Growing Fungi, Part 2

We researched some more questions about mushrooms:

#1 – How long can a mushroom live?
Source- Australian National Botanic Gardens, Wikipedia.com

The mushroom has a lifespan ranging from a few days, to hundreds of years. The lifespan depends heavily on how many neighboring mushrooms there are, the more neighbors, the longer the mushrooms live. The log that we bought says that the Shiitake mushrooms can last up to 4 years.

#2 – What are the symptoms of being poisoned by a mushroom?
Source-Wikipedia.com

Poisonous mushrooms contain a variety of different toxins that can differ markedly in toxicity. Symptoms of mushroom poisoning may vary from gastric upset to life-threatening organ failure resulting in death. Serious symptoms do not always occur immediately after eating; often not until the toxin attacks the kidney or liver, sometimes days or weeks later.
The most common consequence of mushroom poisoning is simply gastric upset. Most "poisonous" mushrooms contain gastrointestinal irritants which cause vomiting and diarrhea (sometimes requiring hospitalization), but no long-term damage. However, there are a number of recognized mushroom toxins with specific, and sometimes deadly, effects.

#3 – How many types of mushrooms are poisonous?

Wikipedia.com

Of the many thousands of mushroom species in the world, only 32 have been associated with fatalities, and an additional 52 have been identified as containing significant toxins.