Eerie orange mushrooms can glow at night and make you very sick, Missouri experts say

As we creep closer to Halloween, a warning has been issued about eerie jack-o’-lantern mushrooms in Missouri.

“Beware!” the Missouri Department of Conservation said on Facebook. The seemingly harmless mushrooms are often confused as edible chanterelle mushrooms, but these jack-o’-lanterns are playing a trick.

Jack-o’-lantern mushrooms — scientifically known as Omphalotus illudens — are bright orange and have been said to glow a faint green color in the dark, the department’s field guide says.

They are also poisonous.

“Eating the jack-o’-lantern will make you very sick for a few days,” experts say. “You won’t die, but you might wish you had.”

While they are not life-threatening “to healthy adults,” the mushroom can cause a “mild to severe stomach upset.”

Many jack-o’-lantern mushrooms poisonings have been reported, experts say, likely because of how attractive and abundant they are.

You can find the haunted mushroom in clusters around trees or on wood that was buried. Lookalike chanterelles mushrooms grow by themselves on forest ground.

The chanterelles are also more of a honey color, where as jack-o’-lanterns are bright to yellowish orange.

The Missouri Department of Conservation advises mushroom hunters to be cautious prior to trying any wild mushroom.

“If you choose to eat wild mushrooms, safety should be your first concern,” the department says. “Never forget that some mushrooms are deadly, and never eat a mushroom you have not positively identified. If you cannot positively identify a mushroom you want to eat, throw it out.”

This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 3:39 PM with the headline "Eerie orange mushrooms can glow at night and make you very sick, Missouri experts say."