Short Stuff: Death Cap Mushroom | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. Hey and welcome to the short stuff. Josh. here, Chuck here, Jerry no here, Dave no. here. That's okay cuz like I said it's a. short stuff. >> Good evening everyone. We are Death Cap. Mushroom. >> Yeah, that's a great one. >> It's a metal band, right? >> For sure. Or even just Death Cap would. work too. >> Yeah, Death Cap for Cutie even would be. cool. >> Oh man, I like those guys. >> Yeah, they're great. Did you like Postal. Service? I love the postal service more.

than death cab. >> Uh it's just the one dude from death. cab, right? Isn't his solo project? >> Not solo. He Ben Gibbert, he linked up. with someone else. It's like him and. another guy. I can't remember the other. guy, but man, I love that postal service. record. >> Okay, good. Good. I'm glad you did. I'm. glad they made it then. >> Me, too. >> So, we're not talking about death cap. for cutie. We're talking about death cap. mushrooms, not for you, I think, is the. the main message here. >> Not for cuties or anyone. >> No. Um, and the reason they call it.

death cap mushroom is because it can. kill you if you eat it. It's not. necessarily an automatic death sentence, but apparently the fatality rate from. eating this mushroom is 10 to 15%. >> Of people who eat it die. >> That's that's in this uh House of Burks. article, they were like, "Yeah, that's. pretty low." I'm like, "Not to me.". >> No, that's I mean that's really high. Look at white button mushrooms, buddy. It's almost like zero. >> And I think the people who do die from.

eating white button mushrooms ate too. many at once and choked to death. >> This is why I don't eat mushrooms at. all. >> Oh, you don't? Huh? >> No, it's a texture thing. They're too. slimy for me. I've tried. >> Oh, no. You got to wash the slime off. And I'm not expecting you to actually. try this, but I know exactly what you're. talking about. You wash the slime off, you dry it, you lick the top of it, put. some salt on it, and eat it raw. And. it's got a nice sturdy crunch almost to. it. And I love those. >> You know what's funny? I don't think.

I've ever mentioned not liking eating. something where you didn't say no, no, no, you're just doing it wrong. >> Yeah, I like eating everything. >> Uh, all right. So, there was an outbreak. in 2016 in the Bay Area of San Francisco. where 14 people consumed um well, the. Death Cap mushroom. >> Yeah. >> Got really really sick. Uh, one very sad. story of a of a child um suffered. permanent neurological damage. And the. question is like how did these things. get here? Because they did not originate. here. That's one of the questions.

>> It's Are you setting me up to answer it? >> Well, sure. Do you have an answer? Because I do. >> I have a general answer apparently. So, it's a um ectoicroisal fungus that is. engages in symbiotic relationships, mutualism with specific kinds of trees. And in Europe, they're typically beach. trees or oak trees. And it lives in the. roots, the the the main part of the. fungus. And it trades nitrogen that the. mushroom draws from the soil to um the.

oak or the beach tree in exchange for. sugars and water and carbon. And they do. this by basically connecting their roots. to the tree roots. And everybody's happy. until you come along and eat one of the. death caps. >> Yeah. I think we did a whole episode on. mutualism, didn't we? >> Surely symbiosis or something. >> Yeah. But I didn't answer your question. The the the answer seems to be that. somebody imported a tree from Europe at. some point. Yeah. That had a deathcap.

mushroom microisa in its roots. And. surprise, death cap mushrooms are in. North America. >> Yeah. And they they know that it wasn't. uh a native species because, you know, that could be possible that there's just. like a a California, North America. version. >> Sure. >> Uh but it would be genetically different. somehow. But the ones that we have over. here are exactly the same. It's the same. mushroom. Uh I think the first known. sightings were uh in 1938 at the Del.

Monte Hotel in California. There's a lot. of these in California. >> Yeah. Uh and then what five, six, seven, eight years later at the Cal Berkeley. campus and now they're kind of all over. the place. They're on the east coast. They live in the the pines and the east. coast. Uh but those oaks in on the west. coast uh all the way up to Vancouver, >> I believe, but they've also found them. outside of Europe in Western Russia, um. southern Scandinavian coasts and North. Africa. >> Yeah, they go I think also on the west.

coast of the United States. They grow. all the way down to LA County. >> Yeah. >> Which is how Chich Marin accidentally. ate one. >> Oh, did he really? Or is that a joke? >> That is a joke. >> I'm sorry. >> So mad at you. >> You could have said like I know it was. >> Yeah. You have to say it really weird. like that. >> Seems so likely that Chee Mar. accidentally eaten one of these. >> I think he kind of went straight with. that whole Nash Bridges gig that he got. and Tony Chong is like, "No man, I still. eat whatever I find on the ground.

Uh, speaking of Nash Bridges, you know, maybe I shouldn't say this. I'll tell. you all fair. >> Oh, I can't wait. Is it about Don. Johnson? >> Yeah, it is. >> Okay. >> All right. So, should we take a break or. should we talk a little bit more about. it? >> Let's take a break. >> All right. We'll be right back with more. on this death cap mushroom. [Music].

