Harvesting wild mushrooms for food is a risky game if you don’t know what you’re doing. Many fatally dangerous fungi look virtually identical to perfectly harmless ones. Confusing them may have irreversible consequences, and California authorities would really like it if Golden State residents learned this lesson. Unusually wet weather has caused mushrooms to pop up all over the place in California. The easy availability of mushrooms has encouraged a lot of people to give harvesting them a try. Sadly, this year poisoning cases have increased tenfold. According to the California Department of Public Health, 50 cases have been reported since last November. During an average year, California racks up around 5 mushroom poisoning incidents. The most nefarious mushrooms that have blossomed in California are also the deadliest. Primarily, the cases have involved the death cap (pictured below) and the western destroying angel mushrooms. With names like that, it comes as no surprise that these fungi hold the #1 and #2 spots on the list of the most dangerous mushrooms in the country. Both mushrooms resemble several edible species and reportedly taste good, but they're packed with amatoxin, a poison that primarily attacks the liver. Both are so toxic that eating just half a mushroom is enough to kill an adult, which is why state officials are warning people to only eat mushrooms they buy in grocery stores and farmers markets.
