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ADELAIDE - A deadly mushroom known as the death cap has been found in South Australia for the first time.
Health authorities said the Amanita phalloides mushroom was discovered recently growing in the University of Adelaide's Waite Arboretum.
Its identity was confirmed by DNA analysis.
Ingestion of the death cap has previously resulted in two deaths in Australia, and worldwide its consumption has caused more deaths than any other mushroom.
SA Health's chief medical officer Paddy Phillips said the discovery of the state's first death cap mushroom provided a timely reminder of the dangers of eating unidentified wild fungi.
"The death cap may be confused with other, edible mushrooms such as the straw mushroom used in Asian cuisine and a similar species found in Australia.
"All parts of the death cap are deadly if eaten, with one cap sufficient to kill a healthy adult.
"Initial symptoms of stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhoea may occur between six and 24 hours after eating."
Professor Phillips said there was no antidote for the mushroom's toxin and once eaten, survival depended on early recognition and treatment.
"Anyone who becomes ill after eating mushrooms should seek urgent medical attention and, if possible, bring a whole mushroom with them for identification."
Fungi specialist Pam Catcheside, from the Adelaide botanic gardens and state herbarium, said the death cap could also be present in the Mt Lofty Ranges in SA, just not yet recorded.
The specimen found at the Waite Arboretum was probably the result of spores travelling from interstate with the mushroom common in suburban Canberra and Melbourne.
An introduced fungus, the death cap grows in association with oaks although, in countries other than Australia, it has been reported around eucalypts, acacias and pines.
The cap may be between 40-150mm in diameter, is dome-shaped initially, then becomes flattened. It is often olive-greenish but may be pale yellow and sometimes brownish.
- AAP
