'World's deadliest mushroom' here to stay in Vancouver, expert warns

[SpongeG]

'World's deadliest mushroom' here to stay in Vancouver, expert warns

Tue Nov 23, 6:49 PM

By LARRY PYNN


Paul Kroeger first documented the world's deadliest mushroom a short walk from his home on East 40th Avenue in Vancouver.

VANCOUVER -- Paul Kroeger first documented the world's deadliest mushroom a short walk from his home on East 40th Avenue in Vancouver.


It was September 2008 and he spotted a cluster of European death cap mushrooms at the base of a hornbeam tree, a non-native plant used to beautify city streets.

"I always keep an eye open for mushrooms," the vice-president of the Vancouver Mycological Society said Monday. "I'd been expecting it to show up."


Kroeger said death cap mushrooms (Amanita phalloides) have entered Canada through the roots of non-native trees. They showed up in Mission in 1997 and are now also found on southern Vancouver Island.

Since 2008, he's found death caps at two other east Vancouver sites, also hornbeam trees, evidence that they're here to stay. "They'll probably start popping up all over the place."


If ingested, they pose a serious poisoning threat to people and animals. "It is the most deadly mushroom in the world," Kroeger said. "They take down more people every year than any other mushroom."

Of 42 people poisoned by death cap mushrooms in the U.S. last year, three died, including a California mother of three (her cousin had a successful liver transplant).


In Europe, deaths caps are reportedly responsible for almost 90 per cent of deaths due to mushroom poisonings.

And while there is no stopping the mushroom, Kroeger said it's important to make residents aware of its existence.


Southeast Asians can be especially susceptible because the death cap resembles the paddy straw mushroom that is commonly eaten in their native homeland. "They look very similar," he said.

A mother of two, originally from Thailand, died in England in March after eating the mushrooms with sausages.


The death cap mushroom has a smooth, yellowish-green to olive-brown cap, white gills, white stem, membranous skirt on stem, and a cup-like structure around the base of the stem.

Anyone who eats one can expect stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhea. Symptoms typically subside for two or three days before returning, along with jaundice. Without treatment, coma and death can occur due to liver failure and possibly also kidney failure.

...

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/23112010/...ert-warns.html

[touraccuracy]

just do what i do: avoid eating disgusting fungus at all cost.

[trofirhen]

Toxic Amanita mushrooms already exist, and have existed in temperate regions of BC for some time. There are two main subgroups.

The bright red-with-white spots "Amanita Muscaria," and the yellow-with white-spots
"Amanita Pantherina" contain a neurotoxin that can paralyse breathing and stop your heart. These have been around for decades, maybe longer.

"Amanita Phalloides" (so named because of the shape) is a "sister mushroom" to the "amanita virosa" and "amanita verna" mushrooms, already present in BC.

These mushrooms have a "veil" or "gill" halfway up the stem, which is their distinguishing feature and renders them easier to recognize than otherwise.

All three latter subspecies (one of which is nicknamed "the destroying angel") do not contain neurotoxins, but rather a hemotoxin which causes fatty decomposition of the liver, and accompanies a painful death.

Boiling them will not destroy the toxin. And yes, they are truly the deadliest mushrooms known.

Any mushroom lover who isn't already familiar with them should look them up and avoid anything that even resembles them, to be sure.
Remember, however, that it is the "veil" or "gill" half-way up the stem which is their hallmark.
Recognizing this could be a life-saver.