About mushrooms

Mushroom, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

I got worried that someone would think that I'm giving culinary advice here. Not so - the mushrooms in my photographs are to be viewed not eaten. Well, this is another advantage to the photographs in the photograph vs. leaf discussion. Although, regarding a leaf, I would hardly think that most people would try to eat one.

I case you need some more advice, here goes regarding the amanita mushrooms, of which the red one with white spots is an excellent example: "The genus Amanita contains about 600 species of agarics including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide. This genus is responsible for approximately 95% of the fatalities resulting from mushroom poisoning, with the death cap accounting for about 50% on its own. The most potent toxin present in these mushrooms is α-amanitin."

In Finland most people know about amanita, or as we say "fly mushroom" (kärpässieni), that they are very very poisonous. However, some of them may look like edible mushrooms, so care is needed. Only pick those you can absolutely surely identify.

In Finland, the ones of the bolete type are mostly an easy choice for a beginner (although there are some with bitter taste). But I wouldn't recommend anyone to start picking mushrooms alone, without a knowledgeable person to help in the beginning.

In any case, don't think that a photograph and a text any way guarantee that the information is right. A year ago the biggest newspaper in Finland published a photograph of red amanita with the caption "Mushrooms are best when young". And of the best Finnish guide to mushrooms some say (as a recommendation) that "it only contains 30 errors".