Many hundreds of cases of mushroom ingestions occur each year in California. Children under the age of 6 years account for a majority of these cases. The consequences of mushroom poisoning can be severe. Because there is so much misinformation about toadstools and mushrooms, the terms need definition. This is incorrect.
Many mushrooms are poisonous and some toadstools are edible or safe.
Symptoms can range from 6 hours of vomiting to lethal liver or kidney failure. In the United States, there are about 5,000 types of mushrooms. Of these, about 100 are responsible for most of the cases of mushroom poisoning. Less than a dozen species are considered deadly. Some of the mushrooms that can cause death in healthy adults are the Death Cap, the Destroying Angel, the False Morel and mushrooms in the Galerina species.