A vocabulary of landscape — a landscape of words
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tippler’s bane
Tippler’s bane is one of the names for the common inkcap, a gray-brown mushroom of grass and disturbed ground with a ribbed conical cap that dissolves itself into black liquid within a day of opening. The name records a specific and well-documented interaction: The mushroom is edible on its own but produces an unpleasant reaction if alcohol is drunk within a day or two of eating it.
Etymology
The English name is blunt about the effect and belongs to a small group of folk names that warn rather than describe. The compound involved was isolated and investigated as a treatment for alcohol dependence, and the drug developed on the same principle carries a related name. Inkcap entry covers the group and the self-digestion.
Notes
The shaggy mane is a close relative and does not share the property, which is worth knowing since the two grow in similar ground and are often collected together. The mechanism is straightforward: The compound blocks a step in the breakdown of alcohol, so a substance the body normally clears quickly accumulates instead.