North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Hélène Dessureault <interverbis@videotron.ca>]

Mark,

You are right to preach a conservative approach to mushroom eating as one
should never eat what one doesn't know... especially in the mushroom 
kingdom.

To my knowledge, there are 5 types of mushroom poisoning, and I won't go
into the details, but the first two types are deadly and survivors (if
caught in time) are left with either kidney failure (dialyses and what not)
or liver problems... The third type comprises psychadelic mushrooms, such as 
Amanita muscaria. For this mushroom, the mortal dose is apparently 40 lbs 
for an average adult male. Then there are mushrooms which causes allergic 
type reaction in
combination with alcool, so with these forget drinking wine, and finally
there are the mushrooms that cause gastros, severe indigestions and
diarrheas. On top of this, many people eat mushrooms that are spoiled, not
fit for human consumption, and therefore get sick for that reason.

Jerry asked for help to identify a mushroom. The edibility of a mushroom is 
part of the technical description, like taste, colour, size, etc. Since 
Jerry is wondering whether it is the oyster mushroom which is very edible 
and highly appreciated by many. So I mentioned the edibility as a 
characteristic, but not with the intention to encourage him to eat it per 
se... Most lignous mushrooms (growing on wood) are not toxic but some are 
not edible because of texture or taste.

I would like to add that you can be an old and bold mushroom hunter, if you 
apply caution...

No offense meant,

Hélène, zone 3-4

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Angermayer" <hangermayer@isp.com>
To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 10:02 AM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Oyster Mushroom Identity


I agree.  I once read accounts of different mushroom poisonings in a
conservation magazine.  What stuck in my mind was the victims could not tell
mushrooms were poisonous by taste, in fact some reported they were quite
tasty.

Some of the cases, victims died, others had to have liver transplants, and
others recovered normally.

The old cliche', there are old mushroom hunters, and bold mushroom hunters -
but no old, bold mushroom hunters.

Mark

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Hélène Dessureault
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 8:14 AM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Oyster Mushroom Identity


I am not recommending to eat it, you don't have to read between the line to
figure that out!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Road's End Farm
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 8:44 AM
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Oyster Mushroom Identity


Personally, I'd vote against eating a fungus that had been identified only
by sending out pictures, and that had been identified as various different
things by various people on the basis of those pictures. Your risk tolerance
in this area may vary from mine, of course.


Can you find anyone in your area who knows enough about mushrooms to
actually look at a sample for you? Extension office or equivalent thereof,
maybe? If they haven't an expert on staff, they may know who in the area you
could call.




-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale






On Sep 24, 2010, at 8:29 AM, Hélène Dessureault wrote:


I would vote for Melanopus squamosus, just because it has a foot and a
polyporus grows differently. I have just checked Pomerleau Encyclopedia of
Mushroom (listing some 2000 mushrooms found in Québec) and it has a drawing
of your mushroom and a technical description. It is definitely not an oyster
mushroom because oyster mushrooms have long gills underneath. Judging by the
underside, it will become hard (not rot) and be still there next Spring,
unless an animal eat it while it is still soft. And yes, melanopus squamosus
is edible while still soft, although not recommended for great eating.
Interestingly, there are all kinds of studies being carried out in the world
right now, mainly in Asia, about the medicinal properties of wood mushrooms
such as this one.

This is a wonderful year for mushrooms with all kinds of new entities seldom
seen, appearing everywhere. Thank you for sharing this photo.

Hélène, zone3-4, north of Ottawa
org/

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