•  superkret   ( @superkret@feddit.org ) 
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    3 months ago

    You can easily tell them apart by cutting them with a knife: The false brown cap will show a stronger blue discoloration under ultraviolet light if the soil contains manganese at >20% bioavailable water content, and the temperature didn’t drop below 12 degrees Celsius in the past month.

  • A general rule is if it has pores instead of gills, you’re probably in the clear.

    Except for that one in Europe, that shit will megadeath you.

    In all seriousness, the general rule I’ve heard for foraging wild unknown things is:

    • cut it open and rub it on your skin, wait an hour, if it gives you a reaction, stop here.
    • touch it to your lips, wait a while, if it gives you a reaction, stop here
    • touch it to your tongue, wait a while, if it gives you a reaction, stop here
    • chew a bit and spit it out, wait a while, if it gives you a reaction, stop here
    • swallow a small amount, wait a few hours, if it gives you discomfort, stop here
    • if you’ve made it this far, it’s likely ok, do so at your own risk tolerance

    Roots are generally OK, particularly if you have access to double boil them.

    For mushrooms:

    • pores are generally safer than gills
    • don’t eat it if it’s bioluminescent
    • don’t eat if it oxidizes quickly when you cut it open
    • don’t eat it if it bruises blue or red
    • learn how to detect what a bolete is. Boletes are generally safe, unless it breaks one of the rules above
    • Slime: Just say no.
    • make sure there’s not a mushroom growing on your mushroom. Double the mushroom is not double the fun.
    • learn what a destroying angel looks like, even when it’s young. Appreciate it from a distance, but give that fucker 5 feet of space at all times.

    I am by no means an expert. I’m just a rando guy from Appalachia with some wild ass Russian buds and we do some funky shit down here. Take everything I say with as much trust as you give to anyone on the Internet.

    When in doubt, take it to an expert and even then, consume at your own risk tolerance.

    • I am by no means an expert. I’m just a rando guy from Appalachia with some wild ass Russian buds and we do some funky shit down here. Take everything I say with as much trust as you give to anyone on the Internet.

      Best disclaimer ever.

    • The mushrooms from the bolete family here in Germany often stain blue (or some other color) when bruised but most are very good mushrooms for eating. For example, Imleria badia, Neoboletus erythropus and Suillus grevillei. The last one is even slimy but you can just remove the cap. (There is also this really tasty gill-having mushroom Lactarius deliciosus that stains green). Also, Armillaria can do bioluminescence but are also edible! I agree with checking for fungi infections of mushrooms and to learn to ID the deadly poisonous Amanita species (funnily enough, there are some really good edible ones in the same genus!).

      Your guide to carefully test foraged organisms is definitely helpful. However, when foraging mushrooms you have to keep in mind some additional things. Many, if not most mushrooms are really toxic when eaten raw! People frequently get poisoned while eating edible mushrooms that are not cooked enough. They apparently often contain hemolysins. Also, there are a few tasty mushrooms that can be toxic if eaten in combination with alcohol. If you go foraging mushrooms, better try to learn some groups, how to distinguish them and what are their characteristics than trying to test by your body’s reaction. But yeah, if you were to be without any food in the wild maybe it helps to know how to test for edibility.

  •  Stalinwolf   ( @Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca ) 
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    3 months ago

    I remember going on a nature walk in Middle School, and our primary stoner/everyone’s future dealer (we’ll call him Nate because that was his name) picked and ate a random mushroom for the lols. I remember spending the entirety of that walk worrying about Nate’s next couple of days. But as you likely pieced together, he was fine, and lived to become everyone’s future dealer.

    EDIT: For anyone wondering, it was one of those small, skinny, kind of spindly looking mushrooms. Almost like psilocybin but with a flatter cap.

    •  Faresh   ( @Faresh@lemmy.ml ) 
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      53 months ago

      Yeah, the mushroom guides I use in the pages for the edible mushrooms normally alert to dangerous mushrooms that may be mistaken for that mushroom and outlines the differences.

  • If your family has been hunting mushrooms in the area for a few generations and you’ve been going with them as a kid (and you’re not dumber than the mushrooms) you’re almost certainly fine.

    If not, don’t bother, you’ll end up poisoning yourself (and possibly others) and probably ruining the forest for those who know what they’re doing.

  •  Nicoleism101   ( @Nicoleism101@lemm.ee ) 
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    3 months ago

    Never had a problem in middle temperate Europe or heard about anyone who had.

    I even pick up these fuckers https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrolepiota_procera though many avoid them because of relative similarities to https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_phalloides.

    It is delicious and like the best nature has to offer here. You coat it in breadcrumbs and cook in oil on a pan. It tastes better than any steak. However it is a pain in the ass to find and a real treasure.