The answer to the “are wild mushrooms edible?” question is yes and no. Unfortunately, not enough people know that — and the number of being being poisoned by wild mushrooms is going up ...

Some mushrooms are edible, but many common ones are poisonous and it takes an expert to tell the difference. Eating a poisonous mushroom will make you very ill, and some are deadly.

Q. My front lawn has been plagued with mushrooms. These are brown and puffy. I have to go out and pick them just about every other day. -- S.P., Houston A. These fungal growths are feeding on ...

Only about five percent of mushrooms in the wild are edible, and some of those edible varieties grow nearby in the Payette National Forest, including those delicious morel mushrooms.

Luckily, there are a great number of knowledgeable mushroom enthusiasts in our area. Check out the Puget Sound Mycological Society’s web page at www.psms.org , or call their office at 206-522-6031.

Plus, once mushrooms appear in the lawn, removal can be tricky since mushrooms have a large network under the soil. They often go away on their own when the growing conditions change.