I just found a mushroom in my yard today, and I tried looking online to see what it was, and found some similar to it, but not exactly like it. I'm concerned because we let our dog out to play around the area where it popped up, and my son also likes to play outside. I am wondering if they are poisonous or harmless. We live in Biloxi, in an area that was flooded a small amount from Katrina, so I was thinking maybe it waswashed in from somewhere else? I don't know anything about mushrooms except the kind you buy in the store.
My mushroom ID books are for the pacific northweat but, that looks enough like an amanita for me to suggest you try to dispose of it and keep an eye out for reccurence. In general, unless you know exactly what the mushroom is, I would treat it as poisonous. See if there is a mycological group or association near you locale, they will likely be able to help you ID it more accurately. http://www.mushroomexpert.com/
It is some species of Russula. The genus includes hundreds of species, also red ones, and they are often impossible to identify by a non-specialist. A great many undescribed species also wait for their clarification. But none of Russula is known to be truly poisonous. Many species have an acrid taste and may cause some trouble (even vomiting) if consumed in greater amounts. So just teach your kids and dogs never to eat any fungus they happen to find (a very small percentage of all mushrooms are indeed severely poisonous). Best wishes Harri Harmaja http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/harmaja/index.htm
I attended a talk on Russulas recently, and it was made clear that even the experts have a hard time telling some Russulas apart. If you were in the pacific northwest, I'd say it looks like Russula emetica or R. rosacea, but I don't know how widespread these species are. If you pick one and throw it against a tree and in explodes into lots of pieces, then it's a Russula :-) Pretty though eh J
