Two dead after eating poisonous mushrooms

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The deaths of two people who ate poisonous mushrooms is a sad reminder of the dangers of picking your own fungi, an expert says.

Four people were hospitalised after eating death cap mushrooms at in Canberra on Saturday, two of whom died on Wednesday at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Mycologist Dr Brett Summerell, director of science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, says death cap mushrooms, also known as Amanita phalloides, are possibly the most toxic in Australia.

"In terms of the ones that are a real worry as being poisonous, death caps are certainly the most important one because of their nature and the way it poisons the people who eat them," Dr Summerell told AAP.

He said the yellowy-green mushroom is filled with a dangerous compound called amatoxin, which can destroy enzymes involved in producing DNA, particularly in liver tissue.

The toxin cannot be removed, even if cooked or soaked.

Dr Summerell says people who eat the mushroom often experience symptoms similar to food poisoning - including nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting - between six and 16 hours after ingesting them.

"The patients appear to recover after that event, and then a few days later they'll go again into that nausea and vomiting syndrome, plus jaundice.

"Quite often, as it sounds like in this case, the end result can be death - hence the name of the mushroom - or a need to do a liver transplant."

Dr Summerell says many people are oblivious to the fact that mushrooms might be poisonous, particularly death caps which can be mistaken for straw mushrooms - common in Asian cuisine.

Death cap mushrooms were introduced in Australia during the early days of colonisation and usually grow around oak trees.

They are generally found in southern parts of the country, most notably in Canberra, Melbourne and the Adelaide Hills region.

-AAP