Mushrooom, mushroooooom!

[FistulinaHepatica]

Other than obsessing with plants, I also love hunting for/cultivating wild mushrooms My forum name is a mushroom that I found with my best friend in Epping Forest when I was living in London. Fistulina hepatica, also known as the Beef Steak Fungus:

[img]https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/blauwefox/Fungi%20et%20plantae/FH.jpg[/img]

bracket fungi that was popular in WWII as a meat substitute (no, it doesn't taste like meat. It's kinda tart and imparts a wonderful rich reddish colour and tangy flavour to stews). It literally looks like a slab of meat sticking out of dead heartwood, which probably gave it's name.

Was camping over the weekend in Sundre and found quite a jackpot of Black Morels. Will be cooking Chicken with Morel Whitesauce for dinner tonight. Nomnomnomnom

Any other Fungi Fans here?

[Charlie MV]

I did not know what NOM was. Thank goodness for the Google.

[DoubleDogFarm]

New Order Mormans, they are fun guys. Fungi

I like mushrooms, but even with my wild mushroom book, I'm very careful.

Eric

[Charlie MV]

my wife says I'm a nutty old man.

[tomf]

my wife says I'm a nutty old man.

She is right.

[lorax]

NOM NOM NOM. I love wild fungus, and I have the tremendous luck to know experienced fungadeers.

[FistulinaHepatica]

Well, I think it's time to lighten up this thread with some pictures! Here are some that I found and identified ... some are edible.

NOTE: IF YOU'RE NOT SURE ABOUT MUSHROOMS YOU FOUND DO NOT EAT IT! EVEN EXPERTS MAKE MISTAKES

I've been mushrooming since I was a kid and learnt everything I could from my grandmother and even took courses on mycology; and even then I do not eat all the mushrooms that I identified!

Even if you are 100% it's edible, sometimes it's better to leave it be as some fungus are extremely rare, bordering endangered, as well as the fact that fungi absorbs a lot of environmental toxins (say, most commons/green areas used to be reclaimed industrial area/dumpsites with lots of nasties). I just like looking at it and practice my *spot and name the fungi* game.

Ok, now that I've emphasised the disclaimer, lets see some Fungi!

[img]https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/blauwefox/Fungi%20et%20plantae/DSCN1977.jpg[/img]
Hericium Coralloides -- White coral mushroom.
Flipping delicious, tastes like lobster meat

[img]https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/blauwefox/Fungi%20et%20plantae/DSCN1993.jpg[/img]
Clavariadelphus truncatus -- truncated club foot
In the European continent, this mushroom is cooked in desserts. It is very sweet. Don't confuse it with normal clubfoots which are poisonous.

[img]https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/blauwefox/Fungi%20et%20plantae/DSCN1988.jpg[/img]
Auricularia-auricula judea -- Jews' Ears
Supposedly edible, but tasteless. It's pretty hard to pull this fungi off the log;
[img]https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/blauwefox/Fungi%20et%20plantae/Fragariavesca12.jpg[/img]
Russula fragrantissima -- fragrant russula
Initially I thought it was the fabled[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactarius_deliciosus]Lactarius deliciousus (Saffron milk cap[/url]- edible), but since it did not exude any milky sap when cut it is definitely a Russula. It smelt like caramel/vanilla!

No, I don't eat Russula's in general as some are poisonous even if they smell heavenly; and I don't have my microscope to check the spore shape to positively identify it 100%

[img]https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/blauwefox/Fungi%20et%20plantae/Fragariavesca20.jpg[/img]
Lycoperdon perlatum -- Jewelled puffball (young one)
Definitely edible and tastes wonderful when scrambled with eggs. NOTE: ALWAY CUT THROUGH BABY PUFFBALLS -- they should be white all the way through. Baby Earthballs (Scleroderma spp) looks similar but have a brown/tan centre -- those are poisonous.

