Poison Pies and Jack o Lanterns Anyone?

On Sunday my mum handed me an article from the Daily Mail that she had cut out for me from the previous week, and which was charmingly titled My Horse Whisperer husband accidentally poisoned my brother with deadly mushrooms and we ALL had to have new kidneys. Was she trying to tell me something I thought?

The very sad article was about Horse Whisperer author Nicholas Evans mistakingly gathering and cooking up some Webcap mushrooms thinking they were Ceps several years ago. As a result he poisoned himself and three of his close family, leaving all but one of them having or needing kidney transplants. Sobering stuff, particularly as I thought Ceps were the easy safe option.

I am not exactly a prolific mushroom gatherer anyway, but I do like to dabble occasionally. Fortunately, I am also by nature quite risk averse (boring I know for most things except this and sailing yachts). On my one and only formal mushroom foraging lesson with John Wright at River Cottage HQ, I was also the only student on the day-long course to pick and bring back a poisonous mushroom. A dubious honour, but it does prove I have 'previous', and my mum maybe has a point.

Today then, I finally gave up on trying to identify with any confidence my latest crop of two mushroom types. The unfortunate implication of this is that they were both found in absolutely huge abundance on my clients wooded site up near Swettenham. As such, these have been sat on my conservatory table, as I have repeatedly "deliberated, cogitated and non-digested" them (paraphrasing Loyd Grossman on the early BBC Masterchef).

After several days, books and internet browsing, my best guess was Poison Pies for these ones pictured here in various growth states (for some unbeknown reason, also called Fairy Cakes); and Jack o Lanterns (unpictured). Needless to say, I am not at all confident of my identification, but as both these are poisonous, then what to do?

Any more informed opinions or willing Guinea Pigs, please feel free to apply here.

Postscript: Telegraph interview with Nicholas Evans, with him graphically describing his mistake here.