Do not pick wild mushrooms

28 April 2017

ACT Health authorities have issued a warning to staff and students not to pick wild mushrooms. Image: supplied.

Amanita Phalloides, the Death Cap Mushroom, in its younger state. Photo courtesy Australian National Botanic Gardens website.

A mature Amanita Phalloides, or Death Cap Mushroom, as it is commonly referred to as. Photo courtesy National Botanic Gardens website.

Students and staff have been reminded not to pick or eat any wild mushrooms growing around the campus or in the Canberra region.

The reminder comes as the cooler wet weather provides the perfect growing conditions for Death Cap mushrooms, one of the world's deadliest mushrooms, found around Canberra especially during the autumn and winter months and after periods of significant rainfall.

Death Cap mushrooms, or Amanita phalloides, can look very similar to store-bought mushrooms except they have lighter-coloured (often pale grey to white) gills underneath the head. Examples of what they look like can be found on the Australian National Botanic Gardens website. They often grow near established oak trees in mild, moist weather.

They can also be easily confused with edible varieties including the Straw Mushroom which is grown through a large part of Asia, however they are NOT the same and students are strongly advised to keep well away from any wild mushrooms.

All parts of the Death Cap mushroom are poisonous and eating just a part of a mushroom can be fatal. Cooking Death Cap mushrooms does not make them safe to consume either.

It is difficult, even for experienced mushroom experts, to tell the difference between the Death Cap mushroom and edible wild mushrooms so the advice for students is simple: buy mushrooms from the supermarket only.

More information, including a fact sheet, poster and a flyer on Death Cap mushrooms, can be found at the ACT Health Directorate's website http://www.health.act.gov.au/datapublications/fact-sheets/environmental-health. The information on the website is also available in both English and non-English languages.

Students are encouraged to warn other students about the dangers of picking wild mushrooms and also to remind any friends and family visiting Canberra about the danger.

If you suspect that you or one of your family members or friends might have eaten Death Cap mushrooms, you should seek urgent medical attention at a hospital emergency department.

Since 2002, there have been four deaths and many poisonings in the ACT due to encounters with Death Cap mushrooms.