Deadly mushrooms are continuing to claim lives in California despite warnings.
Warm weather and early rains in California have caused a “super bloom” of Amanita phalloides, also known as the death cap mushroom. Death cap mushrooms are extremely dangerous. They are highly poisonous and can cause liver failure and sometimes, unsurprisingly, death even in very small amounts. Unfortunately, they look and taste very similar to several non-poisonous varieties of fungus, even to experienced foragers.
In early December, following twenty-one non-fatal poisoning cases and one death, the California Department of Public Health issued a recommendation against foraging altogether during this “high-risk” period. Instead, they suggested using store-bought mushrooms as an alternative.
Amateur mycologists were apparently undeterred by the dire warning, as fourteen more poisonings and two deaths have been reported since then, according to CBS News. Whether these sometimes deadly misidentifications are due to the Dunning-Kruger effect or the use of AI-generated mushroom guides, please just stop, Californians.
All too often, cutesy images of mushrooms use the death cap. I guess its bright red cap with white polka dots is just irresistible to illustrators, and that leads people to think “cute=safe”.