h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In the autumn, we like to go looking for mushrooms. There is something atavistic about going foraging for things you can eat and it is a pleasure to walk among trees whose leaves are turning gold and drifitng down. Mushrooms are mysterious things; you never quite know what you will find. A recent shower of rain may bring out a sudden rush of fungi, while at other times there is almost nothing. Mushrooms come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from big brackets to small, cup-shape fungi. Some have expressive names, like Dead Man’s Fingers, Candle- Snuff Fungus and the Stinkhorn. .

Some of the best to eat belong to the Boletus family, which have a spongy mass of tubes under the cap, instead of gills. The best is the Cep or Penny Bun (Boletus Edulis). Another mushroom we look for is the Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius), which is egg yellow, and has gills that run down the stem. However, it is important to learn to identify mushrooms, as some are edible and others poisonous. The best advice is to go mushroom hunting with an expert.

I like to eat mushrooms, but I tend to stick to the closed cup ones from the supermarket - some others I've had make me think the texture is similar to what it would be like to eat a snail so I don't find them very pleasant although the flavour is good.

Fungi in general are fascinating - it has been a good year for toadstools of all shapes and sizes, and the colours are impressive, like the -shaped Scarlet Elf Cup that I learned about quite recently

Mushroom-gathering in Europe is an endless source of horrified fascination to North Americans, who would never, ever eat a fungus they found growing outdoors.

All ours are grown in caves by people with degrees in mycology. It's the downside of greater biodiversity.

My brother, who lives in Maryland, tells me they get Europeans coming to America and getting poisoned when picking mushrooms they think they know from home. The only safe rule is to pick only those mushrooms you're sure about.

Absolutely. That's been one of the reasons for poisoning historically - we have a lot of plants that look like something you know from Europe, but aren't.

Sneaky 'Muricans *shakefist*

Don't ever drink camomile tea here unless you bought it commercially...my great-grandfather died from it, and a lady I knew lost all her hair...

I strongly suspect that plant just *looks* like camomile.