Mushrooms, Toxic and Edible -Part I, Toxic-

TODAY I am writing about mushrooms. I want to supply people lists and facts on both edible and inedible, poisonous and beneficial, mushrooms.

First, I will talk about the bad stuff. :)

Poisonous and Harmful Mushrooms:

Okay, so this segment is about the abominable mushrooms, the accursed. Firstly, I will supply a list, along will fact files, about these monstrous mushrooms:

• Toadstools: Toadstools, widely known for their red-capped-with-white-spots appearance, are not, in fact, mushrooms. They are highly poisonous, which could be warned by their bright coloring. Its spore color is ruddy, almost orange, shade of brown.
• Green-spored Lepiota: The cap is a creamy, yellowish white color and is usually fairly flat, more or less. Their stems are normally darker, and more yellow with a fleshy ring around it, close to the cap. It is about three to ten inches in height and half an inch in width. As its name suggests, it has green spores, although you won’t be able to tell this from its fair gills. The only way you can test this is by making a spore print. It is highly poisonous, and you will start experiencing the symptoms about half an hour or one and a half hours after eating it. These include abnormal cramping, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. Suffering can last as long as two days.
• Death Cap Mushroom : The death cap mushroom can be identified by the remnants of a sack near its gills and at its base. They have dull white stems and more or less darker caps. This mushroom is responsible for the most poisonings in the world. This is probably because it looks so much alike to many edible mushrooms; the brownish cap and dirty white steam. It likes to collaborate with deciduous trees, particularly silver  birch and oak. When you consume it, it poisons you kidneys and liver. Its spore color is a chocolate brown.

How to Make a Mushroom Spore Print:

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to make a mushroom spore print. I have listed the spore color of all of the mushrooms, and an online search can also tell you the spore color of poisonous and edible mushrooms. I hope that this helps.

1) Take a fresh mushroom cap.
2) Press it, gill-side down, onto a light and dark piece of paper.
3) Cover the cap with a bowl or jar as that wind currents don’t disturb the spore print.
4) Leave it to set over night.
5) Lift the bowl or jar off of the mushroom cap and carefully remove the mushroom cap.
5) Presto! You have made your very own mushroom print! What color is it?

-KittyLover8
© 2012