Destroying Angel is the first deadly mushroom found in the metro area, according to Colorado Mycological Society (people who study mushrooms in Colorado), and it's been spotted in Aurora.
Lazarus Bell found the Destroying Angel over the weekend while he was hunting for mushrooms near his house. He spotted the fungus growing out of the grass near a white oak in a yard there.
Specifically, Bell said he was out "exercising anyway and walking around enjoying the Colorado weather and you can find cool little treasures" - including mushrooms.
The Colorado Mycological Society press release adds that the fungus's deadly toxins go after the liver. Symptoms often don't even appear until many hours after someone eats the mushroom. This makes medical treatment tough if not downright pointless.
This also means it's deadly to your pets as well - watch out.
While there are quite a few types of poisonous and edible mushrooms growing all over yards in the metro area, we were thought to be free of any "deadly" fungi, according to the Mycological Society.
This is not so after the Destroying Angel came to town. It's rare in Colorado though, only having been found about eight times before, the mycologists said. Even then, it was found south of Castle Rock to El Paso County.
The Colorado Mycologist Society want residents and visitors to be vigilant and keep an eye out for this potentially deadly fungus. At the same time, the group is also cautioning about irrational fears related to fungi.
When Lazarus Bell found the shroom in the family's yard, he got permission to pick it, suspecting it's deadly classification. That classification was confirmed by fellow Colorado Mycologist Linnea Gillman, who checked out the fungus's spores under a microscope.
She spoke with experts at the Denver Botanical Gardens' Herbarium of Fungi who confirmed the classification, the Mycologist Society said.
"Being the first in Denver in my 45 years of looking at mushrooms in Denver it was quite a surprise," Gillman said. She added that eating just one Destroying Angel mushroom could be fatal.
"I did know that I shouldn't be finding it but I didn't know that it would be the only one ever found in metro Denver," Bell said.
If you find this Destroying Angel, the mycologists suggest you pick the full shroom from the ground - digging up the roots to snag the cup-like sac that surrounds the base of the stem. A look-alike shroom called the Sweater is almost identical save for the lack of cup-like sacs around the base (see the photo for an example of the sacs).
Remember: touching a poisonous mushroom is nothing to panic over - just don't eat it. If you want more information, head to this link that's got some helpful info about mushrooms in urban environments.
You can also attend the mushroom fair in August and bring mushrooms to be identified by mycologists at this link.
