Important: The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Nebraska Mycological Society, and Fungi Project take absolutely no responsibility poisonings or other harm that may result from misidentifications. Consume wild mushrooms at your own risk.
If you or someone you know has been poisoned by consuming wild mushrooms, call 9-1-1 and get the individual medical attention IMMEDIATELY. Afterwards, please report poisonings to the North American Mycological Association to contribute to our understanding of wild mushroom safety.
It is your responsibility to keep yourself and those around you safe
Consuming wild mushrooms can be one of the most rewarding nature experiences possible. However, this hobby comes with a great responsibility. By using this website as a resource, you agree to use multiple other resources and take on the full responsibility to educate yourself before consuming ANY wild mushroom.
Become an educated consumer of wild mushrooms. Lapses in judgement can result in death. Although not common, it does happen. Take the time that is required to educate yourself fully for safe mushroom hunting. Understand that only a small percentage of wild mushrooms species can harm you, however, these species can show up anywhere. NEVER trust your "gut" feelings, as your confidence can be your downfall. There are many old mushroom hunters, and there are many bold mushroom hunters, but there are few to no old, bold mushroom hunters (because they wise up or end up dead).
Please take steps to educate yourself:
- When starting out, hunt beginner mushrooms. Start with the "Fool Proof 4"
- Understand that it takes years to decades to safely identify for more obscure/intermediate mushrooms.
- Some mushrooms are conditionally poisonous when ingested days before or days after consuming alcohol, as with Coprinopsis atramentaria
When consuming wild mushrooms:
- Start with small portions. Even if a mushroom is known to be edible, individual allergies and sensitivities still exist.
- Save small portions of the mushroom uncooked for a week or two for later ID.
- Thoroughly cook your mushrooms. It takes time to break them down and make them more digestible. Wild mushrooms are NOT a direct replacement for button mushrooms in cooking. Wild mushrooms need to be cooked longer. Raw morels are known by the CDC to be poisonous.
When in doubt, throw it out!
Further education: