Fungi - The Herb

General description and domicile:
I will try to stick with the standard format but this page is not about the herbal use of fungi as there are way too many fungi to generalize. Where it is justified, I have created a page for those species that are used for medicinal purposes.

For starters there are over sixty thousand identified fungi and they are discovering more every day. Mycology (the study of fungi also called Fungology) is a vast and rapidly developing field that covers the study of the effect on plant and animal tissue (there are myriads of fungi that destroy crops, as many that affect the health of animals and just as many that affect our health - athlete's foot or ringworm being one of many that are irritating but not life threatening). A frightening number of the really bad tropical diseases in humans are due to fungi.

Ergotamine, extracted from the very poisonous Ergot (Claviceps purpurea) which causes epileptic-like convulsions and gangrene of the extremities is widely used as a vasoconstrictor to increase blood pressure and treat migraines but the same fungus (that grows on cereals) has also given the medical profession Ergonavine to restrict post operative hemorrhage as well as LSD (lysergic acid).

Not all fungi are dangerous, in fact only a small percentage are (but they are enough) and we are served by many without knowing it. The yeast that rises bread, converts sugar to alcohol in beer, wine and spirits are all fungi. In places like China and Japan so many different fungi make it onto the dinner table that there are specialist shops in every suburb that sell only dried and fresh fungi.

Fungi do not flower and do not contain chlorophyll. Fungi vary from minute, microscopic organisms to the very large table sized fungi that grow on moist trees in rainforests. Most fungi feed off decaying matter and, because they do not contain chlorophyll, absorb oxygen and give off carbonic acids like animals which is why their chemical composition is similar to animal - hence the reason why they are so popular as an alternative to meat by vegetarians.

Identification of Edible and Poisonous Fungi:

The good news is that around ten percent of the gill bearing, mushroom type fungi are poisonous. The bad news is that they are very poisonous.

Even worse news is that the virulently poisonous ones contain a great variety of poisons and toxins. Make a mistake and chances are that you will not get the chance to make another.

There is much folk lore about how one differentiates between poisonous and edible mushrooms AND NONE ARE TRUE. "Only mushrooms that can be peeled are safe" - not true. Many of the most toxic fungi peel as easily. "Mushrooms that grow out in the open are safe". Not so some of them are very toxic. "Mushrooms that grow on trees are poisonous". Again not true although it is true that fewer mushrooms that grow on trees are safe.

I do not know how one becomes an expert on the many species of mushroom/toadstool-shaped fungi. I certainly would not like to try, and rely on buying my mushrooms from the grocer for that very reason. I suggest you do too.