Looking over the wikipedia page on this mushroom and all the similar, very edible ones...Yeah I'm never foraging mushrooms.
Yeah, I carefully read the description of its distinguishing features, studied the photo, and concluded I have no idea what I'm looking at and how to tell them apart.
I'm really good at spotting differences or inconsistencies, I'm totally lost with mushrooms though, and I go multiple times every Autumn with a woman in her 70's. She is very clear about what we are looking for. She throws out at least half of what I gather.
She does that cause she's jealous of how many you pick
Cool, I think you just saved me a bit of time.
chanterelles are pretty safe to forage if they grow near you.
they are very distinct looking.
And this is why I grow my own. I'm very fond of Albino Texas PE6. Easy to grow, consistent, and you can clone and agar spawn over and over again. Such an aggressive little strain. And looks very distinct. Unmistakable.
Mushroom foraging can be safe, but the rules are:
Always learn from a local guide first. It's not transferable to other regions. Which makes books a bad way to do it, and the internet a horrible way.
You don't rule out dangerous mushrooms, you identify a specific edible mushroom.
Never trust a little white mushroom.
There are old mushroom foragers and then there are bold ones. There are no bold, old mushroom foragers.
There are no bold, old mushroom foragers
Sure there are, they just have to not eat what they picked up.
Source: friend's mom once gave food poisoning to the whole family by serving them an omelet made with mushrooms she found, but didn't eat it herself. Fortunately it was merely mushrooms of the "fucks up your stomach" variety.
Looks like a destroying angel (e.g. Amanita virosa) to me. This and the death cap together account for the vast majority of mushroom poisonings in the world. Cooking it will not destroy the toxins, nor will acid. Symptoms tend to appear 5-24 hours after eating, too late to pump the stomach. Half a mushroom can be enough to kill you.
I don't recommend going out to pick mushrooms unless you know what you're doing. If you do, stay away from the white ones. You can still get terrible stomach cramps and diarrhea from other colors of mushrooms, but the white ones have the most dangerous species.
Easiest way to avoid problems I've heard is to never pick any mushroom with ribbed underside. If the underside looks like a sponge, it's usually safe to eat. At least where I'm from.
Might be valid advice for some regions, I don't know. But mushrooms tend to vary quite a bit in appearance. Sometimes ribbed species don't have very visible ribs, or younger mushrooms don't quite have all the characteristics of their mature form. If you really want to get into picking mushrooms, there's often local groups you can join with a resident expert who can tell you which ones are safe.
Rule of thumb with mushrooms is that these id tricks tend to be regional and not always accurate unfortunately. Nature is a bit more of a kaleidoscope.
Neural networks are magical anywhere that near misses are good enough.
Companies keep using them as if they're infallible, when lives and fortunes are at stake.
Tech is not the problem.
Tech is ravenously trying to convince the world they need AI for every aspect of their business. Tech wants you to think LLMs are infallible and they strongly imply that they are even if the fine print says otherwise. So personally I would say tech is very much part of the problem. One could say they are the root of the problem in fact.
I think he’s referring to literal technology itself as “Tech” and you’re referring to the people trying to sell it as “Tech”—aka “Big-Tech” as some would say
I don't think the tech is the problem, it's the business drones trying to sell you it
Amanita bisporigera, or the aptly named eastern North American destroying angel, if anyone's wondering.
From Wikipedia:
The principal amatoxin, α-amanitin, is readily absorbed across the intestine, and 60% of the absorbed toxin is excreted into bile and undergoes enterohepatic circulation; the kidneys clear the remaining 40%. The toxin inhibits the enzyme RNA polymerase II, thereby interfering with DNA transcription, which suppresses RNA production and protein synthesis. This causes cellular necrosis, especially in cells which are initially exposed and have rapid rates of protein synthesis. This process results in severe acute liver dysfunction and, ultimately, liver failure.
I could not confirm that it causes liquefactive necrosis of the liver specifically, however. I wouldn't doubt it, but I couldn't confirm it.
Edit: I should clarify, I got this from the original thread on Bluesky, not my own identification.
I love fungi facts.
This guy sees the most terrifying description of a toxin killing someone and goes "Yep, that's a fun mushroom facto"
i didnt even consider that this AI shit was going to claim to be able to ID mushrooms
ok ive been a little skeptical of the idea so far but now im fully convinced. this dumb ai shit is going to get people killed. like straight up more than one person is going to die because of these upjumped autocorrects masquerading as intelligence. and no one is going to be held responsible.
Which mushroom is it then? 😱
Eastern North American Destroying Angel. Half a mushroom is enough to completely destroy your liver and symptoms show up too late to do anything about them
My fucked up brain goes like, "woah, I wonder what death tastes like."
Probably bitter and followed by a slow agonizing death by liver failure.
As somebody who has been through liver failure and transplant, it really sucks. I do not recommend it.
2 mushrooms hard to fuck up in America.
I remember selling like 5 lbs of morels when I was a kid and getting like $200. That was without even driving to the city to make the real money.
I remember being on a wilderness weekend many years ago and being told that when you cut the stem on some poisonous shrooms they discolour a sort of blue tint. I'm lucky, I hate the taste and texture of mushrooms.
I remember years ago reading you can tell if a mushroom is "magic" by blotting it on paper towel and seeing if it stains blue or purple. Unfortunately, that is also how many things say you can tell it's toxic. Maybe you'll trip balls. Maybe you'll die. 🤷🏻♂️
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