A general rule is if it has pores instead of gills, you’re probably in the clear.
Except for that one in Europe, that shit will megadeath you.
In all seriousness, the general rule I’ve heard for foraging wild unknown things is:
- cut it open and rub it on your skin, wait an hour, if it gives you a reaction, stop here.
- touch it to your lips, wait a while, if it gives you a reaction, stop here
- touch it to your tongue, wait a while, if it gives you a reaction, stop here
- chew a bit and spit it out, wait a while, if it gives you a reaction, stop here
- swallow a small amount, wait a few hours, if it gives you discomfort, stop here
- if you’ve made it this far, it’s likely ok, do so at your own risk tolerance
Roots are generally OK, particularly if you have access to double boil them.
For mushrooms:
- pores are generally safer than gills
- don’t eat it if it’s bioluminescent
- don’t eat if it oxidizes quickly when you cut it open
- don’t eat it if it bruises blue or red
- learn how to detect what a bolete is. Boletes are generally safe, unless it breaks one of the rules above
- Slime: Just say no.
- make sure there’s not a mushroom growing on your mushroom. Double the mushroom is not double the fun.
- learn what a destroying angel looks like, even when it’s young. Appreciate it from a distance, but give that fucker 5 feet of space at all times.
I am by no means an expert. I’m just a rando guy from Appalachia with some wild ass Russian buds and we do some funky shit down here. Take everything I say with as much trust as you give to anyone on the Internet.
When in doubt, take it to an expert and even then, consume at your own risk tolerance.
That’s interesting, my general rule for foraging wild unknown things is: don’t.
There was a guy a few years ago who tried to live off grid. He died, having left behind a journal detailing his final days. In it, he logged the exact process you outlined above for various things he foraged, which included wild potato seeds. Turns out those things pass all the above tests, but contain a deadly neurotoxin that builds up over time (that even modern science didn’t really know about). Poor guy starved because he was too weak to even crawl.
nature be scary fellow humans. Be careful out there.
He also wandered into the Alaskan wilderness with basically just a sack of rice and a .22lr rifle.
He was a a couple miles from safety the entire time, but did not buy a map so believed he was stranded when the river rose and cut off the main trail. But there was another trail with a raised cable crossing over the river a few miles upstream.
He was totally unprepared and essentially just committed extended suicide. The fact that he remembered some basic tips from a Boy Scout handbook doesn’t mean he was an expert. Kid was an idiot who got in way over his head.
That some guy ISNT JUST ANY GUY! 😤
- Documentaries were made about him
- A very successful movie was made about him “Into the wild”
- Countless Youtubers keep making videos about him; Thoughty2 made a very good video about him…
The point of my comment was to highlight that even if you follow all the good advice, there’s still a chance you discover some new things that will kill you.
For mushrooms the only good advice is, if you don’t know what you are doing, don’t go foraging for mushrooms. Rules and guidelines that apply for one region might not work for another. The risk reward never works out if you’re inexperienced. You either get a tasty treat or incurable certain death. It’s not a great gamble.
Sure, and I suppose you’re going to advise me not to do my own electrical home wiring either. 😛
Here’s a general rule for foraging mushrooms; don’t use “general rules”.
Also; “don’t eat it if it bruises blue”, you’ll miss out on all the fun ones with this advice.
Yeah, atleast here in northern part of europe we have multiple shrooms that bruise blue and are still edible. I recomend getting a mushroom foraging guide book of your area, and first getting familiar with all the ones that can seriously hurt you.
don’t eat it if it bruises blue
Or do if you’re up for an interesting time and it passes the test above. Eat about three grams for some nice sights and 6 before sitting in a dark, cool room to meet something unknown
If it bruises blue, cut off a very thin slice from the center of the stalk and put it on agar until it creates mycellium. There’s some other stuff you need after that which I’ll be happy to help you with.
I don’t think there are any harmful mushrooms that bruise blue but would love for an expert to chime in here
Rubroboletus satanas is definitely poisonous. On the other hand, Imleria badia is very good. Bruising blue doesn’t really say anything about edibility.
I’m not an expert, though.
Do you mean ‘pores instead of gills’ ? I think all mushrooms produce spores, no?
The mushrooms from the bolete family here in Germany often stain blue (or some other color) when bruised but most are very good mushrooms for eating. For example, Imleria badia, Neoboletus erythropus and Suillus grevillei. The last one is even slimy but you can just remove the cap. (There is also this really tasty gill-having mushroom Lactarius deliciosus that stains green). Also, Armillaria can do bioluminescence but are also edible! I agree with checking for fungi infections of mushrooms and to learn to ID the deadly poisonous Amanita species (funnily enough, there are some really good edible ones in the same genus!).
Your guide to carefully test foraged organisms is definitely helpful. However, when foraging mushrooms you have to keep in mind some additional things. Many, if not most mushrooms are really toxic when eaten raw! People frequently get poisoned while eating edible mushrooms that are not cooked enough. They apparently often contain hemolysins. Also, there are a few tasty mushrooms that can be toxic if eaten in combination with alcohol. If you go foraging mushrooms, better try to learn some groups, how to distinguish them and what are their characteristics than trying to test by your body’s reaction. But yeah, if you were to be without any food in the wild maybe it helps to know how to test for edibility.
Roots might be safe if you can double boil them??? Jesus christ, I guess I’m never touching wild mushrooms ever.
The confusion was mostly on me as I mistook double boiling to mean boiling twice but thank you for the clarification anyway.
Except for that one in Europe
Joke, but poisonous mushrooms here are either quite distinct (lol Dickfuss) or give you a mild stomache ache. Well, except the section with mushrooms that look like a poisonous variant but aren’t.
All that to find whether a random plant will poison you
Animals are so much easier: is it an animal? It’s good to eat
Oh, my friend, I suggest you look into fugu, mad cow or chronic wasting disease.
