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Mushroom or Toadstool - what's in a name?

Boletus_splendidus1.jpg (187548 bytes)

At one time there was a convention to refer to edible cap-and-stem fungi as mushrooms and all poisonous, inedible or doubtful ones, such as the lurid bolete shown here (left), as toadstools. The trouble was, fungi were distrusted by nearly everyone, and very few of the edible and wholesome fungi were categorised as mushrooms. 
Field mushroom
Given the remarkably rapid appearance of quite large fruit bodies, including field mushrooms like these (left), which could emerge and change the landscape overnight following rain, it is understandable that fungi have long been treated with suspicion. The implication is that these 'toadstools' have something to do with darkness and evil.
Honey fungus
Many good edible fungi are shunned by people who think that they are 'toadstools' and therefore poisonous. For example, provided it is properly cooked, Honey fungus, Armillaria mellea (left), is an edible and wholesome fungus.

The term 'toadstool' has very little real significance today. Even the words 'Mushroom' and 'fungi' need to be qualified with edible, inedible, hallucinogenic or poisonous if you really want to ensure that the message is clear and unambiguous.


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