Caution is very much in order if you are thinking about consuming even so much as a forkfull of huronensis. This is not an exaggeration!

I think for other viewers of this blog, I should introduce you and the context for this remark.

Marilyn Shaw is a poison control specialist in Mycology working out of the Colorado area. Recently she and I collaborated on a case where an elderly man developed a set of rather severe medical complications following a meal where two mushrooms were eaten. There were no mushrooms or images available to investigate, only the three-day old memories of two of the mushroom collectors who happened to disagree on some of the details of what they collected and ate. There was very little to hang a good ID upon.

One mushroom was probably a species in the Leccinum group, which does have a reputation for causing GI distress. The other was described as a ‘King Mushroom’, possibly one in the safe Boletus edulis group, as described in this blog. The medical team working one this case and I asked for Marilyn’s help as she has had considerable experience with Leccinum cases.

In the on-line discussions with several other mycologists following the report of this case there was a mention that B. huronensis has been reported to cause GI distress in some individuals. This is a rarely collected/reported mushroom and the image of what I had identified as B. huronensis appearing above is one of the very few available, and one that Marilyn (and others) were able to view and comment upon.

All of this should serve to remind beginners of the value of safe collecting habits.