# Man on horseback (Tricholoma equestre)

**Tricholoma equestre**

**Known today as.** A yellow mushroom of pine woods, long counted a good edible.

Kind: Fungus  
Poisoning: Rhabdomyolysis (the yellow knight) (https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/poisons/rhabdomyolysis)  
Deadly: yes

> **Deadly.** Can be deadly, especially eaten several meals in a row.

## What was it used for?

Long eaten, and sold in European markets.

## What does modern science say?

Large or repeated meals caused a breakdown of the muscles (rhabdomyolysis) in twelve people in south-western France between 1992 and 2000, three of whom died, as reported in 2001; its sale has since been banned in France.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **unknown**: the myotoxin has not been identified

**Mechanism.** Something in the mushroom, after repeated meals, breaks down skeletal muscle.

**Dose.** Three or more meals within two weeks in the reported cases.

**Standing.** Sale and import forbidden in France, after deaths in the south-west.

## What lore surrounds it?

Its fall from the table is recent: an edible of the old guidebooks that turned out to be a slow poison.

## Sources

- Bedry, R., et al. (2001). Wild-mushroom intoxication as a cause of rhabdomyolysis. *New England Journal of Medicine* 345: 798–802.
- Wikipedia contributors. “Tricholoma equestre.” *Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia*. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricholoma_equestre (read 2 October 2026).
- Wikipédia (French). “Tricholome équestre.” fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricholome_équestre (read 2 October 2026).
- Bedry, R., et al. (2001). *New England Journal of Medicine* 345.

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*Man on horseback.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-03. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/man-on-horseback

Historical description, not medical advice.