Look-alike mushrooms are species that resemble others closely enough to be confused. Health Canada says it is possible for people to eat poisonous mushrooms, mistaking them for magic mushrooms. The Ontario Poison Centre says only a mycologist can tell poisonous mushrooms from non-poisonous ones, that illness can start many hours after eating, and that cooking does not make wild mushrooms safe.
The risk is documented in Canada. A study of the small brown genus Galerina describes its species as notoriously difficult to identify by their form and found deadly amatoxins in samples from western British Columbia (Landry et al.). A medical review notes that people looking for hallucinogenic mushrooms occasionally eat more toxic ones by mistake (Graeme).
This glossary gives no identification guidance, by design. In Ontario the poison centre answers at 1-800-268-9017, 24 hours a day, every day of the year (Ontario Poison Centre). Canadian poison centres say to call 911 if a person is unconscious, not breathing or having a seizure (CAPCCT).
General information, not medical advice. In an emergency in Canada, call 911. For a mental-health crisis, call or text 9-8-8.
Sources
- Ontario Poison Centre: Mushrooms
- Health Canada: Psilocybin and psilocin (magic mushrooms)
- Landry et al.: Deadly amatoxins among the little brown mushrooms of the genus Galerina
- Graeme: Mycetism, a review of the recent literature
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