Why some mushrooms are edible, but others not, even if they aren’t poisonous?
In: Biology
Imagine mushrooms as civilizations, throughout time they were constantly attacked, some more than others a lot of them died, this made them invest in defences, causing anyone who ate them to suffer, making it possible for their colony to regain a foothold on the planet.
You can eat any mushroom that’s not poisonous, but that doesn’t mean you’ll want to. Take Tylopilus felleus as an example. It’s commonly called the bitter bolete. It’s not poisonous, but it’s considered inedible because, as its name suggest, it’s incredibly bitter.
Stropharia ambigua is [quite pretty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stropharia_ambigua), and (as far as the literature shows) not known to be toxic. Because it tastes like old rotting leaves and dirt (source: me) it’s unlikely that anybody could (or at least would) eat enough to prove it one way or the other.
Many bracket fungi are as tough as the wood they grow on.
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