A recent report illustrates the deadliest nature of death cap mushrooms. Amanita phalloides has been connected to poisonings once more, this time in beef Wellingtons given at a family lunch in Leongatha, Australia, resulting in three deaths. Such events eventually revive popular concern of this lethal fungus, and mushrooms in general. The fact that death caps appear so innocent simply adds to their sinister allure. With their pale yellow crown and white gills, they can be mistaken for a variety of edible fungus, which may explain why they account for nearly all mushroom-related fatalities. Just half of one will kill you.
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Despite its attention-grabbing nature, the death cap is just one of many amazing mushrooms. They are more closely linked to animals than plants and make up a whole kingdom of life, with an estimated 5 million species. Although just 5% have been properly described, those we know about include some extremely bizarre. Cordyceps mushrooms (Ophiocordyceps unilateralis), for example, emerge from infected and zombified ants’ bodies, stinkhorns (Phallus impudicus) secrete a foul-smelling slime that mimics rotting flesh, and dead man’s fingers (Xylaria polymorpha) emerge from forest floors as eerie black appendages.
In comparison, death caps look unremarkable. Nonetheless, their toxicity makes them the focus of ongoing scientific inquiry. And the findings are fascinating: recent research show a quickly evolving species that produces novel poisons, thrives in new settings, and spreads over the world. These discoveries are not just changing our knowledge of the death cap, but of the whole fungal world. Furthermore, they have the ability to transform public attitudes of fungus from fear to educated enjoyment. Read full article here.
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