Mushroom poisoning is poisoning resulting from the ingestion of mushrooms that contain toxic substances. Symptoms can vary from slight gastrointestinal discomfort to death in about 10 days. Mushroom toxins are secondary metabolites produced by the fungus.
Pleurotus ostreatus, the oyster mushroom, oyster fungus, hiratake, or pearl oyster mushroom is a common edible mushroom. It is one of the more commonly sought wild mushrooms, though it can also be cultivated on straw and other media.
Collybia nuda, commonly known as the blewit or wood blewit and previously described as Lepista nuda and Clitocybe nuda, is an edible mushroom native to Europe and North America. Described by Pierre Bulliard in 1790, it was also known as Tricholoma nudum for many years. It is found in both coniferous and deciduous woodlands. It is a fairly distinctive mushroom that is widely eaten. It has been cultivated in Britain, the Netherlands and France. This species was reassigned to the genus Collybia in 2023.
Mycena is a large genus of small saprotrophic mushrooms that are rarely more than a few centimeters in width. The name Mycena comes from the Ancient Greek μύκηςmykes, meaning "fungus". Species in the genus Mycena are commonly known as bonnets.
Phallus ravenelii, commonly known as Ravenel's stinkhorn, is a fungus in the Phallaceae (stinkhorn) family. It is found in eastern North America. Its mushrooms commonly grow in large clusters and are noted for their foul odor and phallic shape when mature. It is saprobic, and as such it is encountered in a wide variety of habitats rich in wood debris, from forests to mulched gardens or sawdust piles in urban areas. It appears from August to October. The fruit body emerges from a pink or lavender-colored egg to form a tall, cylindrical, hollow and spongy white stalk with a bell-shaped cap. The remains of the egg persist as a white to pink or lilac volva at the base of the stalk. The cap is covered in a foul-smelling olive-green spore slime, which attracts insects that help to spread the spores. Sometimes, the cap has a "veil" attached—a thin membrane that hangs underneath. The lack of a roughly ridged and pitted cap differentiates it from the closely related Phallus impudicus. The fungus is named after Henry William Ravenel, a botanist who first discovered it in 1846, though it remained undescribed until 1873. It is considered to be an edible mushroom while in its egg form.
Mycena galopus, commonly known as the milky mycena, milking bonnet or milk-drop mycena, is an inedible species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae of the order Agaricales. It produces small mushrooms that have grayish-brown, bell-shaped, radially-grooved caps up to 2.5 cm (1 in) wide. The gills are whitish to gray, widely spaced, and squarely attached to the stem. The slender stems are up to 8 cm (3 in) long, and pale gray at the top, becoming almost black at the hairy base. The stem will ooze a whitish latex if it is injured or broken. The variety nigra has a dark gray cap, while the variety candida is white. All varieties of the mushroom occur during summer and autumn on leaf litter in coniferous and deciduous woodland.
Inocybe geophylla, commonly known as the earthy inocybe, common white inocybe or white fibercap, is a poisonous mushroom of the genus Inocybe. It is widespread and common in Europe and North America, appearing under both conifer and deciduous trees in summer and autumn. The fruiting body is a small all-white or cream mushroom with a fibrous silky umbonate cap and adnexed gills. An all-lilac variety lilacina is also common.
Mycena haematopus, commonly known as the bleeding fairy helmet, the burgundydrop bonnet, or the bleeding Mycena, is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae, of the order Agaricales. It is widespread and common in Europe and North America, and has also been collected in old Japan and Venezuela. It is saprotrophic—meaning that it obtains nutrients by consuming decomposing organic matter—and the fruit bodies appear in small groups or clusters on the decaying logs, trunks, and stumps of deciduous trees, particularly beech. The fungus, first described scientifically in 1799, is classified in the section Lactipedes of the genus Mycena, along with other species that produce a milky or colored latex.
Mycena inclinata, commonly known as the clustered bonnet or the oak-stump bonnet cap, is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. The doubtfully edible mushroom has a reddish-brown bell-shaped cap up to 4.5 cm (1.8 in) in diameter. The thin stem is up to 9 cm (3.5 in) tall, whitish to yellow-brown at the top but progressively becoming reddish-brown towards the base in maturity, where they are covered by a yellowish mycelium that can be up to a third of the length of the stem. The gills are pale brown to pinkish, and the spore print is white. It is a widespread saprobic fungus, and has been found in Europe, North Africa, Asia, Australasia, and North America, where it grows in small groups or tufts on fallen logs and stumps, especially of oak. British mycologist E.J.H. Corner has described two varieties of the mushroom from Borneo. Lookalike species with which M. inclinata may be confused include M. galericulata and M. maculata.
Mycena polygramma, commonly known as the grooved bonnet, is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. The inedible fruit bodies are small, pale gray-brown mushrooms with broadly conical caps, pinkish gills. They are found in small troops on stumps and branches of deciduous and occasionally coniferous trees. The mushroom is found in Asia, Europe, and North America, where it is typically found on twigs or buried wood, carrying out its role in the forest ecosystem by decomposing organic matter, recycling nutrients, and forming humus in the soil. M. polygramma contains two uncommon hydroxy fatty acids and is also a bioluminescent fungus whose intensity of light emission follows a diurnal pattern.
