You'd Better Run Into a Wolverine Than This Mushroom

Bright Side

Some mushrooms and plants look harmless but can be really dangerous. For example, the Death Cap mushroom looks like any other mushroom but can be deadly if eaten. The pretty Oleander plant has beautiful flowers, but all parts of it are toxic and can cause serious health problems if ingested. Poison Ivy might look like an ordinary plant, but touching it can give you a nasty, itchy rash. And finally, the cute little berries of the Belladonna plant can be very poisonous if eaten, especially for kids. So, always be careful and avoid eating or touching plants and mushrooms you don't recognize!

Transcript

00:00There's a new fungus taking over the world.

00:03It settles in humans, is extremely hard to treat,

00:06and lasts for weeks on surfaces even after the patient who had it is long gone.

00:12In 2009, doctors in Japan found this new species of fungus in a patient's ear.

00:17They called it Candida Iurus and thought there was no reason to panic about it.

00:22In a couple of years, the same fungus appeared in South Africa, Venezuela, and the Indian subcontinent.

00:28Each case was a completely different set of genes, and one in three patients who had it wouldn't survive.

00:35And if you think it will never possibly affect you, there's some bad news.

00:40This sneaky little thing is already in America.

00:44It was first identified in New York in 2016.

00:47The state has become a real hotspot for it ever since, although the fungus was already found in 29 states.

00:54It's especially dangerous for people who already have some health conditions.

00:59Candida Iurus didn't just magically show up out of nowhere and must have long lived on Earth without us knowing.

01:06Humans and other mammals used to be immune to fungi because of our high body temperatures.

01:11But it looks like these bad boys have adapted to warmer environments, and nothing can stop them now.

01:16If you love to walk around woods and pick mushrooms, you gotta watch out for this guy, the death cap.

01:23You can easily mistake these sneaky fungi for edible mushrooms.

01:28To prove that they deserve their name, death caps are responsible for 90% of all mushroom-related fatalities each year.

01:35Originally from the UK and parts of Ireland, death caps have hitchhiked their way around the globe over the past century,

01:42spreading to Australia and North America.

01:45They've been rapidly taking over California and have even popped up as far north as British Columbia.

01:53The big mystery is why these mushrooms are spreading so fast, when exactly they arrived, and how they're impacting local ecosystems.

02:01These little guys are so dangerous because of their unique toxins.

02:05They might help the mushroom fend off predators.

02:08Studying the death caps is tricky because scientists would need to recreate the perfect growing conditions in a lab

02:14to analyze their DNA.

02:17These lethal guys also have some evil cousins.

02:21The destroying angels.

02:23These all-white guys look a lot like perfectly edible button mushrooms and meadow mushrooms.

02:29So, a lot of people eat them by mistake and find out about it 5 to 24 hours later.

02:34The symptoms are really hard to handle, and just one drop of their ammo toxins can take your life.

02:41That's why one of the destroying angel species is called the most toxic North American mushroom.

02:46If there was the best edible mushroom doppelganger competition in the woods, the web caps would likely take the gold.

02:55There are two types of them that look almost identical to each other and to some edible mushrooms.

03:01These sneaky fungi contain a toxin, which first makes you feel like you've caught a cold.

03:06The scary part is that the toxin takes from 2 days to 3 weeks to show symptoms, so doctors often misdiagnose it.

03:15If not treated in time, the toxin can have some really scary consequences for your health and could even make you depart this life.

03:23One English author accidentally picked and served these mushrooms to his family.

03:28Four of them ended up in the hospital.

03:29The writer himself, his wife, and his brother-in-law all needed new kidneys after this experience.

03:37There are all sorts of bizarre wild mushrooms, from those that look like volcanoes, to rods and veils, and flowers.

03:45If you love Stranger Things, there is one type just for you.

03:49You can visit the real-life equivalent of the Upside Down in Australia.

