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People have been foraging for mushrooms since the Stone Age, but mycologists across the country say they’ve seen an increased interest in the hobby and a significant increase in poisonings, too.
“Fungi are kind of a hot thing right now,” said Dr. Matthew Nelsen, a research scientist at the Negaunee Integrative Research Center at the Field Museum in Chicago who is also president of the Illinois Mycological Association, a group that describes itself as “fungal enthusiasts.”
Mushroom motifs now decorate all kinds of things: tea towels, toddlers’ sweaters, table lamps. But when interest extends beyond mushroom stuffies to the real stuff, people really need to be careful.
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Even experts can have a hard time telling the toxic from the edible just by sight, mycology instructor Rick Van de Poll said. He has to examine some of them under the microscope to be sure they’re safe.
Up here in the Northwest USA, mushroom hunting has been a passtime for folks for decades.
It’s so popular out here that local mushroom companies have begun cultivating varieties that used to be only available to people who hunted in the woods for them.
You don’t have to go into the woods anymore for shit like chanterelles. They’ve had that shit at Safeway for a few years now.
i remember about 20-25 years ago when Cowboy Bebop came out, they had a episode about them tripping mushrooms, which had a fantastic song as part of that episode’s soundtrack, called Mushroom Hunting.
Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts fucking rocked.
also, i could totally go for some shrooms.
Probably one of the best episodes of the series, imho.
They’re really easy to grow. I mean, not that I would know….