That's interesting, my general rule for foraging wild unknown things is: don't.

There was a guy a few years ago who tried to live off grid. He died, having left behind a journal detailing his final days. In it, he logged the exact process you outlined above for various things he foraged, which included wild potato seeds. Turns out those things pass all the above tests, but contain a deadly neurotoxin that builds up over time (that even modern science didn't really know about). Poor guy starved because he was too weak to even crawl.

nature be scary fellow humans. Be careful out there.

https://www.theverge.com/2013/9/13/4726722/into-the-wild-author-reveals-chris-mccandless-cause-of-death

For mushrooms the only good advice is, if you don't know what you are doing, don't go foraging for mushrooms. Rules and guidelines that apply for one region might not work for another. The risk reward never works out if you're inexperienced. You either get a tasty treat or incurable certain death. It's not a great gamble.

Here's a general rule for foraging mushrooms; don't use "general rules".

Also; "don’t eat it if it bruises blue", you'll miss out on all the fun ones with this advice.

don't eat it if it bruises blue

Or do if you're up for an interesting time and it passes the test above. Eat about three grams for some nice sights and 6 before sitting in a dark, cool room to meet something unknown

I am by no means an expert. I’m just a rando guy from Appalachia with some wild ass Russian buds and we do some funky shit down here. Take everything I say with as much trust as you give to anyone on the Internet.

Best disclaimer ever.

you’re probably in the clear. Except for that one

Looks like the meme is accurate

Do you mean 'pores instead of gills' ? I think all mushrooms produce spores, no?

Pretty sure those general rules are given to the SAS for when dropped behind enemy lines in a jungle setting. I think I heard it from a Ray Mears book.

Interesting, but nature is a kaleidoscope and evolution isn't linear. Mushroom rules like this tend to be super regional and even then, take it with a grain of salt.

The mushrooms from the bolete family here in Germany often stain blue (or some other color) when bruised but most are very good mushrooms for eating. For example, Imleria badia, Neoboletus erythropus and Suillus grevillei. The last one is even slimy but you can just remove the cap. (There is also this really tasty gill-having mushroom Lactarius deliciosus that stains green). Also, Armillaria can do bioluminescence but are also edible! I agree with checking for fungi infections of mushrooms and to learn to ID the deadly poisonous Amanita species (funnily enough, there are some really good edible ones in the same genus!).

Your guide to carefully test foraged organisms is definitely helpful. However, when foraging mushrooms you have to keep in mind some additional things. Many, if not most mushrooms are really toxic when eaten raw! People frequently get poisoned while eating edible mushrooms that are not cooked enough. They apparently often contain hemolysins. Also, there are a few tasty mushrooms that can be toxic if eaten in combination with alcohol. If you go foraging mushrooms, better try to learn some groups, how to distinguish them and what are their characteristics than trying to test by your body's reaction. But yeah, if you were to be without any food in the wild maybe it helps to know how to test for edibility.

Roots might be safe if you can double boil them??? Jesus christ, I guess I'm never touching wild mushrooms ever.

No clue if you have any idea what you're talking about but appreciate the Information dump. If I'm ever near death from hunger but surrounded by forest floor growths I'll try to remember this.

Except for that one in Europe

Joke, but poisonous mushrooms here are either quite distinct (lol Dickfuss) or give you a mild stomache ache. Well, except the section with mushrooms that look like a poisonous variant but aren't.