[Music]. All right, we're back. And this is. something I don't fully understand, but. the deathcap mushroom is an invasive. species in California where it grows in. very beautiful woodlands and forests. >> Uh, it is not considered such on the. east coast where it grows in more urban. settings like urban parks, >> but it still could be invasive. Like I. don't understand what the dip is. It's.

very easily contained in an urban area. You've got your park, >> but then you know, you say like, "Hey, mushroom, try to try to spread from this. park.". >> Yeah. Deal with this sidewalk, then the. street, then the sidewalk, then a. building, then another sidewalk, then a. street, then a sidewalk, then the. sidewalk, then the sidewalk, then the. sidewalk. >> And the mushroom goes, "Okay, fine. I'll. just stay here.". >> All right. So, I guess I just. >> Yeah, I guess I didn't fully understand. what invasive meant. I thought invasive. just meant if it was there and not great. for the area, I didn't mean it had to be.

like super widespread. >> I didn't either, but that's what I took. from this description of it. So, that's. my take. I should say that's not like. the. >> I thought that was a quote. >> It was of um Anne Pringle, the letters. in science Rubenstein professor of. botany and bacteriology at the. University of Madison, Wisconsin. >> Wow, >> look at you. Yeah, she we should say. shout out to how stuff works for helping. us with this article by writing it and. um they interviewed uh professor Pringle.

about this and she was very helpful. >> Yeah. Uh the there's a couple of toxins. when it comes to the death cap. Um one. of them is a is a phallowtoxin and. you're talking you know what you would. expect uh dehydration, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea but eventually um. electrolyte imbalances and kidney. damage. Um, but the really bad booger in. there is uh amotoxin and that will stop. cell function. Uh, it targets the. transcription of RNA uh by RNA.

polymerase 2 which we've talked about. before. Yes. >> And that that basically causes cell. death. It prevents the cell from making. the proteins. >> uh and cell components that it needs to. be a cell. >> Right. So that's always bad and apparently it. goes very quickly to your liver and just. starts destroying your liver. And. apparently people go to the emergency. room sick with um sick on basically. after eating a deathcap mushroom will. find that um the doctors want to give. them a liver transplant if one is.

available. >> Oh wow. >> That's how bad it can get. And one of. the reasons why it can get so bad is. because after the initial like nausea. and vomiting and and horrible like I. shouldn't have eaten that mushroom that. I found in that field um sensation, it. goes away and you think that you're. fine. But actually in reality that. amtoxin is is is just destroying your. body and then by the time you start to. feel those effects you're in really big. trouble. >> Isn't liver one of the the longer. weights or am I making that up? longer.

weights. >> Yeah. Of weight. W AI TS for transplant. >> I I don't know. I No, I don't think so. because you can um cut off like a chunk. of your liver and donate it. >> because I don't know if it grows back or. else it just a little bit can can. perform a lot of function. One of those. >> I think it's kidneys. >> No, I don't think I don't think so. I. think it's liver. >> So, we we got all the organs are readily. available, >> right? >> For transplanting, >> for sure. I mean, it's so easy to get.

when you just walk in and they try to. give you two livers most of the time. >> I could have maybe this is a while ago. I could have sworn I read reports of. like people dying on the liver. transplant list. >> Oh, I believe it. But I don't think that. I don't think liver is the least. available. >> Okay, I got you. >> But I could be wrong. But I Yeah, I I. think everybody dies on the organ. transplant list waiting. >> Or I should say not everybody on the. list dies, but I'm saying for any organ, there are people dying on the wait list. >> I got you. Yeah. Boy, that's a nice. correction. So, the takeaway from this.

is don't eat the death cap mushroom at. all. Uh, you need to and if you're a. forager, you really got to know what. you're doing. You shouldn't be like, "Hey, I saw this on Top Chef. Like, I. can go out in the woods and just pick. stuff and eat it." No. >> Um, you got to be really familiar with. the the the fungy uh where you are. And. if you aren't, just don't try it. Don't. risk it. It's not worth it. >> No. And I think we should issue a. general COA for us here. Don't even if. you think you are familiar with your. local mushrooms, don't try it. We are. not telling you under any circumstances.

to go try this. Well, >> okay. I. >> I think foraging is wonderful, but uh so. I'm not going to say that personally, but you're welcome to. >> just know what Just know what you're. doing. Um. >> tort reform now. Right. Uh there are all kinds of resources if. if you are interested in stuff like that. that can very clearly tell you uh like. what's safe and what isn't, but you. should still take a buddy who's done it. before. I think. >> um you can identify uh according to Dr.

Pringle who can't eat just one. Um it. has olivaceious uh with um coloring with. green tinge and a mature death cap has a. brown uh brown striations uh on the cap. And don't forget fairy rings around the. stem, which. >> who can forget the fairy rings, >> right? It goes without saying that. that's just a bunch of fairies forming a. circle by holding hands. >> Yeah. >> So, um I saw one of the things, Chuck, about this the the reason why people eat. these is because they taste good.

>> Oh, interesting. >> So, people are caught by surprise when. all of a sudden they start puking. because the fact that it tasted good, I. think, indicated to them that this is. fine to eat. >> Well, you know who's never going to get. sick? by eating a bad mushroom. >> I do. >> And has two thumbs and is podcasting. with you right now? >> I do. >> This guy right here. >> Oh, that's not who I was gonna say. >> Oh, Chich Marin. >> Uh, you got anything else? >> I got nothing else. >> George Stuff is out. >> Stuff You Should Know is a production of.

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