[pct-l] Wild Food

[goforth@xxxxxxx (Joanne Lennox)]

----------
> From: Frank Kroger <fkroger1999@yahoo.com>
> Mushrooms are another option. The safest mushrooms to eat are the ones
that are like pin cushions on the underneath as none of those are
poisonous. There are more edible mushrooms but I am not the one to tell
yoiu about them. Avoid poisonous mushrooms....
>


Nooooooo!!NOOOOOOOO!  NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

The mushrooms with the "pincushions underneath" are called Boletes (Genus
Botetus which has been split in to many different Genera).  Many of these
are very good to eat, in fact some of my favorite.  But others taste like
soap , and some are so peppery,( often delayed), that you will wish you had
not so much as put your tongue to the thing.  Then there are those that are
edible , but not really palable.  You might as well eat a mop, because the
mycelium that makes up mushrooms is made of chitin, the same stuff insect
carapaces are made of, and it is quite indigestible.  Many people think
that they have mushroom poisioning when they have simply eaten too much of
the stuff.

There are a few bolete that grow in the west that are considered poisonous
- the satan bolete, and some of those that are very peppery.

You might stick to more easily identifiable plants:  Licorice is common on
the trail in moist frondose woods and the odor is unmistakable: you can see
a lot of it at Red's meadow for instance;  I frequently would rub it on my
clothes and stick some in my pocket as I was coming into a resupply point
to try to defuse my fragrance.  I also like chewing on the root, but you
should limit this as it can affect the heart and stomach depending on your
sensitivities.  I t really is a herb not a food.

Miners lettuce is everywhere, but it is a little strong for my tastes.

If you are from england you need to be acquainted better with the plants
before you get too experimental.  For instance, there is a plant here that
looks like parsley, and grows in wet places, but it is deadly poisonous,
called water hemlock.

Joanne