Yellow Moral (sic)

[Ed Cottrill]

EVERSL at AXE.HUMBOLDT.EDU writes:

>I agree that having a resident expert check out your find is the way to
>go.  Last year about this time one of the undergrads at our school used
>his favorite field guide to harvest some delectables from our nearby
>forests.  He cooked them up (a pot full) and ate 'em all...then, he spent
>7 hours in our local ER worshiping the porcelin god...he wanted to die, but
>he lived.  He ate a mess of Hygrocybe flavescens.  

>Several problems with this picture...1) don't eat anything without absolute
>identification, 2) don't eat more than a couple of forks-ful of a new
>mushroom, 3) verify your first attempt at verification with someone
>who knows the edibles in your area.

    Boy, that's a tough one.  This is an edible mushroom-- I have never
hesitated to eat mushrooms once I've positively identified them as
edible.  I've never had a bad reaction.  Of course the guides warn about
this-- but how common is it?  Should any particular otherwise edible
species be flagged as likely to provokr an adverse reaction in certain
persons?