Comments on: Wild Mushroom Warning: The Scaber Stalks (Leccinum species) May No Longer Be Considered Safe

By: Tsu Dho Nimh

Tsu Dho Nimh — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 18:26:06 +0000

These mushrooms may be like the fava bean, which is harmless to humans UNLESS they have the genetic mutation that causes G6PD deficiency.

So it is quite possible that the indignant commenters have been eating these mushrooms with no problems and others are stricken with severe distress or even death.

By: Trish Adams

Trish Adams — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:24:48 +0000

Thank you Bill for the info regarding the Mycologist in Lander WY. I would love to run into Annie Proulx out foraging & if I do I’ll let you know.
Again many thanks for getting back to me.
I’m also a member of the Boston Mycological Club.
Best
Trish

By: Trish Adams

Trish Adams — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 23:09:05 +0000

I live near the Wind River Mts. in Wyoming and eat the Aspen Bolete – never any problem but what are your thoughts on the Aspen Bolete. Do you know of any mycologists in the Lander WY area, I find none nor is there a club.

Hi Trish,

I am glad you found our blog. The Wind River of Wyoming is certainly far afield for me (although I did pass through the area some 30 or 40 years ago on a fishing trip. Loved it) and I confess to not knowing Leccinum insigne as “The Aspen Bolete”, so I Googled ‘Aspen Bolete’ and found the following at Colorado Mushrooms, the first link offered by Google:
The Rocky Mountain Poison Center received occasional reports of serious gastric problems, some requiring hospitalization, from eating moderate amounts of so-called orange caps, usually well cooked, found under aspen in various part of Colorado.

There is believed to be a certain type of Leccinum that is getting people sick in Colorado. Eat at your own risk. I personally know people who eat them without any ill effects. Poisoning may be due to older specimens. It is unfortunate too since they are a very abundant mushroom.
http://www.coloradomushrooms.com/mushroom.php?id=3

Leslie and I do not eat any Leccinum, primarily because there are so many other and more tasty mushrooms which fruit at the same time here in the Northeast. I suspect that if your forest is primarily a monoculture of Aspen clones, then its mycorrhizal associates will predominate in your diet. My guess is that if you have been eating them for a while with no ill effects you can probably continue to do so safely in the future. The big concern, as I understand it, is that one can become suddenly sensitive (allergic?) to it, much as bee keepers become suddenly allergic to bee stings after decades of tolerance. And the other concern is that hidden amongst the ‘safe’ Aspen Boletes is a ‘cryptic species’ one which looks so much like the major species that it has yet to be segregated out by mycological sorting.

You might try the Colorado Mycological Society http://www.cmsweb.org, the Pikes Peak Mycological Society http://pikespeakmushrooms.org/, the Southern Idaho Mycological Association, http://www.simykos.org, or the Southwest Montana Mycological Association, ccripps@montana.edu to see if they can direct you to a mycologist near to your home.

Good luck, Bill

By: Matthew

Matthew — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 22:41:05 +0000

Was alcohol involved in any of the cases?

Hello Michael,

Thanks for your interest and welcome to the Blog.

You ask a question as to whether alcohol was involved in “any of the cases” . Given the ubiquitous prevalence of alcohol in our society I am sure it was. A more precise way of asking this would be “Were there any systematic differences in the reactions of those who ate species X and also drank xx amount of alcohol/body weight compared with a similar group of those who also ate species X without consuming any alcohol,”

This then becomes a meaningful question of toxicology/epidemiology and can be researched. Try Google or Google Scholar (Species X Alcohol) and then follow the links.

If you go to the August 19, 2009 post (above) you will find a link to an extensive discussion exploring some of the possible reactions of the species which seem to be involved with the original case. Other species can be explored by going to NAMA’a Toxicology pages listed in the August 29 2011 post.

By: mycol

mycol — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:59:17 +0000

JUst a note…wonderful to read some competent myco dialogue! I am another amateur mycophiliac in N. Florida. I have been eating the Tricholoma Flavovirens down now twice in the winter from the same spot and have eatin them with gluttony and shared with others…no ill effects.

