Species within the fungi kingdom come in all shapes and sizes, from microscopic to a Basidiomycota discovered in southern China that was estimated to weigh from 866 to 1,137 pounds (392.8 to 515.7 kg). The majority of mushrooms that contribute to human and animal poisoning are within the Phylum Basidiomycota and are similar in appearance to the mushrooms illustrated on the prolog pages. The caps may have either gills or pores.
Mushrooms have been utilized as a food source and for medicinal purposes since the Neolithic period. The use of mushrooms for nutrition and as a health aid will be briefly discussed a bit later. That certain mushrooms were poisonous or psychoactive has also been known for centuries. In 54 AD Claudius, the emperor of Rome, married his niece Agrippina who later had him assassinated using the poisonous mushroom Amanita phaloides so her son Nero could become emperor. Conjecture implicates the death of Pope Clement VII to also being fed Amanita phaloides in retaliation for excommunicating King Henry VIII of England. An English legend speculates what really happened to the “Lost Colony” of Roanoke was that the colonists decided to relocate and in desperation for food during their travels they found and ate what they thought were edible mushrooms. Unfortunately, the mushrooms were of a poisonous variety. As the legend goes, the result was that most, if not all of the colonists died. Thus, vanished the ill-fated colony of Roanoke. The first written record of psychoactive mushroom use was the Hindu Vedas (1500-1200 BC). The mushroom (probably Amanita muscaria according to the description) was used to visualize the gods and improve spiritual vitality.