03:53People are finding the creepiest sort of fungi in their backyards,

03:56and you'd think the residents of Down Under are used to all sorts of monsters.

04:01And, oh, the fungus smells as horrible as it looks.

04:05Local scientists explain these monsters are versions of stinkhorns.

04:09You can also find their varieties in Europe and North America.

04:13They like cooler temperatures and use a woody mulch to grow.

04:17Flies love its spores and help spread the fungus.

04:20Both the Anemone Stinkhorn and the Octopus Stinkhorn that were recently found are safe for humans and pets,

04:26but only at the egg stage when the smell is not so potent.

04:30You probably wouldn't eat it later anyway because of the decaying flesh odor.

04:36Morels are some of the most delicious mushrooms with an earthy, nutty flavor.

04:41They have a meaty texture, unlike most mushrooms,

04:44and that's probably why chefs and their clients love them so much.

04:48They only grow in the wild between March and June, which makes them so expensive.

04:52And they have an evil lookalike, the false morels.

04:57They have caused trouble in the U.S. and Europe.

05:00Some folks claim false morels are safe to eat if prepared correctly,

05:05but would you really want to risk it?

05:06If you're a forager, you need to learn to tell the difference between the real and the fake thing.

05:12True morels have small, pitted hollows in their caps.

05:16They're completely hollow from the tip of the cap to the bottom of the stem.

05:19On false morels, the cap may be ridged, wrinkled, waved, or smooth,

05:24but it doesn't have the hole-like pits of a true morel.

05:27The inside is not hollow, but filled with cottony fibers or chunks of tissue.

05:34Poison hemlock is a super-toxic plant from the carrot family.

05:38It's easy to confuse it with wild carrot, wild parsnip, or wild parsley.

05:43And trust me, if you make that mistake, you'll seriously regret it.

05:46Every part of the hemlock plant—seeds, roots, stems, leaves, and fruit—is poisonous and can take your life if you eat it.

05:55Some scientists even believe that the famous Greek philosopher Socrates was executed using this plant.

06:02Settlers brought hemlock to the U.S. from Europe as a garden plant.

06:05So thanks to them, it now grows all over the country on fences, roadsides, ditches, meadows, and in other low-lying areas.

06:14If you ever eat this plant by mistake, you need to call 911 or head to the nearest emergency room immediately,

06:20because symptoms can appear within 15 minutes.

06:23Unlike poison ivy, poison hemlock usually won't give you any problems if you just touch it.

06:28But it's still best to play it safe, especially if you have sensitive skin.

06:34White snake root is an innocent-looking plant that took the life of Abraham Lincoln's mother.

06:40She didn't even have to eat the plant or its white flowers.

06:44Nancy Hanks passed away after drinking the milk of a cow that was gazing at the meadow with white snake roots.

06:50Yep, the meat and milk from livestock that eat this plant can pass the toxin to humans.

06:54The result will be less than pleasant and more than dangerous, so you'd be better off not trying it.

07:01Farmers know about this hazard, so they do everything to kick the white snake root from where their animals wander.

07:08Have you ever seen this sneaky woody vine with slender branches and bright red pods

07:13that look like crab eyes climbing over other plants outside your neighbor's house?

07:18Someone probably brought it from India or Asia as a decoration a long time ago.

07:23It grows really quickly and actually has some practical uses.

07:29Some people use it for healing purposes, others to make necklaces and rosaries and even folk musical instruments like maracas.

07:37Before you tick it off the bad guys list, if you happen to chew it and swallow some of its seeds, you'll be a goner.

07:44And because the seeds spread easily with humans or birds, they might end up near someone who doesn't know about this.

07:51It can also take the life of some animals like cats, dogs, and horses.

07:56They say that even some of the jewelry makers who accidentally pricked their fingers when working with the seeds passed away.

08:02Touching the plant itself shouldn't do you any harm, though.

08:10That's it for today.

08:11So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

08:16Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.

08:20Let's do it for today.

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