HELP! I live in the middle of the great state of South Carolina, USA, near the state capitol. Don't know if this will help ID this fungi, but for the past 2 weeks I have noticed a patch of mushrooms growing in a cluster of about 10-15 mushrooms in an area approximately 20ft x 20ft, in a dense grassy area in my backyard. It has been misty and cloudy for the past couple of days, temperature near 85 degrees F yesterday and 70 degrees F this morning. This morning it is also cloudy and misting rain. Early this morning I looked outside my bedroom window and saw my dog Thor (110 pound German Shepherd) licking on one of these mushrooms and shaking his head afterwards like he'd been bitten on the nose by a bumblebee! I got concerned and called my vet, but all he said was he is "probably OK" and to watch him closely. I immediately went outside and picked all the mushrooms and trashed them. The dog seems OK for now but this just happened about 30 minutes ago. I know some of these things can be poisonous, so I got on google and found this neat website here. Hope I don't sound foolish, but I am very concerned. I have attached a couple of photos here in hopes that someone can help me identify this mushroom and let me know if it can have any adverse effects upon consumption. Thanks in advance for your help! -Concerned in Carolina **EDIT* can these possibly be Chlorophyllum molybdites, aka Green Gills ? I found a similar pic on another post in this forum, and the guy lives close to me who posted the photos. **
I'd take a spore print of you mushroom. Chlorophyllum molybdites has green spores. Of course you thew all your mushrooms away but new mushrooms could be popping in the same location anyday now. If it was a chlorophyllum, and dogs react the same way as humans do (which is a BIG if ... one can't assume that a mushroom that is toxic to humans is toxic to every other mammal on the earth, or vice versa), then you can expect vomiting/diarrhea. You might want to look up the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center if your dog experiences these. With all this said, i agree with allelopath's initial impression, but wouldn't be 100% sure until I saw the results of a spore print. P.S. Old C. molybdites tend to have a greenish hue to their gills. Perhaps if you are able to salvage one from the garbage you might be able check this out.
update: Thor seems to be in no acute distress at the moment, which is over 2 hours after I saw him licking on one of the mushrooms. I did not see him actually eating any caps, and I saw no evidence of any mushrooms that had been bitten or chewed on. I think he just licked it out of curiosity and he obviously didn't like the taste of it by his reaction (recoiling and shaking his head/body as if he was all wet). My wife tried to feed him some hot dogs after the incident (before I read your post) and he wouldn't eat them, which is not like him. She even microwaved the weenies and diced them up, but he turned his nose up at it. He IS drinking though, and my wife thought it was good for him to drink some milk to help absorb any toxins. Chlorophyllum molybdites or Lepiota rachodes... the only way to tell them apart is by taking a "spore print" ? I have no clue how to do that unfortunately Thanks for all your help!
Re: how to take a spore print: please visit, http://www.fungaljungal.org/trunk/edtr5.htm (info on the spore print stuff is a little ways down the page). The older the mushroom, the harder it is to take a spore print. Works best with a fresh specimen, older examples need at least overnight. There is also a difference in the staining of the stalk between the 2 mushrooms in question. Take a nick out of the stalk and see what color it turns. If it turns orange (NOT RED), within a matter of minutes, then it is L. rachodes. *note that the red color will fade to brownish in several hours. If your nick turns reddish, then you might have chlorophyllum molybdites. From http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/Toms_fungi/aug99.html (a very good mushroom source) "According to Dennis Benjamin (Mushrooms: poisonings and panaceas, 1995, W.H. Freeman and Company, 422 pp.) "in some individuals the gastrointestinal syndrome, which occurs about 1-3 hours after the meal, can be very severe, especially the colicky abdominal pain, which can mimic that of a 'surgical' abdomen. Symptoms persist for up to six hours, and even longer in a few patients. Nausea, vomiting and diarrhea complete the picture. The diarrhea can be explosive in nature and become bloody." You probably won't die from eating this mushroom (although there is one recorded fatality involving a child), but it's certainly not a pleasant dining experience--- So be very careful if you plan on eating any Lepiota species. Projectile diarrhea would not be very much fun." When we're talking about C. molybdites,
Sounds like he is going to be OK, which is a great relief. For future reference, I have read of activated charcoal being used to treat mushroom poisoning.
I don't think there is a single documented of mushroom poisioning where soemone got sick by licking or handing a mushroom (contact dertmatitis would be an exception). Thus, if you are sure that mushroom wasn't eaten (i'm not sure if you are or not), i wouldn't worry.
Altho' this was 2 weeks' ago & your dog was ok, I've just read this thread & they also look like Coprinus comatus, which would not have been poisonous. Soon after picking tho', they would have disintegrated into a black mess, hence common name for the genus : inkcaps. I'm very glad that your dog was alright.
Lepiota A Lepiota of one species or another is an ID upon which I'd be trusting enough to say that, barring a greenish spore-print color, they would long ago have been sauteed with butter and a few shallots.