Poisonous Mushrooms?

[Pushit]

Mushrooms have appeared in the garden under foliage,can a member help identify these. I worry that the dog or even a neighborhood kid may ingest. They are growing to about 7.5cm diameter

[soundman]

Could possibly be a "Destroying Angel".

The Destroying Angel mushrooms (Amanita virosa, see photo, right) and other closely related white Amanitas have been consumed by ignorant collectors, both as food and, in at least one case, under the mistaken notion that they might be hallucinogenic.

<P align=left>Visually, the Destroying Angel is very similar to its more notorious brother; the most notable difference is the lack of green or yellow pigments (though some slight yellowing may be observed on some specimens). Like the Death Cap, the Destroying Angel is a very easily identified mushroom.

The cap of the Destroying Angel is 2¼--6" (6--16 cm) wide, smooth, dry to slightly sticky. The gills are crowded together and may appear either very finely attached to the upper stalk or unattached. In young specimens, a white, membranous partial veil tissue extends from the edge of the cap to the upper stalk, covering the gills (later remaining attached to and draping from the upper stalk, but it is very thin and fragile, hence is sometimes not seen on mature specimens). The spore print is white. The stalk is white to pallid, up to 8" (21 cm) long or tall, with a small, rounded bulb at the base; the bulb is enclosed by a sac-like volva. All parts of the Destroying Angel are white. THE BASE OF THE STALK AND THE TELL-TALE VOLVA ARE OFTEN BURIED IN THE SOIL.

[Pushit]

Could possibly be a "Destroying Angel".

The Destroying Angel mushrooms (Amanita virosa, see photo, right) and other closely related white Amanitas have been consumed by ignorant collectors, both as food and, in at least one case, under the mistaken notion that they might be hallucinogenic.

<P align=left>Visually, the Destroying Angel is very similar to its more notorious brother; the most notable difference is the lack of green or yellow pigments (though some slight yellowing may be observed on some specimens). Like the Death Cap, the Destroying Angel is a very easily identified mushroom.

The cap of the Destroying Angel is 2¼--6" (6--16 cm) wide, smooth, dry to slightly sticky. The gills are crowded together and may appear either very finely attached to the upper stalk or unattached. In young specimens, a white, membranous partial veil tissue extends from the edge of the cap to the upper stalk, covering the gills (later remaining attached to and draping from the upper stalk, but it is very thin and fragile, hence is sometimes not seen on mature specimens). The spore print is white. The stalk is white to pallid, up to 8" (21 cm) long or tall, with a small, rounded bulb at the base; the bulb is enclosed by a sac-like volva. All parts of the Destroying Angel are white. THE BASE OF THE STALK AND THE TELL-TALE VOLVA ARE OFTEN BURIED IN THE SOIL.

Thank you Soundman I think you are correct I will be doing something about this. didn't realise they were so dangerous.

For anyone interested check the following links.

http://www.toxinology.com/fusebox.cfm?fuseaction=main.poisonous_mushrooms.display&id=PM0007

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10695805

[sanook2me]

Can't help OP.

However, i remember reading about a couple of Thai women who died in the UK (Wales) who went picking wild mushrooms cooked em and then died from poisoning... they picked ones that looked like harmless Thai mushrooms.... so the report said..

Got to be so careful...is it really worth it?

For me not...i remember my wild picking mushrooms days in the UK as a teenager.... and some violent reactions to the magic ones..from strong proper hallucinations.... never experienced anything like it since with any other drug...

I would never pick them myself...trust Tops or Tesco to grow nice cooking ones without any poison...

[Pushit]

Can't help OP.

However, i remember reading about a couple of Thai women who died in the UK (Wales) who went picking wild mushrooms cooked em and then died from poisoning... they picked ones that looked like harmless Thai mushrooms.... so the report said..

Got to be so careful...is it really worth it?

For me not...i remember my wild picking mushrooms days in the UK as a teenager.... and some violent reactions to the magic ones..from strong proper hallucinations.... never experienced anything like it since with any other drug...

I would never pick them myself...trust Tops or Tesco to grow nice cooking ones without any poison...

sanook2me you are perfectly correct, don't go picking and eating mushrooms if you can't identify what you are picking. And to confirm the species identified here is particularly toxic.

Reported on US National Library of Medicine website as follows

"We report here 5 cases of fatal poisoning with Amanita virosa having occurred in a family residing in the northeast of Thailand who as countless others had enjoyed mushroom gathering as a pasttime. Within 4 to 6 days after ingestion of the mushrooms, all had succumbed to acute hepatic failure with subsequent hepatoencephalopathy."

"In cases taking a lethal course apparent from the results of liver biochemistry, liver transplantation is clearly indicated. In order to prevent mushroom poisoning altogether, educating the general population to that end certainly presents the method of choice."

So watch out full moon partiers, these mushrooms destroy your liver.

[sanook2me]

Thats scary... 5 days after...

Once the acute internal pains, vomiting or sh1tting started would you remember to say to the Dr. oh it must have been those mushrooms I picked and ate over 5 days ago....

I doubt it...