This issues
presentation: Don't eat that mushroom!
- by AGM Cass
From the journal of Frodo D' Todel
In my wandering through these
caves I have found many poisonous species. Some of which I have listed
here only to spark my imagination into understanding this lichen/fungus/moss
relationship I am faced with now.
Fungi and mushrooms survive mainly
by absorbing food material from
living or decaying plants in their surroundings.
Lichen is formed when
fungi finds a host in algae or moss.
I happened upon a area of what
I thought was covered in club moss and noticed a decaying carcass.
I was studying some cave ivies nearby and so I happened to camp next to
the moss for several weeks. Into the second week I noticed what appeared
to be flowers... orange, violet and blue. The flowers were never
only one color but rather a base of one a swashes of another. It
wasn't until the third week that I noticed a bigger cap (almost a hand
to the finger sized cap). It started yellow and as it formed it swirled
with swashes of neon blue, violet orange and red. I immediately moved
my camp several caverns away but could not keep from returning to note
this growth. On the fifth day of the third week I started down and could
not come within two caves for the stench alone made me reel
and kneel. I crawled back to my cavern and slept, dreaming
fascinating things until I was not sure if I had dreamed the growth.
Upon awaking and gorging on
food (I've no idea how long I slept.), I went back to the cavern and lo
my regular club moss, no mushrooms, no sign that they had been there and
this time no carcass. In some mushrooms, a cloth like membrane called a
veil protects the gills or tubes as the mushroom develops. As the
cap grows wider, the veil
tears. I'm sure this is where
the release of spores and thus the poison kills the food for the moss/fungi/lichen
thing to live. I was careful to avoid coming contact with any spores that
may lay upon the ground, but it's still something to give me pause to think
about the potential dangers of such a thing.
More dangerous mushrooms......
The destroying angel is an
especially beautiful, all white amanita that grows near pools of water.
The scent it gives off is alluring, musky and sweet. Almost sticking
to you, the toxins of the destroying angel's flying spores have killed
many people. Another amanita, the fly agaric, usually has a bright yellow,
orange, or red cap with white warts on top. This species received
its name from its use in killing flies. People sprinkled sugar on
the mushroom to attract flies. The flies died after feeding on the
mushroom. Also poisonous to humans but I can't tell you how I know.
The Jack-O'lantern mushroom
causes nausea and diarrhea if eaten. It tends to grow in clusters
at the base of tree stumps. It has a bright orange cap and gills.
The Jack-O'lantern got its name because the cap and gills glow in the dark.
