California family nearly makes fatal mushroom mistake

By Jim Doyle, Scripps Howard News Service /San Francisco Chronicle

Last update: January 7, 2009 - 10:05 AM

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SAN FRANCISCO — Three members of a California family were hospitalized over the holidays after they ate a highly toxic wild fungus known as the death cap, one of the world's most dangerous mushrooms.

Two 11-year-old boys from Albany and their 72-year-old grandmother, who was visiting the family from Ithaca, N.Y., became violently ill after eating the mushrooms, which they had harvested along a trail in Mount Tamalpais State Park. The twins were released from University of California San Francisco Medical Center on Monday, after spending eight days in the hospital, including four days in intensive care.

Their maternal grandmother, Sarah Elbert, who led the family's mushroom hunt, sustained liver damage but was released from the hospital over the weekend.

"They are all expected to make a full recovery," said Kate Schoen, a UCSF spokeswoman.

Mushroom poisonings are fairly rare, but experts say it is easy for those without training to mistake an edible species for a deadly one.

Even connoisseurs can be duped by the way a death cap presents itself. The toadstool with white spores is common in the Bay Area, but the color varies and can be affected by weather and odd growing conditions. Its telltale signs are often buried in soil. Aficionados say the best place to acquire mushrooms for those without training is at the store.

Elbert, a former professor of environmental history, said she was surprised by the effects of the mushrooms she and her family consumed.

"I've been a mushroom hunter all my life," she said.

Her family went hiking on Dec. 28 on the Dipsea Trail near Mount Tamalpais. They picked two dozen mushrooms, and she made mushroom soup for dinner.

About 10 hours later, at 4 a.m., the three victims became violently ill with vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea. The boys' father, who ate a small portion of soup, had only diarrhea. His wife also had soup but did not become ill.