Written| by [Dan] Thomas Lessers
Integration 丨 安也
Every year in July and August is the season to eat mushrooms, especially in Yunnan and Guizhou, eating fresh mushrooms is the only choice at present. And for people outside of these places, the recent fresh photos of precious edible mushrooms in the circle of friends - especially matsutake mushrooms, etc., may be envied as the specifications of the Hermès platinum bag in "Thirty Only".
It is not only matsutake that can get extra attention, but also the much cheaper than matsutake mushrooms, dried bacillus, and chicken fir mushrooms, which are much cheaper, because of the hallucinogenicity caused by raw poisoning, which has also unexpectedly become a hot topic. Especially since mid-to-late July, in addition to the traditional gourmets, many people have taken the initiative to ask sellers on online platforms such as Taobao whether they can hallucinate after eating, and some sellers even directly put words such as "hallucinogenic mushrooms" and "hallucinogenic bacteria" into the product name.
"Can you see the little people dancing after eating?"
"Can you see the elves eating this?"
"How do you eat it to see happy sheep?"
"Can you see the Smurfs when eaten raw?"
"It doesn't matter if the taste is, mainly I want to see the elves, do you call for help when you haven't eaten or do you finish eating?"
……
Wild mushrooms are delicious, but these seemingly joking buyers are likely to be in danger because of their strange thoughts and actions. Because it is a "conditional edible mushroom", to avoid danger, it is necessary to cook reasonably, eat in moderation, and pay attention to individual differences.
According to the Health Times, an announcement issued by the Yunnan Provincial Health Commission on July 27 showed that there have been 273 cases of wild mushroom poisoning in Yunnan Province, and 12 people have died. The announcement also said that compared with the same period last year, the number of poisonings fell by 33.90%, the number of patients fell by 35.64%, and the number of deaths decreased by 17.
Reminder text messages sent by the Yunnan and Guizhou Health Commissions refusing to eat poisonous mushrooms.
It can be seen that there are not a few cases of poisoning due to wild bacteria every year. As the recommendation of the DK Mushroom Encyclopedia says, unless you are a mycologist or a very experienced collector, do not throw any kind of mushroom into your mouth easily.
In the magical mushroom world, there are delicious morels and porcini mushrooms, there are also hairy ghost umbrellas that will turn into ink, egg nest bacteria that look like bird's nests, cage-like longtop fungus, fudge-like lubricated hammer tongue fungus, cordyceps that occupy insect carcasses, truffles collected by flies and piglets... Among these mushrooms that emerge quietly from the soil, on dead branches, on tree stumps, and even from other mushrooms, there are of course first-class delicacies, ordinary varieties that can be ingested but not very tasty, and dangerous molecules that can make people feel sick to the stomach and even poison.
In fairy tales, cute mushrooms are particularly alarming in daily life because of their bright colors, because past experience tells us that gorgeous mushrooms are poisonous. Is this really the case? There may be more poisonous mushrooms than we think. For example, the fleshy brown scaled umbrella, the white poison Amanita fungus, the autumn helmet spore umbrella and other fungi that are not brightly colored are extremely toxic and may be fatal once eaten by mistake.
"DK Mushroom Encyclopedia", by [Dan] Thomas Lessers, translated by Hao Yanjia, Boji Tianjuan 丨 Hunan Science and Technology Publishing House, April 2020 edition.
Is color the standard for identifying poisonous mushrooms?
The world of mushrooms is complex. In nature, mushrooms are much richer and more complex in terms of shape, color, living habits, etc. than we usually think. According to data, there are about 36,000 species of mushrooms in the world, of which only more than 2,000 can be eaten. The purpose of identifying mushrooms is to find delicious mushrooms and avoid poisonous mushrooms, but it is far more difficult to do than you think.
Sulfur Knight (Sulfur mushroom). Illustration of the DK Mushroom Encyclopedia.
Don't throw any kind of mushroom into your mouth so easily!
Many people say that mushrooms with exceptionally bright colors are mostly poisonous. For example, the classic poisonous mushroom "Poison Fly Amanita", which often appears in fairy tales, and several other delicate red mushrooms, such as poisonous red mushrooms, blood red mushrooms, spicy red mushrooms, and the famous icu mushroom large green fold umbrella and the scale handle white amanita, nicknamed "Angel of Destruction", are not normally white.
