Delicious or deadly

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, October 15, 2006

EVERETT – Most people know about the morels and chanterelles, but there are a lot of varieties of mushrooms out in the woods that either aren’t as tasty or are a lot more dangerous, if not deadly, to eat.

Take the Amanita genus. It can a be gold or bright red. It looks beautiful. But it won’t be found in your neighborhood grocery store.

“If you eat one of these puppies, they will kill you,” said Steve Coleman as he tapped a display Sunday at the Snohomish County Mycological Society’s annual show at Floral Hall in Forest Park in Everett.

The show is the annual showcase for the local group of mushroom hunters.

The show gives the 150 or so members a chance to show off their mushroom hunting skills and it’s also a chance to educate the public about something that is near and dear to their hearts.

Around 300 people drifted in and out of Floral Hall on Sunday. Some just looked at the displays of mushrooms, 168 different varieties gathered by society members over the last couple of days.

Some watched an educational video about mushrooms, while others saw how they can be dehydrated or gawked at displays about lichens.

Mushrooms can be eaten, of course, if you know what you’re doing. They are also used for medicinal purposes, coloring dyes, making paper and even artwork – such as the artwork done by society president Joyce Harvey.

“It’s a great recreation,” said Harvey of Marysville.

However, it’s a recreation that should be pursued with a lot of knowledge.

“The key thing is you never eat one of these mushrooms unless you know which it is, or someone else knows absolutely what it is,” said Coleman of Everett.

Gaining that knowledge takes some time, fieldtrips with someone who knows what he or she is doing and likely a lot of reading.

Walt Ketola of Bothell, who conducts classes on mushroom identification, said there are an estimated 5,000 varieties of mushrooms in the state.

They come in all sizes – thimble-sized to a foot or more across – and colors. Browns, whites, yellows dominate, but there are purple and the dangerous red amanita.

Take the Cantharellus cibarius, better known as the chanterelle.

It can easily be mixed up with a poisonous variety known as Gomphus floccosus, Ketola said.

“In the first year, I’d say a reasonable person could learn four edible mushrooms,” said Ketola, who has been a group member for 16 years.

Society member Hanna Tschekunow of Mill Creek used to work for poison control centers in various parts of the country. She pointed out posters at the show that are sometimes placed in Asian food stores to warn people about some varieties.

A handful of dangerous mushrooms that are found in Washington are similar to edible mushrooms that are found in some Asian countries, she said.

Only a small percentage of the poisonous mushrooms are deadly. Many just make people sick, Coleman said. Most are not poisonous, but a lot of the edible ones don’t have any flavor, he said.

If you happen to get mixed up with a poisonous one, watch out, Coleman said.

“There’s no antidote for mushroom poisoning,” he said.

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.

Mushroom class

A mushroom identification class for beginners is scheduled at 9 a.m. Saturday in Lions Hall at Forest Park, 802 E. Mukilteo Boulevard, Everett.

The Snohomish County Mycological Society’s instructor, Walt Ketola, plans to talk about mushrooms in a class setting, and then venture into the woods near Index for some hands-on experience. Those interested can just show up, call the club’s hotline at 425-317-9411 or go to the society’s Web site, www.scmsfungi. org for more information.