Mushrooms and other poisonous and non-poisonous things.

[urbpan]

Extremely weird advice on how to identify edible vs. poisonous mushrooms, from a culture that is neither mycophobic nor especially mycophilic, to my knowledge. Interesting article, I do not endorse it. There are no shortcuts to knowing what you are doing.

More beautiful than purple loosestrife, more toxic than a cane toad, an invasive species from the Caribbean all the way up to the coast of Massachusetts (gulp!)

The death cap mushroom. A non-native (to North America) mushroom species with genetically distinct populations in California, New York and New Jersey, Newton Massachusetts (really? so localized) and New Hampshire. Apparently it has a knack for colonizing locations named "new" something.

Identify trees like a birder. From a distance, by color, in springtime.

Comments

[ndozo.livejournal.com]

"Before eating your mushroom, just bite into its fleshy cap and wait for 24 hours to see any possible signs of poisoning." This works great with pretty much anything. If signs of poisoning, such as death, occur, do not eat any more of the mushroom.