BLOGS

It’s mushroom hunting season and you may be thinking that you’ll give it a go.    Rule #1 – Learn the BC poisonous mushrooms first! 

As a start, Check out our FREE Foraging for Beginners 3-Part Video Series here.

The facts:

There are 10,000+ species of mushrooms in BC, only a handful of these can be fatal if ingested, however, some can make some people sick, but most mushrooms are innocuous.  30+ mushrooms are on my ‘choice’ edibles list.  Within the 30 edibles, there are mushrooms like chanterelles (Cantharellus) and oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus)  that are very easy to identify.  Stick to those!  Here are some tips to keep you safe.

Tips for first timers…

• Get a guide book and go on an infield mushroom foraging tour if you live near Vancouver
• When in doubt, throw it out!  Don’t eat anything that you can’t ID conclusively.
• Get to know a mushroom for a year before you eat it.  You wouldn’t marry a guy after a first date, would you?
• Make sure you see the mushroom you are identifying in multiple stages of growth to help you with identification.
• Colour of the mushroom can vary widely due to environment, soil pH etc.  So use your eyes with a grain of salt.  Your nose is frequently a better identification aid.
• Stick to the easier edibles to ID first – hedgehogs, oysters, chanterelles
• Always cook your mushrooms, humans can’t really digest raw mushrooms and some mushrooms are toxic if you don’t cook them.
• Know your Amanitas…

The wicked AMANITA family

• Causes 95% of all fatalities – know what they look like.
• Amanitas can look like a white puffball mushroom (Lycoperdon spp.) in it’s ‘baby’ or button mushroom stage.  Don’t eat puffballs if you’re worried about confusing them.  Easy!
• The Death Cap (Amanita Phalloides) and Destroying Angel (Amanita Virosa/Ocreata/Verna/Bisporigera) are two mushrooms in this genus that can kill you.  Great names, eh?  Destroying angels are not found in BC (so far).  For full details on how to ID death cap (Amanita phalloides) mushrooms – click here
• Amanita smithiana (has been known to have a tapering base occasionally), pantherina and silvicola are other Amanitas that are toxic and some have been confused for matsutake (pine) mushrooms which are a choice edible. 
• Amanita pantherinoides,  our own very special version of the toxic European Amanita pantherina, is also poisonous
• Amanita muscaria – Cap: Red or yellow with white warts (the Alice in Wonderland mushroom).  Just avoid the entire Amanita genus is my rule of thumb.

Key Features of the Amanita genus:

• Has gills, a ring (usually) and a volva (sack or bulb at the base of the stem) – the ring is occasionally not visible if it decays
• Gills close and mostly whitish
• Cap breaks off easily from the stem usually

Other  BC poisonous mushrooms found in and around Vancouver …

• Blue Staining Boletes – Some are poisonous, a few are edible – for experienced mushroomers only
• False Chanterelles – Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca – gills are very thin and completely unlike chanterelle gills
  
• Pleurocybella porrigens – Angel wings are an issue if you have pre-existing kidney disease and are already receiving dialysis treatment. 
• Galerina genus mushrooms!  Bad dudes.  Galerina marginata or autumnalis can be confused with edible Honey mushrooms (Armillaria mellea)
• Sulphur Tufts – Naematoloma frasciculare can be confused with edible Conifer tufts (Naematoloma capnoides)
• Tricholoma equestre/flavovirens – Man on horseback is edible, but some people have been known to be allergic to it.
• False Morel (Gyromitra esculenta)- Can cause death, it’s like ingesting rocket fuel.
• Webcaps – Cortinarius orellanus 
• Leccinum spp. (Scaber Boletes)
• Morchella family mushrooms eaten raw can cause stomach issues.
• Alcoholic Inky caps – Coprinus atramentarius – Inky Cap Family – Only causes stomach upsets if you drink alcohol up to 5 days after eating them.  Non-fatal, but can be confused with edible Shaggy manes.

Please comment if there are BC mushrooms I am missing so I can add them to the list

Fun Factoid

• You can handle poisonous mushrooms (even the death cap) with no ill effects, just wash your hands after to be extra cautious.

Please use caution when hunting for edible mushrooms.  This is just a rough guide which is no substitute for going out with an experienced wildcrafter.  Most mushrooms aren’t deadly poisonous, but it’s no fun getting sick and not worth the risk!  Come with us on a mushroom tour to start you off on the right foot.  Or check out our online foraging program at www.foraging101.com