05/17/2026
Gyromitra esculenta (/venenata) is a toxic mushroom that you should not eat. It has intricate wrinkles in its reddish-brown, brain-like cap on a brownish stipe.
Continuing on the many factors of people "eating 'beefsteak'(/false) morels for 50 years and being just fine," is the issue of toxicity being different depending on which patch of these you pick them from.
Mycology is a fast-developing science and only a limited number of scientists are investigating the many questions we have about this massive kingdom of life. One thing we do know is that the exact amounts of different compounds within a mushroom can change due to the exact environmental factors where that mushroom is growing. The amount of rain or sunlight, the temperature of the soil, even the surrounding tree types may change the potency of a mushroom to be more or less toxic.
Furthermore, the effects of gyromitrin compound over time. Small amounts of irreversible damage over and over again means noticeable damage after years of exposure. Deterioration of liver function and more pronounced neurological impairments is the result of continuing to eat these mushrooms. There is also a few studies that correlate higher instances of developing ALS (lou gehrig's disease) with long-term exposure to this toxin.
➡️These are not hard to find, especially if you go out looking for morels because they grow in the same areas. But they are not safe to eat. Go ahead and pick them, look at them, take pictures, cut them in half or break them apart, kick em into the woods or leave them be. Just don't eat them.
