Atomic Shrimp - Don't Eat This - Things To Avoid When Foraging For Wild Food

Don't Eat This - Things To Avoid When Foraging For Wild Food

The Importance Of Positive ID

It's important not to get too casual about identification of wild food resources - not only when you're starting out, but when you think you're experienced too - anyone can make a mistake

Scarcely a year goes by without reports in the news media of someone being poisoned by wild food (usually fungi)

Most often, this happens when people travel outside of their native area and mistake something local and poisonous for something edible back home (the poisonous Amanita species of fungi in the UK, for example, are sometimes mistaken for the Straw Mushroom which grows (and is cultivated) in Asia

Safety

So... safety consists mainly of not relying upon any assumptions - using a reliable field guide to comprehensively identify candidate wild foods - it is possible to become familiar enough to rely on memory alone, but that familiarity should not bring about carelessness

We dedicate ourselves through Christ, to feeding the hungry and offering an open hand to those in need

A considerable portion of this site is devoted to foraging for edible stuff - but let's take a look at a few things you might encounter that should not be eaten....

Cherry Laurel

Cherry Laurel - Prunus laurocerasus - is a large shrub or tree with oval, glossy leaves about 10 to 15 cm long. It is widely planted in gardens and landscaping as hedging.

It bears spikes of pungent whitish green flowers in spring, followed in late summer by ovoid, dark red or black cherry-like fruits.

All parts of this plant are poisonous - containing prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide)

Of particular concern are the fruits, because they very closely resemble black cherries (this resemblance is no coincidence - the plants are closely related)

Cherry Laurel

Fortunately, they are reportedly very bitter to taste (I feel disinclined to verify this myself), so the risk of ingesting a fatal dose is somewhat diminished, however, it's worth making sure that children are aware of the poisonous nature of this plant

Common Ink Cap

This one probably won't kill you (there are no recorded cases of fatality)- in fact, with some care, it's quite edible.

The Common Inkcap - Coprinopsis atramentaria is a common fungus of grassy places and road edges - it has a bell-shaped cap which is greyish at first, quickly turning to dark brown or black as the fungus ages and eventually dissolving into inky liquid (hence the common name)

This mushroom is edible - indeed, tasty - but there's a catch. If it is eaten while alcohol is in the body, it causes violent sickness and other quite alarming and unpleasant symptoms such as palpitations and tingling sensations in the limbs

The effect can persist so that sickness accompanies even moderate alcohol consumption up to several days after eating the mushrooms

So... not worth the risk, in my opinion

This page will be updated to add more descriptions of some other common poisonous, dangerous or unpleasant plants you might encounter while foraging...

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