What is the difference between a toadstool and a mushroom?

Ah, the spiky question: what is the difference between a toadstool and a mushroom?

According to who you talk to, there seems to be both a crucial difference and no difference at all!

 A toadstool – like those with deliriously beautiful red caps with the white polka dots (yes, we’re talking about you fly agaric) – may be the stuff of fairy tales, but if popular opinion is to be believed, a toadstool is largely defined as the type of fungi that can kill you.

It’s all surprisingly unscientific:  to some, an edible fungus is usually referred to as a mushroom, whereas an inedible one is typically referred to as a toadstool. This makes the terms somewhat problematic – open to a range of loose interpretations.

Well, I’ve got a little bit of news for you.

Technically, there is no scientific difference between a mushroom and a toadstool. All can be broadly described as the fruiting body of a fungus.

There are some mushrooms classed as toadstools that may not be toxic, or only mildly so, and many mushrooms can, of course, be deadly.

I'd love to know what you think. Feel free to leave a comment or feedback below

Foraging in winter

If you’re anything like me, going for a lovely walk in winter just isn’t half as much fun as when you’re not scanning the tall trunks of trees or poking around in the leaf litter, on the look out for the many types of edible wild fungi that make an appearance during the rest of the year.

The winter months – December, January and February – are a really testing time for wild fungi enthusiasts. It’s much harder work –  it’s darker, colder, wetter, and you’re spending your time in a barren, lifeless landscape - yes, that can be depressing. 

But of course, there are some types of wild fungi out there – see my post on the top five edible wild mushrooms to be found in winter. Really, there’s not a whole lot of fungi to be found until the end of March and the start of April. In my mind, the foraging season really begins on St George’s Day, with the promise of St George’s mushroom.

But before I get miserable and, I remind myself that there are a few things that can survive the cold temperatures. Winter chanterelles, for example, can happily survive the process of freezing and defrosting.

The oyster mushroom endures the winter, but it can be found throughout the year. They can be found on a logs and tree stumps – layers upon layers of beautiful and delicate oyster mushrooms. In winter, you should look for them especially after a frost – they can be found up to a week after.

Wood blewits and field blewits are practically indestructible and easily survive rain, frost and snow. No matter what the weather, you’re likely to find some.

Alternatively, you could just forget about finding mushrooms in the snow, and make a giant snow mushroom instead, as seen in this YouTube video (not as rude as it looks in the photo!)

What do you think? If you have any comments, please let me know below. I'd love some feedback from my readers!

Best edible wild mushrooms to find in winter

Best mushrooms to find in winter – December, January and February

What, surely there's no edible wild fungi that can be found in winter, I hear you scoff.

Sure, winter isn’t notorious for its bumper crop of fungi, but there are things a persistent forager can find in the cold, snowy winter months.

Here are the top five wild fungi to look out for in winter:

1. Winter chanterelles (Craterellus tubaeformis)

2. Velvet shanks (Flammulina velutipes)

3. Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus and Pleurotus cornucopiae)

4. Jelly ears (Auricularia auricula-judae)

5. Wood blewit (Lepista nuda, Lepista saeva)

Happy winter foraging!

Ps - look out for my future posts on the best edible wild fungi to find in spring, summer and autumn 

And if you like what you're reading, please tweet me about it - you can find me on @SophieHaydock

Never forget for a moment...

... that some wild mushrooms can kill you. 

Deadly dinner party

With all the enthusiasm that comes with the promise of a new year of mushroom-hunting ahead, I noticed this tragic story in the British press at the start of January, and it gave me a little jolt.

A group of friends mistakenly ate some death cap (Amanita phalloides) wild mushrooms at a New Year’s Eve party in Sydney, Australia.

Two died and one is in a critical condition.

Words of warning

As fans of wild fungi, it’s important to never forget that you are dealing with something potentially fatal. It’s such a shame that two people had to lose their lives in this way.  

The fungi grow in autumn near oak trees in Canberra, where the dinner party was held.

Symptoms of death cap mushroom poisoning

The symptoms often do not appear until 10-16 hours after the mushrooms have been eaten.

The first symptoms are stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhoea, which might continue for a day or two. Then there is typically an easing of symptoms – but the poisons continue to attack the body while the unfortunate person who ate the deadly fungi is tricked into thinking they’re making a recovery.

This false 'recovery' period may last for two or three days and then the 'terminal phase of three to five days' starts with the re-occurrence of stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Without early medical intervention, coma and death occur between one and two weeks after eating the mushroom.

Death is caused by liver failure, often accompanied by kidney failure.

Don't make the same mistake

I interviewed a very lucky man (for the Guardian in 2010), who ate some destroying angel mushrooms and lived to tell the tale. You can read about his amazing and terrifying experience here.

The overall message is, enjoy the wondrous world of wild fungi, but never eat anything without rigorous identification. And please, despite all the effort you may have put in to finding your fungi, never let go of that willingness to throw everything in the bin if you have even a smidgin of doubt.

The year of the wild mushroom - 2012

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and are looking ahead to a happy 2012 - the "year of the dragon".

I say, forget about all the dragon smalarky, 2012 is all set to be the year of the wild mushroom!

I hope 2012 will be an absolutely fungulous year for wild-mushroom lovers everywhere - my new year's resolution is to fully indulge my wild fungi passion. And post on here more regularly!

And I've also got my sights set on stumbling across some wild morels this spring...