a little harm reduction on mushroom identification

[chch]

I'm sure the moderators will close this but I'm gonna post anyway because it might save someone's life and I've seen the silly way ID question threads are closed. The admins are right, you should do extensive research.

btw I'm NOT thinking about amanita muscaria here so identifying that is a totally other issue.

psilocybe mushrooms WILL ALWAYS BRUISE BLUE because oxidizing active chemical psilocin or psilocybin (I forget which) turns blue

DONT FUCKING EAT RANDOM PICKED MUSHROOMS IF THEY DON'T BRUISE BLUE.

I'm not saying that bruising blue is a safe sign (although it might be, you better do fucking research, dont just assume unless you've read a lot of stuff on the Shroomery and mycology)

BUT

DON'T FUCKING EAT mushrooms WHICH DON'T BRUISE BLUE. IF THEY DON'T BRUISE BLUE, THEY'RE NOT WHAT YOU WANT. and there's a chance of poisoning.

to repeat, psylocybe mushrooms ALWAYS BRUISE BLUE, and if they're dried they should still look a little blue. There is a chance if they're dried without actually bruising them that they won't be blue, but normally when they're picked they'll get bruised, so I wouldn't trust anything without blueness

 

[2002Tii]

/common sense

 

[Solipsis]

Err, yea. I'm glad you are already suggesting this yourself: blue bruising does not secure or guarantee a positive match. While a lack of blue discoloration would make taking the risk of eating wild mushrooms extra pointless you should be aware of a few things: this site does not condone mushroom hunting nor tolerate discussion on the matter, because of the immediate risk of disinformation and generation of false sense of security.

Other than that we advise people to be very careful with eating wild mushrooms, if you must do this you should always make sure that you have the required information to discern/differentiate between the mushroom species you are looking for and the species that look alike and are inedible.
Never eat random mushrooms - you should always at the least know what you are looking for and what you are trying to avoid, and why what you found cannot be the ones you are trying to avoid.

I am pretty sure we have a closed down mushroom hunting subthread of the Big & Dandy Mushroom Thread - I guess this post echoes the voice of that thread.