This kind of mushroom is poisonous, you can't eat it.
Tips
usage
毒 is extremely versatile. As a noun it means 'poison/toxin,' as an adjective 'poisonous/malicious,' and in compounds like 吸毒 (take drugs) and 消毒 (disinfect).
history
The character combines 母 (mother) on top and 毋 (don't) — ancient idea of something nurturing that turns harmful.
Bottom 母 (mother) — the indexing radical. The combination 'overgrown plant + mother' captured an ancient paradox: nurturing things turning harmful. Hence the original sense of 毒 as 'rank overgrowth that poisons,' generalising later to all toxins — 中毒 (poisoned), 病毒 (virus), 吸毒 (take drugs).
Top piece — a stylised 龶 derived from 生 ('grow'). Pictures rank, weed-like overgrowth. Compound ideograph: rampant plant above + mother-figure below. Sets up the original sense of 毒 as 'noxious overgrowth that harms the nurturer.'
