The very name "toadstool" warns that no good should be expected from such a mushroom. But some toadstools are very similar to edible mushrooms, and it takes some knowledge to distinguish them.
What a toadstool looks like
One of the most dangerous poisonous mushrooms is the pale grebe, the poisoning of which is fatal. It is believed that Agrippina poisoned her husband, Emperor Claudius, with the pale toadstool. Pale toadstool affects the heart, liver, kidneys and nervous system. Moreover, asymptomatic poisoning can last up to 36 hours!
The poisons contained in the pale toadstool - phalloin, phalloidin and amanitin - are absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and accumulate in the liver, poisoning the kidneys, heart, and then the nervous system. It is impossible to render them harmless by culinary processing, and if the pale toadstool got into your basket, it will be safer to get rid of all the mushrooms at once.
How to spot a toadstool
Grebe is found in deciduous and mixed forests from late July to late autumn. It is poisonous in its entirety, even its spores are dangerous. A young pale toadstool looks like a champignon or a float mushroom, an adult one looks like a green russula. The color of its cap varies from green to yellowish, sometimes white, with radial fibers of a darker shade. The white pulp of a young toadstool has a pleasant smell and even taste, which becomes specific, sweetish with age.
You can distinguish a russula or a float from a toadstool by the leg: in a russula it is smooth, slightly thickening towards the bottom, while a toadstool has two rings on it - under the cap and near the ground, and the leg ends with a noticeable "tuber".
As for the champignons, they also differ in the absence of a "tuber" and in the color of the plates on the inside of the cap. In young champignons, the plates are pink in color, darken with age to brown; toadstool plates are always white.
Toadstool poisoning
Among plant poisons, mushroom poisoning ranks first in the number of cases per year. In the mushroom season, the number of poisonings increases dramatically. Remember that even edible mushrooms collected near roads, factories, or in contact with poisonous ones can cause poisoning.
The characteristic signs of poisoning are chills, weakness, headache, dehydration, then vomiting, diarrhea, and clouding of consciousness.
A poisoned person requires medical attention without fail, remember that poisoning with a pale toadstool is deadly, do not hesitate to call an ambulance! Before her arrival, it is worth doing a gastric lavage: drink a few glasses of boiled water and induce vomiting again, until the vomit is cleared. Give an enema. Take activated charcoal or any other medication that binds toxins. In case of acute pain, you should take an anesthetic pill ("Spazmalgon" or "No-shpa"), lie down with a warm heating pad in your legs, drink as much liquid as possible, wait for the doctors to arrive.
