EDITORIALSince my previous editorial, after saying

that I had not seen a bolete ‘piggy-backing’ on another bolete, a number of

people sent me photos of this phenomenon.Perhaps the most striking was the one shownbelow (Fig. 1) from Martyn Ainsworth. Asecond, complete fruitbody of Boletus edulis isgrowing from the cap of a larger specimenbeneath. My thanks to all who contacted me!

As I write this (early May) there is anarticle on the BBC website concerningthe hidden menace of the tick-borne

Lyme Disease. This disease is caused byspecies of the bacterium Borrelia. Officialestimates put the number of UK cases ataround 3,000 per annum but Lyme diseasecharities estimate it could be as high as 15,000annually because of undiagnosed cases. Manypeople are still unaware of the symptoms:usually a tick bite is followed by a reddish,bull’s eye rash, accompanied by flu-like fatigue

and discomfort. Treatment in the early stagesis by antibiotics and is very successful, butcases that have not been diagnosed andremain untreated can cause problems formonths and years afterwards and be difficultto treat. Because it can resemble otherillnesses it may well be mis-diagnosed also.

Having lived in America for six years wherethe disease is very common I found that peopleand GPs there are very aware of it and thereare often posters and advertising to alertpeople in doctors’ surgeries etc. Britainappears slower to realise that the disease ishere and is now quite widespread wherevertick-bearing animals such as deer and miceare found. So, when you go mushrooming payattention to tick bites, do a body search for thetiny ticks which like to lodge in crevices,between fingers etc when you return home andreport any odd symptoms as soon as possible.

For more information on this issue see theNHS site: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Lyme-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Sticking with the BBC, their breakfast newsprogramme on 10th May (still accessibleon the BBC website: search for “fungi”)

featured an interview with chef and forager MarkWright concerning the dangers of eating wildmushrooms. This was stimulated by the tragicdeath of a woman in Somerset after eatingAmanita phalloides in November of last year. Allin all it was quite a good interview and they evenshowed the correct photo of a Death Cap. All toooften newspapers etc get their photos mixed up,usually because they get them from pictureagencies who have little idea if the identificationis correct or not.

Foraging for wild fungi is increasingly popularand it cannot be stressed enough that a singlemistake could be your last… Only eat what is positively identifiedby someone who knows whatthey are doing, and as MarkWright said in the interview, thebest way is to stick to specieswhich cannot be mistakensuch as the Giant Puffball etc.

Enjoy your picking andeating but please be safe!

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Vol 14 (3)

Geoffrey KibbyFig. 1. Boletus edulis carrying a second specimen.Photo © Martyn Ainsworth

doi:10.1016/j.fl dmyc.2013.06.002