Hi All,
I picked my first lobster mushrooms this weekend after having a person who picked mushrooms and sold them for a living (family business) identify them. Today I have been reading about how the parasite could possibly infect and transform a poisonous species of mushroom. Some people apparently say that poisonous species transformed by the parasite are no longer poisonous. The person that showed me how to identify the mushroom did not tell me this. By the time we were done I was under the impression the parasitic fungus was very host specific and could only infect species non-toxic to us? Any thoughts on this? Has anyone ever heard of any poisonings related to picking and eating lobster mushrooms?
"They" have confirmed that none of the Hypomyces lactifluorum hosts are toxic. Although that was long suspected, it was somewhat recently confirmed as fact.
I say "they" because this news was announced by local mycologists to the VMS group a year or more ago ... but I've been trying to find the original research and so far I've not been able to track it down. I'd like to find it also so that I can cite that specifically in answer to this question <grin>.
Although Hypomyces tend to be very host specific, I understand that "they" have not proven the same for the Hypomyces species that creates the green lobster.
The mycological societies in B.C. have all been informed that research has confirmed that H. lactifluorum does not infect/transform any poisonous mushrooms. It is a Lactarius/Russula lover with a predilection for R. brevipes.
No confirmation on the yellow/green Alberta Lobster.
Curiousity is the best thing! But sadly my recall is not certain: When we book speakers, often the Fraser Valley Mushroom Club and South Vancouver Island Mycological Society books them as well in a sort of circuit, so often we get the same news at the same time. Likely this came via a PNW Key Council member.
When this thread started, I went confidently googling, looking for the research cited as I expected this would be easy to find. I've not tracked it down yet, admittedly having spent limited time, so I think I'll pursue this by emailing the question to a couple of PNW mycologists of note. Will post any info I receive.
Well, I'm getting closer to the answer. I've received only one response thus far confirming that H. lactifluorum uses non-toxic hosts in Russula & Lactarius genera in this region.
