Wow! I didn’t know there were that many! Seems like a bit of a mugs game then tbh
Comment on Rachael Dixon, 53, dies in suspected mushroom poisoning (Ballarat).
Thornburywitch@aussie.zone 8 months agoEspecially as there are still a lot of UNIDENTIFIED native species here in Victoria. Some estimate that up to 70% of native mushrooms have not yet been formally identified. Or evaluated in any way for danger or edibility. This info dates from about 10 years ago so situation might have improved since then.
Baku@aussie.zone 8 months ago
Thornburywitch@aussie.zone 8 months ago
Yep. There are whole populations of scientists that would loooooovvveeee to spend more time researching mushrooms/fungi/slime moulds, but the funding is scant and fragile. You might like to check out this website for the latest news on slime moulds (which are fascinating) - www.dictybase.org
This is a database by scientists for scientists but some of the articles are accessible to us normals and are a fascinating look at genomics in general. Worth a look if you don’t mind looking up the vocabulary nearly all the time.
melbaboutown@aussie.zone 8 months ago
Yeah. Foraging is a cool hobby but you put your life on the line eating anything that isn’t reliably identifiable