only a dozen or so that you'd be likely to eat, and even then probably 2 or 3 that you would mistake if you're being even vaguely careful. These have no sign of the ring or bulbous base from the Amanita family, and they're clearly not webcaps (Cortinarius) so between those two ruling outs you've already got much better odds.

As an amateur mushroom forager, I only ever eat something that I am 100% certain of. For anything new to me, this will mean looking in all the books I have and reaching my own conclusions.

You know there is no cure for some of the toxins in mushrooms - even if you realise what you've done & go to hospital immediately!

This is the website from the chap who wrote the mushroom hunting equivalent of the bible:
http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/

[Unwashed]

You can start by checking the spore print.  Put the mushrooms gills-down on some white paper and put a tea towel over them, and then post an image of the spore print after a couple of hours.  Field mushrooms have a dark spore print so that pretty much tells you they're not amanitas, though you might yet have a yellow stainer amoungst them.

It would have been good to see the base of the mushroom to see if it was growing from a bag.

Oh, and until you know you haven't inadvertently picked up a death cap or destroying angel it's a very good idea to wash your hands well.

[goodlife]

I find 'white' mushrooms most difficult to get it right..to tell apart some of the most delicious and poisonous 'whites' can be so difficult ..even if you are experienced musroomer..so I tend to leave them be..
Otherwise I pick quite variety of 'mushies'.
That pink gilled one particularly looks very 'suspicious'.. :-\

[Melbourne12]

In France, where wild mushrooms are very popular, all pharmacists are required to be able to expertly identify mushrooms. Many species are deadly, that is no joke, some are highly poisonous. People die here in France every year from mushroom poisoning.
I personally would not even rely on a field guide, here people will ask an "old boy" who has years of experience of what mushrooms you can eat. You really have to be able to look at them, and smell them too.

I think they will end up on the compost....

We've been to the mushroom museum near Saumur http://www.musee-du-champignon.com/index.php where they have literally thousands of varieties on display, with comments on their edibility.

It may be a false memory, but I'm convinced that one of the exhibits is labelled "Delicieux mais mortel".

[gavinjconway]

I've had a good look on a mushroom site and Yellow Stainers resemble field mushrooms but they are not staining yellow when cut or bruised.. soooooooo hopefully i'll still be here tomorrow after trying one tonight with an update!!

[cornykev]

I'd stick to the shop bought ones.   :o ;)

[Unwashed]

I've had a good look on a mushroom site and Yellow Stainers resemble field mushrooms but they are not staining yellow when cut or bruised.. soooooooo hopefully i'll still be here tomorrow after trying one tonight with an update!!

If they're amanitas you won't be dead by tomorrow whatever happens, the worst is that you'll feel rather unwell for a couple of hours.

Of course you'll then die horribly in a couple of weeks time when the irreversable liver damage that was done starts to have an effect, but hey, if you and your family want to eat wild mushrooms that you identified over the internet, knock yourself out.

[Robert_Brenchley]

I'm not too keen on the pink gilled ones, but the big one looks like a horse mushroom. Get youself a book, and learn identification. Don't rely on someone else to take responsibility; make sure you know enough yourself; it's not hard. I once spent a summer camping, with a book, and learnt as I went along. I ate loads of fungi, and didn't even give myself a stomach ache.

[Monkey Brains]

Dunno if you read this story in the news a while back, but it resurfaced in todays paper with an interview with the poor chap who mis-identified shrooms and suffered (with his family) the dreadful consequences

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/13/filmadaptations

You really need an expert to cast an eye in the flesh over what you've picked whilst still fresh, if you're not 100% sure what you have there. Photos aren't going to be adequate.

[betula]

 :o :o :o

Amazing story.

[Vinlander]

The problem is: - the very worst poisonous ones look almost identical to shop ordinary mushrooms - never risk them.

It's like the most powerful false temptation in a fairy story  - maybe it's at the bottom of some of them!

There are a very few good edible mushrooms that look unique (like ink caps) and a few more weirder ones that only look like unpleasant ones (not deadly ones).

It's best to get real expertise on your side, but if you want to maintain an amateur approach AND stay alive you have have some knowledge AND stick with the weird looking ones.

Cheers.

[OllieC]

Good story there Monkey Brains, but Nicholas Evans ate Webcaps which these aren't (as I mentioned above) and it's not something you would do even with the most basic book or a tiny amount of caution. It's a shame for him & his family & friends, not least because I know where you can get carrier bags full of Chanterelle about 20 miles away from where he picked the Webcaps!

There is a difference between sensible caution and hysteria.

[Allotment-junkie]

if your interested in picking field Mushrooms etc then why not check if there is a Local Forqaging group that you could join

[antipodes]

We've been to the mushroom museum near Saumur http://www.musee-du-champignon.com/index.php where they have literally thousands of varieties on display, with comments on their edibility.

It may be a false memory, but I'm convinced that one of the exhibits is labelled "Delicieux mais mortel".

No you are quite right!! Usually they are labelled "Delicious", "Good" and "edible" which means not toxic but crap flavour. I have eaten wild mushrooms here but only the real Bolets that were identified by a veteran picker, and some Coprins, which are tall and shaggy looking but actually tasty. They were confirmed by the pharmacist... I would never eat any I was unsure of, and any Frenchman would say the same thing. Even if they are not deadly, the  slightly poisonous ones will give you the worst food poisoning you have ever had.