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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us October 7, 2005 Park conducts annual patrol for deadly ’shrooms By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings One of the most deadly fungi known can be found in grassy areas of Lithia Park. Amanita phalloides, commonly called the “Death Cap” mushroom, spores every fall in the park, according to Ashland Parks Director Steve Gies. “It’s a normal thing that comes up every year,” Gies said. Death Cap Mushrooms grow in Lithia Park. They are highly toxic if consumed. Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Death Caps look similar to white mushrooms bought at the supermarket. Although Parks Department horticulturist Don Todt can’t recall an incident of mushroom poisoning caused by a mushroom growing in the park, every September he starts looking for the Death Caps. The mushrooms, a non-native species in this area, can be slightly shiny when wet, but usually appear greenish or yellowish. Some are paler in Lithia Park, especially as the basal bulb emerges from the soil. They grow in deciduous woodlands, especially near oak trees. And they are not for picking. “It’s supposedly the most-toxic mushroom in the world,” Todt said. Death Caps, which tend to grow near the children’s play area near the front of the park and across the creek from the Parks and Recreation Office, must be dug up by hand. Todt and other parks staffers bag the fungus and lock it away behind the gates of the maintenance area. Only after the mushrooms decompose are the bags tossed into the Dumpster — just in case someone goes looking for leftovers. “I would figure people gathering mushrooms here in the park for their own consumption would know better,” Todt said. But he worries about kids, especially elementary school groups who come through Lithia Park in the fall collecting leaves, lichens and other specimens for science class. “We figure that the children are probably the main problem,” Todt said, noting just a half of a Death Cap could be toxic for a child. He tells a story about an encounter with a group of second- or third-graders who had paper bags of organic treasures they’d found in the park. “I asked them, ‘Have you heard about the toxic mushroom?’ and they hadn’t,” he said. But a little girl folded down the sides of her bag and pointed to a mushroom she’d picked — a Death Cap. Todt doesn’t think she planned on eating it. “Nevertheless, it’s scary,” he said. Eradicating the mushrooms from Lithia Park is not possible because the fungus lives in the soil. But the Parks Department sends notices to area elementary schools every fall to warn teachers and parents. “It’s going to continue to grow here,” Todt said. Death Caps taste pretty good, according to those who’ve survived eating them. But people who consume one of the mushrooms have between a 50 and 90 percent chance of surviving. They don’t seem toxic at first because symptoms — violent vomiting and diarrhea, accompanied by severe abdominal pain — take six to 24 hours to hit. The sickness can last for a day or more, then vanishes. At that point, the person seems to be recovered. However, the toxin in the Death Cap that makes the fungus fatal does not exit the body. It is reabsorbed into the bloodstream, causing repeated damage to the liver and kidneys that results in failure of both organs. Staff writer Jennifer Squires can be reached at 482-3456 x 3019 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams