Tawny Grisette

The morning sunshine quickly disappeared behind a weather front, so my walk round Holme Fen was rather gloomy. But it was good to see a flourish of autumn fungi, including plenty of Tawny Grisettes and brown Rollrims (see extra). 


Tawny Grisettes are fairly frequent in most parts of Britain and Ireland, and tend to be most common in areas where the soil is acidic. As most of the land around Peterborough is lime-rich, Tawny Grisette is quite uncommon locally, but thrives on the acid peat underlying the largest birchwood in lowland Britain.  It is not poisonous it must be well cooked before it may safely be eaten - I've never tried!


The Brown Rollrim is definitely one to avoid - it's now known to be toxic, and in some circumstances deadly poisonous. Several deaths in countries in Eastern Europe have been traced to eating Brown Rollrims, and no doubt many others have gone undiagnosed; this is because the effects of eating this mushroom are now known to be cumulative. Eaten raw or inadequately cooked they can cause gastric upsets because they contain a toxin that is destroyed by cooking; however, that's not the only toxin in these mischievous mushrooms. There is evidence that some people can eat them without any obvious adverse reactions over many months or even years until, suddenly, they show an extreme allergic reaction and suffer from the potentially fatal effects of haemolytic anaemia that can result in kidney damage and liver failure.