‘Death can follow’: Warning over highly toxic mushrooms sprouting

Wet weather has caused a highly toxic species of mushroom to start sprouting and people are being warned to avoid picking them.

A deadly mushroom, similar in appearance to the edible kinds, has started sprouting around Victoria.

People are being warned not to pick the poisonous death cap mushrooms which have started growing in the state following widespread recent rain and ideal growing conditions.

Victoria’s Deputy Chief Health Officer Dr Angie Bone said the recent rains had seen the mushrooms start to sprout much earlier than usual in Victoria.

“While commercially sold mushrooms are safe, poisonings can occur when people gathering wild mushrooms inadvertently include toxic species,” Dr Bone said.

“Poisonous mushrooms may appear very similar to edible varieties.”

The extremely toxic death cap mushroom.

The mushrooming season starts when rain encourages growth of the fungi in the still warm earth.

Two toxic mushrooms are the death cap fungus, amanita phalloides and the yellow staining mushroom, agaricus xanthodermus.

The death cap is a large mushroom, with a cap ranging from light olive green to greenish yellow in colour.

The gills are white, and the base of the stem is surrounded by a cup-shaped sac.

The commonly found yellow staining mushroom turns yellow when the cap or stem is bruised by a thumbnail.

Distinctive characters are the white gills, the greenish cap, the skirt-like hanging ring on the stem and the sac at the base of the stem.

The most dangerous variety is the death cap, usually found near deciduous trees, especially around oaks, in some Melbourne suburbs and rural areas.

Dr Bone said anyone who became ill after eating mushrooms should seek urgent medical advice and, if possible, take samples of the whole mushroom for identification.

“Symptoms of poisoning can include violent stomach pains, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea,” she said.

“Symptoms may subside after a day or two – but this doesn’t necessarily mean recovery. Death can follow within 48 hours from serious liver damage. The death cap is extremely toxic and responsible for 90 per cent of all mushroom poisoning deaths.

“If you have any doubts about a species of fungus or mushroom, don’t eat it. Cooking, peeling or drying these mushrooms does not remove or inactivate the poison.”