Amanita in boots. Illustration of the DK Mushroom Encyclopedia.
Angel of Destruction (White Amanita balm). Illustration of the DK Mushroom Encyclopedia.
Known as the Poison Fly Umbrella, Amanita Amanita is a classic poisonous mushroom from fairy tales, which is not as deadly as commonly believed, but is also highly toxic, so it should be avoided anyway.
Poison fly umbrella (poison fly Amanita). Illustration of the DK Mushroom Encyclopedia.
But there are also some brightly colored mushrooms, such as pine milk mushrooms, crimson wet umbrellas, amethyst wax mushrooms; tea mushrooms, lilac mushrooms, etc. are edible. There are many edible porcini mushrooms, but there are also many varieties of brightly colored and seemingly poisonous mushrooms in these edible mushrooms, such as the red-stemmed porcini mushroom, the mushroom cap is orange-red, and the stem will quickly turn gray-blue after cutting.
The delicious mushrooms that look very unkind in color also include gray-brown mushrooms. Another ugly milk mushroom, which is similar in color to it, secretes a spicy white juice that may cause cancer.
Conversely, some mushrooms that look and color honestly are actually low-key assassins. For example, the powdery fungus, about 10% of fungal poisoning in Europe is caused by this species. Another example is the clean mushroom, which looks soft and cute, like the watermelon red soft hat worn by Little Red Riding Hood, which does not prevent it from being poisonous.
Clean mushrooms. Illustration of the DK Mushroom Encyclopedia.
Are odor and family genera precise criteria for identifying toxicity?
It is also said that mushrooms with a pungent or unpleasant smell are mostly poisonous. So, is odor the precise criterion for identifying toxicity? For example, Satan's boletus, not only from the name of the appearance of poisonous, mature fruiting body will also have a bad smell, in fact, Satan's boletus will have a slight toxicity, will cause gastrointestinal discomfort.
Mouse urine powder folds. Illustration of the DK Mushroom Encyclopedia.
There are many spicy and poisonous mushrooms in red mushrooms and milk mushrooms, but there are also edible species, such as patina red mushrooms and red milk mushrooms.
Is it reliable to classify such a category as a family genus? It's also unreliable. For example, those xx amanitas that are famous for their poisonous bacteria are also edible in the middle, and there is no shortage of poisonous porcini mushrooms, including many delicious mushrooms.
Is it okay to abandon these rules and only pick up the mushrooms that say you can eat delicious mushrooms?
Blue-legged chocolate cake (blue-stemmed bare-lid mushroom). Illustration of the DK Mushroom Encyclopedia.
Theoretically, it is possible, but in practice, some poisonous mushrooms will look very similar to edible mushrooms. For example, the striated helmet spore umbrella looks very similar to the edible Kuhn mushroom. Also known as the death knell, this fungus is very close in appearance to the edible Kuhn mushroom, but the umbilical handle below the ring has no scales, while the umbilical handle of the koen mushroom is covered with pointed scales. Consumption of the striated helmet spore umbrella can cause serious poisoning incidents.
Death knell (streaked helmet spore umbrella). Illustration of the DK Mushroom Encyclopedia.
In general, the appearance of mushrooms is very deceptive. There are flamboyant poisonous mushrooms, soft and cute poisonous mushrooms, and low-key black poisonous mushrooms; delicious mushrooms can also look like a villain. Categorizing by category is also not very reliable. Even if you know that the mushroom can be eaten, you may be deceived by a poisonous mushroom that looks similar.
Cuban Freedom Cap. Illustration of the DK Mushroom Encyclopedia.
Therefore, the most useful thing is to keep up with experienced mycologists and mushroom pickers, without such veterans, we don't easily throw any kind of mushroom into the mouth. Their experiences are built up with countless lessons. Experience is a little more reliable than theory when it comes to life-saving.
The main content of this article is based on the book "Encyclopedia of dk Mushrooms" written by Thomas Lessers, a doctor of mycology and a well-known expert in the field of mushroom research, and the fungus illustrations used in the article are from this book. It has been authorized by the publishing house to publish.
The original author 丨 Thomas Lessers
Editor 丨 Zhang Ting
Introduction Proofreading 丨 Wei Zhuo