Split fibrecapInocybe rimosa

Within 15-90 minutes — sudden heavy salivation, heavy sweating (clothes get soaked through), watering eyes, runny nose, stomach cramps, diarrhea, slow heartbeat, a feeling of breathlessness. Immediately call 112 or your local emergency number. Put the mushroom leftovers in a bag for identification. In hospital you'll be given the antidote — atropine. If you get help quickly (1-2 hours), the prognosis is good. Self-treatment is out of the question — atropine in the wrong dose is deadly.

Never pick an unknown small brown mushroom with a conical cap and a distinctive spermatic smell. The rule for brownish Inocybe mushrooms: three signs together — a conical cap with a knob, cracks or a fibrous surface, a spermatic, musty smell. If you see all three, throw it out without regret.

Most of them — YES, the bulk of the genus contains muscarine in varying concentrations. A few dozen species are considered non-toxic, but that's a matter of microscopic detail — without a microscope you can hardly tell them apart reliably. The kitchen rule: do not pick any species of the genus Inocybe to eat. This genus is for mycologists, not for foragers.

In deciduous and mixed forests — under oak, beech, hornbeam, birch, hazel. It forms mycorrhiza. It often grows in grassy spots, along forest edges, on dirt tracks, in parks and gardens, and on the verges of forest roads. It doesn't grow in open areas.

Throughout the forest and forest-steppe zones: the Carpathians, Prykarpattia, Polissia and all three forest-steppe belts. In the steppe — in ravine forests and parks. A very common species — you'll find it in any deciduous wood.

June to October, peaking in August-September. One of the most abundant brown mushrooms of summer and early fall.

With young funnels (Clitocybe), many of which also contain muscarine and are poisonous. With knights (Tricholoma). With brown pinkgills (also poisonous). The general rule: a brownish mushroom ≤7 cm with a knob, a thin stem and an unpleasant smell — leave it. Check the spore print: Inocybe — olive-brown; funnels — white; knights — white; pinkgills — pinkish. If the print is olive-brown and there are other brownish mushrooms next to it, throw out the whole batch.

Fibrecaps rarely end up in a haul of chanterelles or slippery jacks (they occupy different ecological niches). But in a mixed basket of young mushrooms, one can easily slip through. A must-follow rule for every forager: at home, sort through your haul one by one — pick up every mushroom and check it. If you find a single doubtful one, throw out the batch, because contact between raw mushrooms and their juices can transfer dangerous toxins.