Welcome Michael,
Happy to have you joining us in the myco dialog. We hope you will keep visiting, so Bill sent this response:
” You might want to reconsider including gluttonous consumption of this mushroom in your diet this winter. Note the delay of this toxic reaction.
Rhabdomyolysis. Mushrooms: Tricholoma equestre (=T. flavovirens), Russula subnigricans.

Here is the current knowledge of T. flavovirens from the North American Mycological Association: http://www.namyco.org/toxicology/poison_syndromes.html

Tricholoma flavovirens
Toxicity from Tricholoma equestre has not been reported from the U.S. and some question whether or not it is dangerous, but consumption of massive quantities of this species in Europe have reportedly resulted in delayed kidney damage, delayed neurotoxicity, and breakdown of muscle fibers with release of myoglobin into the blood stream. The European cases of rhabdomyolysis are associated with respiratory and cardiac (myocarditis) complications leading to death. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle. The rhabdomyolysis observed with Russula subnigricans in Japan and Taiwan occurs by a different mechanism than that observed with Tricholoma equestre.

By: igor serbinin

igor serbinin — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 21:04:45 +0000

been eating podosinoviki/podberesoviki (Leccinum) all my life and now my two toddlers are eating them with no problems both in North/west russia (st.petersburg) and in boulder colorado.

By: Bill Bakaitis

Bill Bakaitis — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 02:06:38 +0000

Hi Kristin,

Thanks for your comments.

For specific information about mushrooms in your area you might try a local expert. Try Joseph Ammirati. He is at the University of Washington in Seattle. His email is cort@u.washington.edu. Your local mycological association will also have contacts for others and the NAMA speakers bureau may also be useful..

The local flora can change dramatically over even a few miles. My own experience is limited to a few areas of the northeast and I would not hazard a guess about your species.

My guess though, is that if you have been eating these Leccinum for years, you can continue to eat them safely.

good luck

Bill Bakaitis

By: Kirstin

Kirstin — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 15:45:39 +0000

Bill, love to read your info….I’m not a mycologist but I do love mushrooms since childhood in Germany going with my Grandma…..
I’m now living west of Seattle in the Kitsap peninsula and enjoy finding and eating here.
Just yesterday I collected on my “spot” a bowl full of what ” I ‘m sure are ” leccinum scabrum……growing on a meadow under Birch trees…….
I ate them before and want to do so in the future…..I and my fam. had no signs of anything gastric.
Do you think it save? Are there any infos regarding under what tree the the “bad” ones grew? And area wise, do you have infos from around here about any cases of gastric upset?
I’m a member of our local mycological club and would inform all the others of your infos!
Thanks so much,
Kirstin

By: carlton berry

carlton berry — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 15:18:21 +0000

thank you for your reply and the link. i experienced mild gastric upset but am otherwise fine. this was the first time i have eaten boletes which grew under a poplar tree, so i was concerned about any potential toxicity. i’m still fairly confident in my judgement but this has renewed my caution. for now i’ll stick with the giant puffballs which are currently popping up by the dozen, and i’ll probably avoid the leccinum in the future.

By: Bill Bakaitis

Bill Bakaitis — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:16:42 +0000

Hi Carlton,

My sympathies. It is worrying to suddenly find new information on mushroom toxicity that contradicts previous analyses. But if you have personally been collecting and eating these mushrooms for years, and are sure these are the same as the ones safely eaten by you in the past, then even if you don’t know the Latin name chances are overwhelming that they are safe for you to eat again. There is a small probability that your biology has changed and you could develop an allergic reaction to any previously safe food: milk, wheat, peanuts, shrimp, etc. are examples of this developed allergy; bee stings are another. But this is only a remote possibility.

It is also important to realize that the case in which the death occurred was compounded by many other factors. I am not sure, nor were any of the other professionals involved, that the Leccinum was the cause.

A link to very long discussion of the case with various possible and competing hypotheses concerning the toxicity of fungi and ’cause’ of death appears above in the August 19, 2009 comment.

For rules concerning the eating of mushrooms new to you, see http://leslieland.com/blog/2009/07/the-long-lived-wild-mushroom-eaters-golden-rules-2/ elsewhere on this site.