Mycena sanguinolenta, commonly known as the bleeding bonnet, the smaller bleeding Mycena, or the terrestrial bleeding Mycena, is a species of mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. It is a common and widely distributed species, and has been found in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The fungus produces reddish-brown to reddish-purple fruit bodies with conic to bell-shaped caps up to 1.5 cm (0.6 in) wide held by slender stipes up to 6 cm (2.4 in) high. When fresh, the fruit bodies will "bleed" a dark reddish-purple sap. The similar Mycena haematopus is larger, and grows on decaying wood, usually in clumps. M. sanguinolenta contains alkaloid pigments that are unique to the species, may produce an antifungal compound, and is bioluminescent. The edibility of the mushroom has not been determined.
Tricholoma saponaceum, also known as the soap-scented toadstool, soapy tricholoma, soapy knight or soap tricholoma is an inedible mushroom found in woodlands in Europe and North America.
Mycena epipterygia is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae of mushrooms commonly found in Europe. It is commonly known as yellowleg bonnet or yellow-stemmed mycena. The species is saprotrophic and its appearance is quite variable. For example, a number of members of the genus Mycena, some parts of the fungus are bioluminescent, including in this species, the mycelium. Mycena nivicola has been suggested as a separate species name for the Western variety.
Hygrophorus eburneus, commonly known as the ivory waxy cap or the cowboy's handkerchief, is a species of edible mushroom in the waxgill family of fungi. It is widespread in Europe and North America, and has also been collected in northern Africa. The fruit bodies are medium-sized, pure white, and when wet are covered in a layer of slime thick enough to make the mushroom difficult to pick up. The gills are broadly attached to the stem or running down it; as the family name suggests, they feel waxy when rubbed between the fingers. Like all Hygrophorus species, the fungus is mycorrhizal—a symbiotic association whereby the underground fungal mycelia penetrate and exchange nutrients with tree roots. They are common in a variety of forest types, where they grow on the ground in thickets or grassy areas. Hygrophorus eburneus is the type species of the genus Hygrophorus. A number of biologically active chemicals have been purified from the fruit bodies of the fungus, including fatty acids with bactericidal and fungicidal activity.
Mycena maculata, commonly known as the reddish-spotted Mycena, is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae. The fruit bodies, or mushrooms, have conic to bell-shaped to convex caps that are initially dark brown but fade to brownish-gray when young, reaching diameters of up to 4 cm. They are typically wrinkled or somewhat grooved, and have reddish-brown spots in age, or after being cut or bruised. The whitish to pale gray gills also become spotted reddish-brown as they mature. The stem, up to 8 cm (3 in) long and covered with whitish hairs at its base, can also develop reddish stains. The mycelium of M. maculata has bioluminescent properties. The saprobic fungus is found in Europe and North America, where it grows in groups or clusters on the rotting wood of both hardwoods and conifers. The edibility of the fungus is unknown. Although the species is known for, and named after its propensity to stain reddish, occasionally these stains do not appear, making it virtually indistinguishable from M. galericulata.
Mycena aurantiomarginata, commonly known as the golden-edge bonnet, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. First formally described in 1803, it was given its current name in 1872. Widely distributed, it is common in Europe and North America, and has also been collected in North Africa, Central America, and Japan. The fungus is saprobic, and produces fruit bodies (mushrooms) that grow on the floor of coniferous forests. The mushrooms have a bell-shaped to conical cap up to 2 cm in diameter, set atop a slender stipe up to 6 cm long with yellow to orange hairs at the base. The fungus is named after its characteristic bright orange gill edges. A microscopic characteristic is the club-shaped cystidia that are covered with numerous spiky projections, resembling a mace. The edibility of the mushroom has not been determined. M. aurantiomarginata can be distinguished from similar Mycena species by differences in size, color, and substrate. A 2010 publication reported the discovery and characterization of a novel pigment named mycenaaurin A, isolated from the mushroom. The pigment is responsible for its color, and it has antibiotic activity that may function to prevent certain bacteria from growing on the mushroom.
Hygrophorus purpurascens, commonly known as the purple-red waxy cap, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Hygrophoraceae. Its cap has a pink background color with streaks of purplish red overlaid, and mature gills have red spots.
Mycena atkinsoniana is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. It is one of the so-called "bleeding mycenas" that will ooze yellow to orange juice when injured. Other distinguishing features include the upper stem surface that is decorated with tiny purplish-brown fibers, and the gills, which are pale yellow with maroon edges. The reddish-brown caps are smooth with a grooved margin, and up to 3 cm (1.2 in) wide. Mycena atkinsoniana is known from the United States and Canada, where it grows scattered or in groups on leaf litter in forests during the summer and autumn. It was originally described from collections associated with beech, but it is also frequently found under eastern North American oaks.
Mycena purpureofusca, commonly known as the purple edge bonnet, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. First described by Charles Horton Peck in 1885, the species is found in Europe and North America, where it grows on the decaying wood and debris of conifers, including cones. Fruit bodies have conical to bell-shaped purple caps up to 2.5 cm (1 in) set atop slender stipes up to 10 cm (4 in) long. The mushroom is named for the characteristic dark greyish-purple color of its gill edges. In the field, M. purpureofusca mushrooms can usually be distinguished from similar species by characteristics such as the dark purple gill edges, the deep purple cap center, and its cartilagineous consistency. The fungus contains a laccase enzyme that has been investigated scientifically for its potential to detoxify recalcitrant industrial dyes used in textile dyeing and printing processes.
Mycena alcalina, commonly known as the alkaline mycena, or stump fairy helmet mushroom, is a species of fungus in the family Mycenaceae. It grows widely, ranging from North America to Europe.
