Thin-legged pig (Paxillus involutus) is a widespread mushroom found under various trees. He looks like a black breast. His hat in the milky stage resembles a pig's piglet, hence the name - pig. About twenty years ago it was considered conditionally poisonous, but now it is classified as a completely poisonous mushroom. Read more about how a pig looks and how to be treated if you accidentally eat it, read the article.

Biological description

The mushroom was first described in 1785 by the French mycologist Jean Baptiste Francois (Pierre) Bouillard. He named it Agaricus contiguus. A distinctive feature of the pig is thin beige plates at the bottom of the hat. If damaged, they turn brown. It is easy to separate them with your finger if you press just above the top of the leg.

Did you know? Up to 60–70% of ambulance calls about poisoning concern young children under the age of 5 years.

The pig has other synonymous names: pork ear, barn, dunk and others. There are also quite a few mushroom varieties. This pig is fat, ruddy, spring, ammonia, ear-shaped, spore-bearing, alder.

Description:

1. A hat. Diameter 4–15 cm. Fleshy. In the middle there is a funnel-shaped depression. The shape is convex, with a strongly edged felt edge. It becomes flat-convex as it develops. The surface of the cap can be smooth or dry. She has an olive from a young pig. In an adult fungus - from brown to tan, olive or dun.
2. Records. Easily detachable as a whole. Located tightly to each other. Color: yellowish to pale brown or pale olive. If you press or damage the plate, brown or red-brown spots appear.
3. Leg. Length 2–8 cm. Thickness up to 2 cm. Often tapers to the base. Dry, smooth, slightly pubescent. Always the same shade as the hat.
4. Pulp. Thick and thick. Yellowish. The mature specimen is loose. Affected by worms during a drought.
5. Smell and taste. The taste is sour or neutral. The smell is inconspicuous and also quite neutral.
6. Spore powder. May be purplish brown or yellow brown.

Important! Plant poisons very often do not have an antidote. The same applies to the pig, so be careful when picking mushrooms.

Where and when it grows

In Russia, the mushroom grows everywhere, with the exception of the Far North. Pig is a mycorrhizal fungus. It is common in deciduous and coniferous forests, where it can grow in clearings alone or in small groups. May also grow on trunks. Begins to bear fruit in mid-June. Young pigs are formed until October.

Toxicity

More recently, the pig was classified as conditionally edible. But since its toxicity has been proven, it has been poisonous.

Ingestion of a poisonous mushroom is divided into 2 special groups with their symptoms and treatment:

• primary ingestion of toxins;
• re.

If the body has never encountered a fungus, then when antigens enter the body, vomiting, nausea, an allergic reaction can develop. And even if the body normally suffered poisoning, then with a second reaction it will be more violent and may be accompanied by severe gastroenteritis, dehydration, hemolysis and renal failure.

To prevent poisoning:

• do not pick unfamiliar mushrooms;
• eat only those that you know;
• remember that cleaning, boiling or drying does not make the poisonous mushroom non-toxic;
• if you take children and pets to the forest, then watch them carefully so that they do not eat an accidentally poisonous mushroom, plant or berry.

Did you know? Children and older people are most sensitive and susceptible to plant poisons.

Symptoms of Poisoning

Once in the body, the pig releases toxins that affect one or another organ. To reduce the severity of the reaction, antihistamines are prescribed to the patient. The first symptoms of poisoning appear 6 hours after eating mushrooms.

Poisoning is accompanied by irritation of the gastrointestinal tract, with the appearance of:

• vomiting
• diarrhea;
• fever.

• If the toxin is not neutralized, then:
• yellowness of the skin develops;
• there is pain in the right hypochondrium;
• the amount of urine excreted is reduced;
• begins to increase hemoglobin in it.

If the condition worsens, then within 17 days the patient will develop renal failure, and he may die.

First aid

If you suspect that you have eaten a poisonous mushroom, do not wait until the symptoms appear. Get help by calling an ambulance. If a person who has eaten a mushroom has fallen and anaphylactic shock begins, call an ambulance immediately, as you most likely will not be able to help him yourself.

Before the doctor arrives, you must:

• do gastric lavage (give a drink of 1-1.5 l of a weak pale pink solution of potassium permanganate);
• give sorbents (activated carbon at the rate of 1 g per 1 kg of body weight);
• put warmth on the stomach and legs;
• give the patient strong tea;
• give a laxative ("Sorbitol" at the rate of 1 g per 1 kg of patient weight).

Arriving ambulance team will send the patient to a medical institution, where further events will be held. The patient will be prescribed treatment and diet, which he will adhere to in the next 30 days.

Important! Poisonous mushroom can cause hallucinations. The condition is accompanied by confusion, muscle weakness, agitation, heart palpitations and headache.

Consequences of poisoning

If help to the patient is rendered late, poisoning with toxins can lead to damage to internal organs. Diseases of the liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract may develop, so be sure to call a doctor and provide first aid before his arrival.

Gastrointestinal symptoms associated with the use of mushrooms during treatment disappear after 2–4 daysand liver damage can last a lifetime. The degree of damage will depend on the intensity of poisoning and timely treatment. Supportive care will include the elimination of residual effects after poisoning.

It’s dangerous to eat poisonous mushrooms. But it is important to know how to distinguish them in the forest, and to be able to provide first aid to the victims. Before you go on mushroom hunting, carefully study the description of the main differences of those mushrooms that you want to collect.