Mushroom: The fact that you should know.

So, you're mushroom eater?

Watch out for what kind of mushroom you’ve eat! Why? It might be kill you and your families.

There are hundreds of mushrooms that will cause anything from a mild stomachache to severe physical distress-including vomiting, diarrhea, cramps and loss of coordination. Two common poisonous mushrooms of this type, the jack-o'lantern and the green-spored Lepiota, are described here. Although the symptoms of poisoning from these mushrooms may be alarming, they usually pass in 24 hours or less with no lasting effects. You should, however, notify your doctor immediately if you suspect mushroom poisoning of any kind.

There is no quick and easy test that will separate edible from poisonous mushrooms-including peeling the cap, testing with a silver spoon, checking for insect damage or any other folk method.

To avoid mushroom poisoning, you should follow these five rules:

1. Identify each and every mushroom you collect, and only eat those whose identification you are sure of. When in doubt, throw it out.
2. Strictly avoid: any mushroom that looks like an amanita (parasol-shaped mushrooms with white gills); all little brown mushrooms; all false morels.
3. Some people are allergic to even the safest mushrooms. The first time you try a new wild mushroom, it is important that you eat only a small amount and wait 24 hours before eating more.
4. As with other foods, rotting mushrooms can make you ill. Eat only firm, fresh, undecayed mushrooms.
5. Most wild mushrooms should not be eaten raw or in large quantities, since they are difficult to digest.
   

Amanitas (Amanita spp.)
An amanita starts as an egg-shaped button which can resemble a small puffball. This breaks open as the mushroom grows. Fully developed amanitas are gilled mushrooms with parasol-shaped caps that may be white, yellow, red or brown.

They also have the following characteristics:

1. A saclike cup surrounding the base of the stem. This often is buried just beneath the soil surface and may not be obvious.
2. A ring on the stem.
3. White gills.
4. A white spore print (see page 12).
   

Both the ring and the bulb may be destroyed by rain or other disturbance. For this reason, beginning mushroom hunters should avoid all parasol-shaped mushrooms with white gills.

Amanitas are usually found on the ground in woodlands in summer and fall.


False Morels (Helvella and Gyromitra spp.)
False morels have wrinkled, irregular caps that are brainlike or saddle-shaped. They may be black, gray, white, brown or reddish. (The "big red morel," Gyromitra caroliniana, common in Missouri, is a large false morel with a reddish cap.) Other names include elephant ears, Arkansas morels and brain mushrooms. Size 2" to 8" tall.

False morels differ from true morels in two obvious ways:

1. The cap surface has lobes, folds, flaps or wrinkles, but it does not have pits and ridges like a true morel. You might say their caps bulge outward instead of being pitted inward.
2. The bottom edge of the cap of a false morel hangs free around the stem, like a skirt. On true morels, the bottom edge of the cap is attached to the stem (see page 4).
   

False morels are found in spring, summer and fall, on the ground in woodlands.


Little Brown Mushrooms (LBMs)
Because they are so difficult to identify, all LBMs should be avoided.

Little brown mushrooms are found in spring, summer and fall, in all habitats. Poisonous LBMS may grow on soil or wood and may appear in lawns, pastures or forests.













Jack-O'-Lantern (Omphalotus olearius)
Jack-O'-lanterns have have flat-edged, interconnecting ridges or wrinkles instead of knifelike gills, and grow on the ground. Size 3" to 10" tall, cap 3" to 8" diameter.

These mushrooms are found in summer and fall, in large clusters at the base of trees, on stumps or on buried wood.






Green-spored Lepiota (Chlorophyllum molybdites)
The green-spored lepiota is parasol-shaped and has a cream or tan, scaly cap, a large ring on the stem and cream-colored gills which turn dingy green with age. As its name suggests, it is the only mushroom with a greenish spore print. Size 4" to 12" tall, 2" to 12" in diameter.

This mushroom is found in summer and fall, on the ground in lawns, pastures and meadows.




I'm dreaming about doing something amazing in these worlds ; "sharing and caring."

ANT: Everything You Want To Ask About...

Like all insects, ants have six legs. Each leg has three joints. The legs of the ant are very strong so they can run very quickly. If a man could run as fast for his size as an ant can, he could run as fast as a racehorse. Ants can lift 20 times their own body weight. An ant brain has about 250 000 brain cells. A human brain has 10,000 million so a colony of 40,000 ants has collectively the same size brain as a human.

The average life expectancy of an ant is 45-60 days. Ants use their antennae not only for touch, but also for their sense of smell. The head of the ant has a pair of large, strong jaws. The jaws open and shut sideways like a pair of scissors. Adult ants cannot chew and swallow solid food. Instead they swallow the juice which they squeeze from pieces of food. They throw away the dry part that is left over. The ant has two eyes; each eye is made of many smaller eyes.

They are called compound eyes. The abdomen of the ant contains two stomachs. One stomach holds the food for itself and second stomach is for food to be shared with other ants. Like all insects, the outside of their body is covered with a hard armors this is called the exoskeleton. Ants have four distinct growing stages, the egg, larva, pupa and the adult. Biologists classify ants as a special group of wasps. (Hymenoptera Formicidae) There are over 10000 known species of ants. Each ant colony has at least one or more queens.

The job of the queen is to lay eggs which the worker ants look after. Worker ants are sterile; they look for food, look after the young, and defend the nest from unwanted visitors. Ants are clean and tidy insects. Some worker ants are given the job of taking the rubbish from the nest and putting it outside in a special rubbish dump! Each colony of ants has its own smell. In this way, intruders can be recognized immediately. Many ants such as the common Red species have a sting which they use to defend their nest.

The common Black Ants and Wood Ants have no sting, but they can squirt a spray of formic acid. Some birds put ants in their feathers because the ants squirt formic acid which gets rid of the parasites. The Slave-Maker Ant (Polyergus Rufescens) raids the nests of other ants and steals their pupae. When these new ants hatch, they work as slaves within the colony. The worker ants keep the eggs and larvae in different groups according to ages.

At night the worker ants move the eggs and larvae deep into the nest to protect them from the cold. During the daytime, the worker ants move the eggs and larvae of the colony to the top of the nest so that they can be warmer. If a worker ant has found a good source for food, it leaves a trail of scent so that the other ants in the colony can find the food. Army Ants are nomadic and they are always moving. They carry their larvae and their eggs with them in a long column.

The Army Ant (Ecitron Burchelli) of South America can have as many as 700,000 members in its colony. The Leaf Cutter Ants are farmers. They cut out pieces of leaves which they take back to their nests. They chew them into a pulp and a special fungus grows it. Ants cannot digest leaves because they cannot digest cellulose. Many people think ants are a pest but I like them. To stop them coming into my kitchen I put some sugar outside. They have so much to eat that they are not interested in coming into my kitchen.

I'm dreaming about doing something amazing in these lonely worlds; "sharing and caring."