[img]https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/blauwefox/Fungi%20et%20plantae/Fragariavesca7.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/blauwefox/Fungi%20et%20plantae/Fragariavesca9.jpg[/img]
Leccinum boreale -- Scabberstem/Red Top/Rough Stem mushroom.
Official Fungus of Alberta according to the Mycology Society of Alberta . Edible! Young ones are better than the mature ones as they tend to get infested with lots and LOTS of worms who love it too. Deer and squirrels love em too! The most identifying trait is it has PORES instead of gills, and the stalk looks scabrous.

[img]https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/blauwefox/Fungi%20et%20plantae/Fragariavesca31.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/blauwefox/Fungi%20et%20plantae/Fragariavesca33.jpg[/img]
Hydnum repandum -- Hedgehog fungus.
Look underneath - it has hedgehoggy spines, not gills! Also edible, but older specimen are bitter.

[img]https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/blauwefox/Fungi%20et%20plantae/DSCN1930.jpg[/img]
Coprinus comatus -- Shaggy Ink Cap
Edible and good, but don't drink any alcohol for 24-48 hours within consuming it as common with Coprinus family it can give some really unpleasant side effects. Once picked, you have to cook it quickly as it deliquesces (turns into mushy slime) within minutes due to some enzyme action. The name COPRINUS indicates that it loves growing in junk

[img]https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/blauwefox/Fungi%20et%20plantae/DSCN2140.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/blauwefox/Fungi%20et%20plantae/DSCN2143.jpg[/img]
Agaricus subrutilescens -- Wine coloured agaricus (related to your common supermarket button mushrooms)
Edible but I did not eat it or remove it from the site. I was over joyed to find this guy though, as it does not (to my knowledge) grow out of humid, almost tropical-ish areas.

The microclimate of the area was perfect (close to a river bend, lots of trees and moss) and an errant spore traveled all the way to make it's home close to the Rockies!

[img]https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/blauwefox/Fungi%20et%20plantae/DSCN2290.jpg[/img]
Morchella elata - black morel
Absolutely divine cooked with chicken! However, learn to differentiate it from [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_morel]False Morels[/url] as they share the same habitat and the False ones are poisonous. Plus, be careful when hunting for morels as Grizzly Bears love them so much... you might just bump into a hungry bear looking for their spring favourite.

[cynthia_h]

Your excellent policy of 100% identification and even then not eating them in the absence of, say, the microscope is well founded.

Just like the saying about pilots, so it is said of mushroom hunters:

"There are old mushroom hunters, and there are bold mushroom hunters. But there are no old, bold mushroom hunters."

Every winter here in the Bay Area, we can absolutely rely on two or three incidents of mushroom-gatherers suddenly falling into liver failure, despite intense, multi-language campaigns letting people know that the mushrooms here, although they may look like the ones "back home" in another country, are deadly. The worst part of these incidents is that it's usually Grandma/Grandpa who takes the little kids out for a day hike and then disaster strikes.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[applestar]

Lovely photo series. Thank you!

[FistulinaHepatica]

I'm kinda weird in a way -- I prefer to enjoy solving the mystery of the identity and reporting sightings of *rare* fungi to the local myco-soc, rather than scoff them. I do have my own *secret spots* where I know I can harvest bountiful favourites (no, I'm not sharing )

Always check with the local by laws, too. In the UK you need to get a mushroom foraging licence for some places, and in other places it is strictly verboten.

There's lots of oysters mushrooms/chicken-of-the-woods, too, but I don't like eating ones growing from coniferous trees -- conifers imparts a chemical irritant into the fungus which can mimic food poisoning.

[tomc]

Said the mushroom hunter, who was also a penny collector; "I don't have to eat everything I collect".

[MissMeshow]

Have some pics to post of my mushrooms, but I jacked it up. Toooooo tired. Will try tomorrow.

[Bobberman]

I do like mush rooms even in a salad with oil. The safest mush is oat meal!