A warning continues not to eat any unidentified mushroom or any wild-picked mushrooms as the risk of severe illness and even death was not worth the risk. 

While some on social media have said it could be the introduced Chlorophyllum molybdites or “vomiter” mushroom, Narooma’s own fungi expert has her own ideas.

Narooma resident Teresa Van Der Heul has studied and researched mushrooms and fungi for more than 25 years, giving talks to various groups.

She said she was of the view that this mystery mushroom was in the Amanita austroviridis group of mushrooms, that includes Amanita chlorophyllum.

“More collections are needed to determine if they are truly a different species,” Mrs Van Der Heul said.

She said the Chlorophyllum molybdites had not been found in coastal areas, while Amanita austroviridis was known to grow in areas such as Narooma.

She was hoping that mushroom picker Thea Yates had kept a sample as she was willing to look at the spores under her microscope to see if she could positively identify the mystery mushroom.

Either way, she said all the Amanita and Chlorophyllum mushrooms were dangerous and the only mushrooms people should be eating should come from the supermarket.

Mrs Van Der Heul is planning to conduct a series of mushroom walks starting in mid-April in the Bodalla State Forest area where anyone with an interest in fungi could come along and learn about locally occurring species.

She can be contacted at tvdh@bigpond.com