On this day in 1992, a spotlight was cast on a seemingly innocuous mushroom. Befitting its name, the deathcap mushroom or amanita phalloides, was classified as the deadliest mushroom in the world.
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It often lurks near many Canberra trees and lives close to the roots of oak trees. The mushroom was sadly the cause for more than 90 per cent of all mushroom consumption deaths.
Robin McKeown, spokeswoman for the ACT Poisons Information Service, stated that the mushrooms may have been brought into Australia somewhere in the 1920s and likely had been transported with the roots of Canberra trees.
The mushrooms can grow up to about 15cm in height with a 5cm diameter. It has smooth silky smooth caps, and can come in different colours from green-brown to white. The stem is tall and thin, from white to a faded yellow-green.
They were often found during autumn and winter close to Canberra hospital, the cork oak plantations at the Glenloch Interchange, Westbourne Woods and different Canberran streets.
Every part of the mushroom is poisonous and its toxicity level is in a class of its own. McKeown stated that a key reason for people consuming the mushroom is due to the fact that it is often misidentified as button mushrooms when it is young.
McKeown also lamented that "there is not enough information about the toxicity of local mushrooms - there are thousands of different kinds".
