1. Chestnut and horse chestnut

This is often confused. However, if chestnuts are edible, horse chestnuts are toxic and can cause indigestion (stomach pain, nausea, vomiting). For…

1. Chestnut and horse chestnut

This is often confused. However, if chestnuts are edible, horse chestnuts are toxic and can cause indigestion (stomach pain, nausea, vomiting). To distinguish them, you should know that chestnuts are collected in forests, woodlands or gardens, whereas in parks or public parks, they are horse chestnuts. They can then be recognized by their insect, the capsule that encloses the fruit. Chestnuts are brown, hairy with long spines and contain two to three chestnuts, small, flat, and triangular in shape. It is of green horse chestnut, with small spaced spikes and usually contains a single large round chestnut.

2. Pumpkin and pumpkin

The second most common confusion in autumn: that between bitter gourd (pumpkin) and edible gourd. Bitter gourd, which is decorative, is not edible and can cause serious poisoning (indigestion, nausea, vomiting, sometimes bloody diarrhea, even severe dehydration). Aptly named, they are recognized by their taste, which is very different from the neutral or slightly sweet taste of edible pumpkin.

3. Chanterelles and clitocybe of the olive tree

Who said autumn, said mushrooms. And here again, some confusion can be a problem. It starts with between chanterelles (or chanterelles) and olive tree klitocybe, which are poisonous and can cause severe digestive upset (nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhea). Chanterelles (true chanterelle, pruinous chanterelle, apricot chanterelle) are all edible. Highly present in the Southwest, they are recognized by their yellow color, fruity smell and “the creases under their hats, explains Daniel Lacombe, member of the Périgord mycological society. While the false chanterelle (which is not poisonous, but lacks taste interest) and the olive tree clitosibe, which grow in clusters, have rather lamellae under the lid, which fall off when scratched”.

4. Edible porcini mushrooms and poisonous bolet

There are also many boletes in the area. Commonly recognized by their rounded stems, white flesh and caps consisting of tubes welded to each other and varying from light brown to mahogany brown, ceps are part of the star mushroom. And while bronze, summer, Bordeaux, pine, and red foot bolet are excellent, others are poisonous. In particular, the devil’s fungus and the Le Gal fungus, can be identified by their swollen feet which are yellow-orange to red in color and their flesh turns blue when cut. It’s also better to continue when you come across bitter or glowing mushrooms. While not poisonous, they are so bitter that they can spoil a dish on their own. You can identify the bitter mushroom by its yellowish stalk with brown stripes, while the glow mushroom has a yellow stalk and flesh that turns blue when cut. As for the grain boletus, close to the pine boletus, it is better to avoid abuse due to its laxative properties.

5. Edible and poisonous agaric

Agarics are also found in the region, as button mushrooms or rosé-des-prés, identified by their white hats with pink blades underneath and ringed feet. But be careful not to confuse it with yellowing agaric, whose cap and stipe turn yellow when rubbed. Like most poisonous mushrooms, this mushroom can cause severe indigestion. “There was already poisoning in the Dordogne, from people confusing yellowing agaric with rosés-des-prés”, recalls Daniel Lacombe.

To avoid this, ANSES recommends selecting only perfectly known mushrooms. And beware of smartphone recognition apps, they are far from perfect. When in doubt, it is better to have the harvest checked by a pharmacist or mycology association.