Amanita amerirubescens, not an edible mushroom for beginners. The European Blusher contain a hemolytic protein which can be removed by thorough cooking, in some places they boil and then fry blushers before eating them. Word isn’t out on whether some of the possibly many different North American Blushers have a hemolytic protein in them.
The Blusher is a member of the Amanita family which is famous for having many deadly poisonous mushrooms. We have a few of these nasty though quite visually striking mushrooms right here in New Brunswick, so you definitely do not want to gather any of these by mistake.
Another reason for concern with our Blusher mushroom is the very similar Yellow Blusher, Amanita flavorubens which is of (unknown edibility) and could easily lead folks astray.
Here is another issue to keep you away, Blushers and some other Amanita mushrooms are often parasitized by Hypomyces hyalinus which is a relative of the lobster mushroom. See the mushrooms on the right these are often growing right beside or amongst what appears to be uninfected Blushers.
The edibility of Hypomyces hyalinus remains a mystery at this point in history. When they parasitize Blushers usually they still blush at the base but not always. Another reason to stay clear of partial or fully parasitized Blusher mushrooms in New Brunswick. Like I said at the beginning the Blusher is not an edible mushroom for beginners or even folks who have foraged mushrooms for many years. Lots of much easier mushroom for the table around, though I do admit to finding these an interesting mushroom.
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