In our forests you can meet a huge number of different representatives of the mushroom kingdom, its individual families. Among this set there are edible, conditionally edible, inedible, as well as poisonous specimens. One of them, namely, the waxed talker, will be discussed in this article.

Botanical Description

A mushroom from the genus of talkers is called waxy due to the color of the hat: on a white background, spots and stains of irregularly shaped flesh-pink color are clearly visible, which gives the appearance of rubbing with wax. In young mushrooms, the top of the fruiting body is round-convex with uneven edges; as it grows, it becomes flat with a depression in the center and edges turned up. In old mushrooms, cracking and peeling of scales may appear on the surface.

Important! In the list of deadly poisonous mushrooms, govorushka takes one of the first places. Her body contains a large concentration of muscarine alkaloid, which is dangerous for the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.

The diameter of the cap is 2–11 cm, its plates repeat the color of the surface, slightly descend to the leg. The leg is cream or whitish, not more than 1.5 cm in girth and up to 7 cm in height. Inside, it is most often hollow, the structure is cotton-fibrous and prone to absorb a lot of moisture. The shape of the bottom of the fruiting body resembles an elongated cylinder. From the talker comes a floury or grassy aroma with an admixture of sweetness.

Area

Wax talker is distributed throughout Eurasia. The mushroom grows on sandy and sandy loamy moist soils in forests, undergrowths, at the edges, near rivers. It forms mycorrhiza with conifers and deciduous trees, without giving preference to a particular species. During the fruiting period (from August to October) it forms circles of almost regular shape, which are popularly called “witch rings”.

Did you know? Terrible tales of witch or elf rings are in the mythology of many peoples. The Celts and the ancient Germans believed that the elves or fairies would dance in such glades, luring people and taking their lives.

Similar views

A poisonous mushroom must be able to be distinguished from conditionally edible relatives who are suitable for food after a certain treatment.

Among such talkers:

• saucer - resembles an inverted bell, a funnel hat with smooth edges, the plates fall sharply down, fused with the body of the legs, the skin is painted pale pink or cream, without spots, matte and dry;
• hanging - the hat is round, in the shape of a funnel with folded edges. The color is pale cream, sometimes with a light pink tint, the plates fall to the leg. The leg is thin, in the lower part it expands slightly upward, in young fruits it has a soft short pile.

Signs of Poisoning

Symptoms of alkaloid poisoning in the dialect appear in the period from 30 minutes to a couple of hours.

• Painful manifestations:
• strong salivation;
• sweating
• nausea and vomiting, diarrhea;
• the pupil narrows to the size of the eye of a needle;
• pain in the stomach;
• visual impairment;
• tachycardia and bradycardia;
• respiratory failure.

The last symptom is considered the most dangerous, because it occurs against the background of pulmonary edema, which can lead to a coma. Especially sensitive to muscarine are children and the elderly, as well as those who have weakened immunity or a weakened body, for example, after an illness. The danger is that muscarine has not yet been studied, and the lethal dose for humans is definitely not known. Medicine refuses to use the alkaloid, only studying its effects.

Did you know? The oldest living living organism in the world - honey mushroom - grows in the mountains of Oregon, USA, and it is 2.5 thousand years old.

First aid

When the first signs of illness appear, you need to immediately call an ambulance, and while waiting for the doctors, rinse your stomach. The victim is given a drink of several large mugs of a slightly pink warm solution of potassium permanganate. When the water expelled by the body is clear, they give any sorbent. The patient needs to be laid and covered by putting a heating pad in the abdomen and legs.It can be replaced with plastic hot water bottles. Before the arrival of doctors you need plenty of warm drink. In hospital conditions, atropine is used as an antidote, cardiac therapy is prescribed, and blood-purifying procedures are performed.

Important! If the person is not helped within the first 12 hours, the outcome will be fatal.

An externally attractive mushroom can be deadly poisonous, therefore, to avoid health problems, unfamiliar or less familiar specimens should be avoided.