Laetiporus sulphureus (Chicken of the Woods)

[PeteS]

First of the season for me.



And no, I did not pick it. It does not agree with me.

[Andy Overall]

Originally Posted by PeteS

First of the season for me.



And no, I did not pick it. It does not agree with me.

That is nice and early and probably due to the recent rise in temperatures, with plenty of sun, both of which have now disappeared. Was that from Hampshire?

Andy

[PeteS]

Hello Andy,

Yes, this was from Hampshire and in the New Forest. It's in a wood with about 70% beach and 30% oak. This Chicken of the Woods was on an old beech trunk. This wood is a good spot for this fungus - I know of 8 trees that it grows on all within walking distance.

I find that they tend to start to fruit in the spring after we've had a warm spell followed by a significant and relative drop in temperature, which is just what we've had now. And on Monday I spotted another very young example also on an old beech trunk.

Peter

[Michael Jordan]

To add a caveat, in 2004 when the current edition of the Encyclopedia of Fungi was launched at a National Trust property, to which 60 journalists were invited for lunch, there was an incident involving this species. On the day before, we had found a specimen of Laetiporus sulphureus in prime condition, on Oak, which was collected and incorporated, lightly sauteed, as part of the meal.

Approximately half an hour after ingestion, 6 of the 60 journalists became violently ill - vomiting, cyanosed, sweating, icy cold, with raised pulse, and very frightened. The remaining 54 suffered no ill effects.

The doctor who attended diagnosed a severe allergic reaction and the symptoms subsided after about 2 hours.

Subsequent investigation turned up research by a US-based toxicology team at the University of Berkeley, California. It had concluded that 10% of the people taking part in extensive trials, suffered these severe effects. Our experience was exactly in line with this figure.

It's also worth bearing in mind that Laetiporus sulphureus growing on Taxus hosts, is potentially lethal.

MJ

[fungi2bwith]

I find it very interesting that many authors record widely eaten fungi as poisonous, whereas COTW is almost universally listed as a good edible (often without the warnings mentioned above). I wonder about the assessment of the risks by some authors.

It should also be noted that some people have reportedly developed a reaction to this fungus over time. So if you think it doesn't affect you, it may do next time!

Having said this, I still eat this fungus providing the host tree has been checked.

[paulcarr]

I don't understand the connection with the host tree causing problems? Can somebody please explain? I am new to fungi hunting so forgive my ignorance.

[flaxton]

Paul
The most well known connection is with Taxus (Yew) trees which are poisonus. The fungi takes up this poison and passes it on to any unsuspecting mycophogist

Mal

[paulcarr]

Mycophagist I like that word! So are there any other trees to be wary of?

[PeteS]

This is interesting. My symptoms are just as Michael describes - it's horrible - however, I developed this unpleasant reaction over time. In fact it's a bit more than this. It seems that I can eat it once and be totally fine. But then if I eat the exact same specimen (stored in the fridge) two/three days later, cooked in the exact same way, I am violently ill. This has happened to me twice, the first time I thought that I had not cooked it for long enough, but after the second time I wisely decided to never touch Chicken of the Woods again. Mind you, I still think that it's a beautiful fungus to look at!

Michael, is it possible to use your above text (copy/pasted credited to you) on another forum(s)? I think it might be useful as a warning to others. If not I guess I can put a link to this thread.

Peter

[Michael Jordan]

Peter, I've no problem about you doing so. This is the kind of information that probably needs to be circulated as widely as possible. Until the ABFG dug into the allergy phenomenon and located the American research, I think I and many other Association members were blissfully ignorant of the potential effects.

It concerns me that although some of the 'coffee table' books in print on 'mushrooms' give an indication of the problem, many do not. From time to time these volumes land on my desk from publishers for possible review in The Forayer. A quick trawl through the first four that I have just flipped through, and that include Laetiporus sulphureus recipes, reveal only one offering any caveats other than about the danger inherent in a Yew Host.

L. sulphureus will take up residence on a wide assortment of broadleaf and coniferous hosts, and there have been a fair number of occasions when I have found it on decorticated logs, the identity of which was tricky to work out.

MJ