Ah, the spiky question: what is the difference between a toadstool and a mushroom?
According to who you talk to, there seems to be both a crucial difference and no difference at all!
A toadstool – like those with deliriously beautiful red caps with the white polka dots (yes, we’re talking about you fly agaric) – may be the stuff of fairy tales, but if popular opinion is to be believed, a toadstool is largely defined as the type of fungi that can kill you.
It’s all surprisingly unscientific: to some, an edible fungus is usually referred to as a mushroom, whereas an inedible one is typically referred to as a toadstool. This makes the terms somewhat problematic – open to a range of loose interpretations.
Well, I’ve got a little bit of news for you.
Technically, there is no scientific difference between a mushroom and a toadstool. All can be broadly described as the fruiting body of a fungus.
There are some mushrooms classed as toadstools that may not be toxic, or only mildly so, and many mushrooms can, of course, be deadly.
I'd love to know what you think. Feel free to leave a comment or feedback below
I really dont know why the term toadstool exists Sophie?
ReplyDeleteIt should in my view be removed form dictionaries as it serves no real purpose and is confusing at best. The whole purpose of a label is as an easy recognition tool. Mushroom is a sales tool mostly to denote edible, fungi is a general term. both are more than adequate. Probably originally used a a "scare" word because of the poisonous aspect of some fungi?
Agree!
ReplyDelete