Are any mushrooms in the UK poisonous to eat?

A family meal in a quiet town in Australia left three people dead and another fighting for their life after they were served what police believe to be poisonous wild mushrooms.

Erin Patterson, 48, served the meal at her home in Leongatha, eastern Victoria, on 29 July, with some of her guests feeling seriously unwell just hours after eating a beef wellington.

On Wednesday, it emerged that she had invited her estranged former partner Simon Patterson, along with his parents Gail and Don Patterson, Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian.

Simon Patterson is understood to have pulled out at the last minute, while Gail and Don Patterson, both 70, and his aunt became ill and died with symptoms consistent with death cap mushroom poisoning, authorities said, with Mr Wilkinson in a critical condition.

Investigators confirmed a different meal was served to the two children. Now, Simon Patterson has claimed his ex-wife, who denies wrongdoing, had tried to poison him on previous occasions while they were still together.

Here, Yahoo News takes a look at the potential risk of eating and foraging for wild mushrooms in the UK and what you can do to tell if a mushroom is edible.

Are any UK mushrooms poisonous?

Mushroom foraging is becoming increasingly popular in the UK, but if you've been curious to give it a try, it's important to do your research on which varieties are safe and unsafe to eat.

With that in mind, here are eight of the most poisonous mushrooms in the UK, according to the Woodland Trust, although this is by no means an exhaustive list.

1. Deadly webcap (cortinarius rubellus)

This variety is rare in the UK but has been responsible for several deaths in Europe, with people sometimes mistaking it for chanterelle (cantharellus cibarius) or for hallucinogenic magic mushrooms.

Deadly webcaps grow on the ground in coniferous pine and spruce woods, often among heather and bilberry, from August to November.

They contain a long-lasting poison called orellanine, which tends to kick in two to three days after ingestion – with symptoms inducing flu-like effects, vomiting, kidney failure and potentially death. Its relative, the fool's webcap (cortinarius orellanus) is also known to induce similar symptoms.

2. Death cap (amanita phalloides)

It looks fairly ordinary and resembles a number of edible species, but this fungus is responsible for the most fatal mushroom poisonings across the world and is common in England.

The death cap (amanita phalloides) has tinted green caps, white stems and white gills, growing on the ground in broadleaved woods between August and November.

They contain alpha-amanitin, which is responsible for causing liver and kidney failure, with the potential for someone to lose their life from eating just half a cap.

Symptoms of death cap poisoning tend to start just six to 24 hours after ingestion and induce vomiting, diarrhoea and severe abdominal pain followed by jaundice, seizures and coma.

3. Destroying angel (amanita virosa)

Typically found in broadleaved and mixed woodland, the destroying angel (amanita virosa) induces vomiting, diarrhoea and severe stomach pains eight to 24 hours after eating.

Just one piece of the mushroom in a soup made up of other edible species is enough to kill everyone who eats it, the Woodland Trust warns.

Amanita virosa typically grow from July to November, and those who've been poisoned by them can be lured into a false sense of security, experiencing a period of improvement before later effects of liver and kidney poisoning take hold.

4. Fool's conecap (pholiotina rugosa)

Typically found among leaf litter, rotting woodchip piles, sawdust, rich soil and compost, it's possible to find the fool's conecap (pholiotina rugosa) growing in your back garden.

Found between July and October, they have a smooth, shiny, brown cap – around 2cms wide – starting off with a conical shape and flattening as it expands.

Just like the death cap, pholiotina rugosa – listed as conocybe filaris in some guidebooks – contains deadly alpha-amanitin that can cause potentially fatal liver damage.

5. Fool's funnel (clitocybe rivulosa)

Also known as the 'sweating mushroom', the fool's funnel (clitocybe rivulosa) often grows alongside the edible scotch bonnet fungus (marasmius oreades / fairy ring mushrooms).

This poses an added risk for foragers on the hunt for some wild mushrooms to eat. The fool's funnel typically grows in lawns, meadows and other grassy areas and can be found from July to early December.

It contains the toxin muscarine, which can trigger many effects in the body including excessive salivation, sweating and tear production.

In larger doses it can cause abdominal pain, sickness, diarrhoea, blurred vision and laboured breathing. Eating these mushrooms can be fatal in severe cases, although rarely among healthy people.

6. Funeral bell (galerina marginata)

Known as funeral bell, deadly skullcap or deadly galerina, the galerina marginata is another potentially deadly fungus for foragers to look out for.

It can be found growing on dead and decaying wood in mixed or coniferous woods from August to November, although it is not particularly common in the UK.

The species contains the same poisonous amatoxins as the death cap – causing vomiting, liver damage and potentially death.

7. Panther cap (amanita pantherina)

This species isn't common in the UK, but it is still one to watch out for as its side effects can be particularly distressing and in rare cases fatal.

Known as the panther cap, the amanita pantherina contains similar toxins found in the hallucinogenic fly agaric (amanita muscaria) mushroom.

Panther caps typically grow in broadleaves woods, especially on beech or oak, and can be found between July and November.

Eating them can cause intense sickness, although their impact is mainly on the central nervous system – triggering vivid hallucinations, confusion, visual distortion, delusions and convulsions, the Woodland Trust says.

8. Angel's wings (pleurocybella porrigens)

They may look beautiful, but it is best to leave angel's wings (pleurocybella porrigens) alone if you spot them in the woods.

The pure white bracket-like fungus grows in clusters on decaying conifer wood and can easily be found in the Scottish Highlands and in Cumbria, although it is rare elsewhere.

It typically grows on decaying stumps and branches in conifer woodlands during autumn. The mushroom contains chemicals that are toxic to the brain – causing permanent brain injuries and possibly death.

How can you tell if a mushroom is edible in the UK?

If in doubt, the safest option is always to buy mushrooms from a shop, but if you are still interested in foraging, the Woodland Trust sells a pocket-sized guide to help you accurately identify fungi as you find them in the wild.

Wild Food UK also provides a rough guide to rule out some of the nastier varieties of mushroom. The company, which offers mushroom foraging courses, gives the following advice for beginners.

1. Avoid mushrooms with white gills, a skirt or ring on the stem and a bulbous or sack-like base called a volva. You may be missing out on some good edible fungi but it means you will be avoiding the deadly members of the Amanita family.

2. Avoid mushrooms with red on the cap or stem. Again you will be missing out on some good mushrooms but more importantly you won't be picking poisonous ones.

3. Finally, don’t consume any mushrooms unless you are 100% sure of what they are. This is by far the most important rule.

The organisation also dispels some common misconceptions about checking mushrooms that are actually very dangerous pieces of advice. These are:

1. "It's ok if you can peel the cap" – it is easy to peel a death cap.

2. "Mushrooms growing on wood are safe" – not all of them are, and some are deadly, like the funeral bell.

3. "If you see other animals eating them, they are ok" – this rule is not true, as many animals can eat poisonous fungi with no ill-effects.