MUSHROOM POISONING
Mushroom poisoning is usually the result of ingestion of wild mushrooms after misidentification of a toxic mushroom as an edible species. The most common reason for this misidentification is close resemblance in terms of color and general morphology of the toxic mushrooms species with edible species. Even very experienced wild mushroom gatherers are sometimes poisoned by eating toxic species, despite being well aware of the risks.
To prevent mushroom poisoning, mushroom gatherers need to be very intimately familiar with the mushrooms they intend to collect, including knowledge of the toxic species that look similar to these edible species. Of the many thousands of mushroom species in the world, only 32 have been associated with fatalities, and an additional 52 have been identified as containing significant toxins. By far the majority of mushroom poisonings are not fatal, but the majority of fatal poisonings are attributable to the Amanita phalloides mushroom.[6] Many mushrooms look alike to the uneducated eye (see pictures below) and extreme caution should be exercised in collecting and eating wild mushrooms.
(Source: Wikipedia with links to Wikipedia)
Chanterelle, edible
Jack-O-Lantern, a poisonous mushroom,
sometimes mistaken for a chanterelle
