![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tylikSo here I am, getting into the details of my mushroom poisoning decision support system. (Which I'm getting rather attached to, and starting to wonder if I can work on it next quarter and really do it right as an independant study or something...)
But in the midst of some of the material I'm reviewing (which is really quite good, for the most part) is the phrase: "The Early False Morel Gyromitra esculenta is easily confused with the true Morel Morchella esculenta, and poisonings have occurred after consumption of fresh or cooked Gyromitra."
Gah! No they're not! I mean, I suppose they must be, but they really don't look anything alike, and are easily distinguished even by the only vaguely informed amateur. Perhaps someone who hasn't actually had direct experience with morels, is suffering from severe wishful thinking, and has little common sense... I just find this really frustrating. I don't see people regularly mistaking, oh, huckle berries for holly berries. Certainly I don't hear a lot of dire warnings about such misidentification.
In addition, it isn't mentioned in this source that Gytomitra esculenta (which grows locally, BTW -- though there is some debate about whether the local G esculenta is really the same as the European variant -- certainly, it is easten locally by some people) is a valued edible in many parts of the world. Though it contains toxins. It's actually a pretty contraversial mushroom in many circles (and I don't eat is myself, and wouldn't recommend it). It contains gyromitrin, which is metabolized into monomethylhydrazine, which is not only toxic, but is one of those nasty toxics wherein the threshhold between it having no noticable effect and having a serious one is very small. And varies a lot between individuals. And that's before you get into the possible long term carcinogenic effects. As I said, I don't recommend it, personally. But it is eaten all the fricking time in some countries, especially in Scandanavia. It's complicated.
Contemplates again the wisdom of making one's hobby one's work.... This project is so much fun. And most of the things I'm interested in are interdisciplinary anyway, right?
But in the midst of some of the material I'm reviewing (which is really quite good, for the most part) is the phrase: "The Early False Morel Gyromitra esculenta is easily confused with the true Morel Morchella esculenta, and poisonings have occurred after consumption of fresh or cooked Gyromitra."
Gah! No they're not! I mean, I suppose they must be, but they really don't look anything alike, and are easily distinguished even by the only vaguely informed amateur. Perhaps someone who hasn't actually had direct experience with morels, is suffering from severe wishful thinking, and has little common sense... I just find this really frustrating. I don't see people regularly mistaking, oh, huckle berries for holly berries. Certainly I don't hear a lot of dire warnings about such misidentification.
In addition, it isn't mentioned in this source that Gytomitra esculenta (which grows locally, BTW -- though there is some debate about whether the local G esculenta is really the same as the European variant -- certainly, it is easten locally by some people) is a valued edible in many parts of the world. Though it contains toxins. It's actually a pretty contraversial mushroom in many circles (and I don't eat is myself, and wouldn't recommend it). It contains gyromitrin, which is metabolized into monomethylhydrazine, which is not only toxic, but is one of those nasty toxics wherein the threshhold between it having no noticable effect and having a serious one is very small. And varies a lot between individuals. And that's before you get into the possible long term carcinogenic effects. As I said, I don't recommend it, personally. But it is eaten all the fricking time in some countries, especially in Scandanavia. It's complicated.
Contemplates again the wisdom of making one's hobby one's work.... This project is so much fun. And most of the things I'm interested in are interdisciplinary anyway, right?
