It might not look like much,
but if you see this in the forest,
don't touch it.
It can kill you in a matter of hours.
To protect their spore-bearing blooms from predators,
some fungi have evolved to bear lethal mushrooms.
You better chew mindfully.
Here’ s our list of the
This thin, red, finger-like mushroom
is easy to mistake for the medicinal reishi mushroom.
If you encounter it in the forests of Japan,
Korea or parts of Australia,
don't touch it.
The toxins in this mushroom can enter your body
through the skin,
not just by eating them.
Symptoms like peeling skin,
hair loss and liver and kidney failure
can take two weeks to show up.
In larger doses, these toxins can kill brain cells
and shrink parts of it in the process.
Found everywhere throughout the Northern Hemisphere
and down under in Australia,
the autumn skullcap,
or Galerian mushroom,
is brown or orangish-brown in color
with a thin umbrella-shaped top.
It is often confused with the hallucinogenic Psilocybem,
but the effects are far from magical.
You’re in for a pretty rough spate of vomiting,
diarrhea and hypothermia
within 12 hours of ingestion.
After that you might think you’re ok,
but the worst is yet to come.
Amanitin, the autumn skullcap mushroom’s toxin,
will make its way through your digestive track
into your liver
and blocks its ability to produce proteins.
If you don’t get medical attention quickly,
this toxin could kill you in less than a day.
Well that sounds divine.
This mushroom has earned its Hollywood blockbuster
name from being the most toxic mushroom found
in North America.
It looks like a common white button or ink cap mushroom.
Unfortunately,
it also has the same toxin as the autumn skullcap,
amatoxin.
Cooking these mushrooms as a side to your bacon
is not going to make them any less poisonous.
Symptoms like delirium, convulsions and diarrhea
could quickly become the beginning of the end for you.
"The amatoxin will shut down vital organs within
24 hours of ingestion.
This mushroom kills 60 to 80% of people who eat it.
Yikes.
The light brown-colored deadly webcap
grows across Europe.
It has a picture-perfect umbrella shape
with deep folds at the bottom
and is very easy to mistake for several varieties
of delicious edible mushrooms.
And you’d almost think you’ve got away with eating it too.
The deadly webcap’s poison, orellanin,
can take anywhere between two days
to three weeks before you notice anything.
Not only are you likely to have forgotten
you ate those mushrooms during that time span,
you are very likely not going to suspect poisoning.
Symptoms look very much like the flu.
Left untreated,
the toxin's effects can lead to severe kidney damage
and death.
Most survivors end up needing dialysis
or a kidney transplant.
It's right there in the name.
And at the top of our list of killer mushrooms
is the death cap.
Native to Europe, it's now found around the world.
At first glance, the death cap is quite unremarkable.
It’s white and grows everywhere,
from the sides of curbs in urban areas
to logs in the forest.
Not only is it easy to mistake it for the edible straw
or Caesar’s mushrooms,
it tastes just as good.
Which can be quite a problem.
Rich in amatoxin,
it takes less than half of one tiny mushroom
to kill a 60 kg (132 lb) person.
Initial symptoms can be flu-like.
Except in this case,
within 12 hours you would experience
intense abdominal pain,
vomiting and bloody diarrhea.
Those are two words that should never go together.
Your tissues lose fluids rapidly
until your kidney, liver and central nervous system
shut down.
Over half of its victims fall into a coma
and die.
Not exactly a fun fungi.
Can’t get enough of killer fungi?
Check out our episode on the zombie fungus that
mind controls ants.
Here, on Crazy Creatures.
Damaging brain cells
and attacking internal organs
is what these poisonous mushrooms do.
And that’s why they’re