POISONOUS AND HALLUCINOGENIC MUSHROOMS
by Michael W. Beug Email: beugm@evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College, Olympia WA
Slide 51.
Lepiota or Leucoagaricus naucina is another mushroom
with a mixed reputation. It is considered edible and quite good by most
people, but some are made ill by it. Others can eat it safely up until
the time when they find a really abundant fruiting and eat the mushrooms
several times over the course of a week or two and suddenly develop sensitivity.
The symptoms are flu-like. In fact, one friend was so confident that Lepiota
naucina was a good edible species that it wasn't until the third time
that he ate the mushroom and appeared to come down with the flu that he
recognized the mushroom connection. There are many perfectly good edible
mushrooms that make some people ill but most people eat without any adverse
effect. However, there are some mushrooms like this Lepiota naucina
that make a disproportionate number of people ill. Also, this mushroom
is common in lawns and even choice edible mushrooms should not be collected
from golf courses, roadsides, well-kept lawns or other places that may
have been sprayed with pesticides or contaminated with heavy metals. Mushrooms
readily concentrate both pesticides and heavy metals and can become toxic
as a result.
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