I'm being swept away by the fungi

At seven in the morning, when I was unpacking in the market hall, I hoped that there would be fewer people on a weekday and that I wouldn't be exhausted from all the talking by noon. Of course, the good observer part of me knew I was going to be busy. By noon I had 38 species of fruiting bodies on my table. And I was very tired. I looked at the mushrooms. I wrote the species list. I took a deep breath and tidied up. I know that I have more to do on Friday and Sunday. It's really good weather for mushrooms. It's been years since we've had a September like this, and such an abundance. It's really amazing. I am happy for the mushrooms. I love the feeling of autumn. The air of dawn full of the scent of mycelium.

Only the Agaricus genus drive me crazy. My photo shows two species. Below is the field mushroom A. campestris, above A. pseudopratensis. They are very similar. Now imagine someone picking a basket full of both and putting it in front of you to sort them out, because he recognised them all as good and edible mushrooms. This is one of the most frightening possibilities. The Agaricus species are the scary ones, when there's a mix of good and bad, and you sort it out. Moreover, very young fruiting bodies do not yet clearly show the key characteristics. As a professional inspector, I stare in horror at the cute white mushrooms. Hobby shroomers are happy to pick them in the meantime. Deep air. I am a professional. Really. I'm not afraid of white mushrooms. I'll be tough.

How much easier it is for me when they pick common fieldcap Agrocybe pediades among the fairy ring champignon Marasmius oreades. The difference between the two is clear, Agrocybe on the left, Marasmius on the right. The fairy ring champignon is an excellent delicacy mushroom. It's very popular, a lot of people are looking for it, it's just tedious work to collect it. Few people know that one of the components of its unique odor is hydrogen cyanide. It is toxic in its raw form. However, cooking removes the toxic compound and the mushrooms are safe to eat. It is very important don't to eat mushrooms raw! Mushrooms as a food are wonderful, but there are risks involved. Fortunately, there are good, edible mushrooms that are easy to identify.

My linked article is still in Hungarian, but you can recognize the mushrooms from my photos. The first mushroom seen on Tuesday, the parasol Macrolepiota procera, is mentioned in the article. It's very hard to mistake it for anything else. However, there was a case of poisoning many years ago, when an occasional mushroom picker, in complete ignorance, mistook panthercap Amanita pantherina for parasol mushroom. Fortunately, she recovered quickly. The panthercap isn't as deadly poisonous as the deathcap Amanita phalloides, which is indeed life-threatening. As a white gills fungus, the deathcap is immediately distinguishable from the brown gills mushrooms. However, the Agaricus species mimics each other back and forth. That's why sorting them is scarier. Fortunately, they are not life-threateningly poisonous, but the poisonous species can give you a pretty nasty upset stomach. Mushrooms, I'm ready.