Mushroom-phobics might be on the right track. A new Finnish identification
book, Suomalainen Sienikirja,
mixed up the popular and tasty edible button mushroom (Agaricus
bisporus) with the Destroying Angel (Amanita virosa).
 |
| Tasty button mushroom... |
 |
| ... killer Valkokärpässienen! |
Destroying
Angel's are the reason for the time tested advice of never eating a
fungus unless you know exactly what it is. Most mushies are harmless if ingested and quite a few mushrooms are actually very good for you. Many varieties simply aren't eaten because they taste outright horrible and not because of any ill health effects.
The likelihood of mixing up and picking the wrong fungi increases with these two because at early stages of a Amanita virosa's growth they can appear very similar. Ingestion poisons the liver with no reliable treatment possibly resulting in death, hence its reputation and awesome name.
All
unsold copies of the book will be corrected by slapping a sticker on
the offending pages to cover up the error. Jarkko Korhonen,
a co-author, accepted responsibility and professed his regret for the mistake on Facebook.
I
for one am thankful for the error, if it hadn't of happened I would
have never learned the awesome Finnish word: Valkokärpässienen.
Here's
a link to the Finnish story:
http://yle.fi/uutiset/deadly_mistake_in_mushroom_book/6211477
