
It’s mushroom season in many parts of Australia. Between now and about June, the cooler and wetter weather are the perfect conditions for mushrooms to grow in the wild. In Tasmania and parts of Victoria, mushrooms can grow all year round.
At the New South Wales Poisons Information Centre, where I’m the medical director, we receive 300–500 calls a year about mushrooms. Most are from people concerned about what they or others have eaten. Others are from health workers seeking advice on how to treat poisonings.