Mushroom foragers

[Bogtown Chick]

Heheheh. Chicken girl!

I need to bring my camera to work tomorrow! I was driving out and looked at a stump going out and the most beautiful sulphur shelf (chicken of the woods) is growing on it!!! Easy pickings!!! I'll photograph before I cut.

 

[Birdy Buddy]

Sorry, I do not see any chicken here. I see some polypore's here, a ledge fungi but does not look like chicken.

You had a nice picture of an Artist Conk a few pages back. They are popular in Alaska where they are common on birch. You can etch a scene and the pores stain brown. The etch can be dried and preserved and some cover it with shellac.
Chicken of the woods is pretty common on the west coast. Mostly it is bright orange or yellow when young and fading to white in age. It's only edible when it's young and fleshy because it becomes woody and chalky later. I get sick when I eat it. It didn't matter what kind of tree it was on when it made me sick. I did eat it with no problem at first but I became sensitized or something.
Amanita muscaria is not usually deadly unless you eat a lot of it. Don't eat it.
Morels are strictly in the Spring. Sometimes in the Fall, someone might find a morel on bark mulch.

 

[henny1129]

This looks like such a great thread! My family's tradition is to go up to Mesick, Michigan evey year and hunt for Morels. And when it's Morel season down here in Ohio, we're always out hunting as well! I look forward to hearing everyone's mushroom adventures and sharing my own, though Morel season isn't for a while now. Once I'm I the computer I'll share some pics too!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Welcome @henny1129 . I'm excited to see your morel photos. That is one mushroom that keeps me roaming and searching. I don't have much luck with it. But then I'm usually busy in the spring and dont give it it's due diligence like I should. Fall mushroom hunting for me is easier. The mushrooms are brighter and easier to see in the dead leaves...etc. But they are also fairly new to me. I'm trying to learn at least one or two each fall...really well.

Tonight I had a walk-about my yard and some of the woods behind our house. And did I ever find some great things. Somethings I have questions about and want verification as well. Some things I have no idea and just thought deserved photography.





Lucy my BLRW helped me spot this bolete at the end of the driveway. It is the same variety I found on our Camping trip. I took a photo of the underside...so folks can see what the "gills" or "pores" look like under a bolete.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





And then just in my lawn, my son spotted these. BLACK TRUMPETS....? Itty Bittie though. I hit these or the spot that they grow every week with the Riding Lawn Mower. I did harvest the larger of the bunch. Will stare at a few on-line source photos first. But I'm 99.9%sure they are Black trumpets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





Found 10 feet away from the itty bitty Black trumpets. Itty Bitty HEDGEHOG? I'm even more iffy on this one. So will not eat until I confer with more sources or just throw out. Very small though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So then I wondered around DH's Clover loop for the deer and found nothing. Black Raspberries ripening a little bit. Then went into the woods. And Lo and Behold....50 yards in or so....















Chanterelles! About 9 oz. Love that they are where they are. DH was incredulous that they were growing in our little woods.

I have more mushroom photos but they are unidentified and I will put in a seperate post as I do not know anything about their potential for edibilness. They were just neat.

 

[blackchisel97]

Besides our usual harvest we found today two nice Lobster's. One of them pictured below. Actually, their smell is very subtle which is a plus as I despise lobster or any shellfish LOL.

V

 

[Bogtown Chick]

So since coming in after my forage I've learned that these are not Oyster Mushrooms. I am looking for them though. A local forager has told DH about them and how good they are. But these sure were pretty little toadstools with a porous underside. LOL. Did not collect. Still in the woods.





Coral Mushroom and that's about a 5-6 inch knife there. I'm thinking this is edible. But it was growing in Poison Ivy and I'm sure that's a poison Ivy leaf in the middle. I doubt that makes it poisonous...but I think it's on it's way out and getting too old to salvage. Will remember where it's at for next year though.



And this pretty little pink guy stood solo in a pretty spot. Left it where it was.

 

[blackchisel97]

Coral Mushroom and that's about a 5-6 inch knife there. I'm thinking this is edible. But it was growing in Poison Ivy and I'm sure that's a poison Ivy leaf in the middle. I doubt that makes it poisonous...but I think it's on it's way out and getting too old to salvage. Will remember where it's at for next year though.

Yes, it looks like a Crown Tipped Coral and it's edible. There are many members and look-alike. General rules about safe foraging corals are:
Don’t pick any that smell like Phenol (embalming fluid) or have any bad smell, have slimy base and those deep red colored.
They look like something from other world. I found fascinating when looking at the forest floor from the ground plane and magnifying glass or zooming with a camera. There is so much beauty revealed which cannot be seen while walking. Different varieties of moss which look like a miniature forests. This was always my favorite ecosystem (forest) to study and live in and the one I can truly connect with.

V

 

[duluthralphie]

Great finds BC.

And to everyone..

I know I have not always followed my own rule, but I would really like it if we could have one post with just one type of mushroom in the post so we can all try to learn them one at a time and not as a group. My old brain turns to mush and I cannot retain anything when I see to many pictures of too many kinds. If they are all the same I have a fighting chance.


Thanks... BTW I think this is going to be a great thread so thanks for being here!


LOL I was going to quote your small world wonderful tiny stuff. and agree! It is amazing what you can see.


I have passed up the corals so far as I am not ready to try them yet. I am trying to just learn some simple ones and not get distracted.

I need to find some chanterelles soon, or I will have forgotten what they look like. I saw some yellow mushrooms the other day and almost picked them as Chanterelles, but they had gills and not false gills.

 

[duluthralphie]

this one might be a aspen Scaber Stalk, but I am not sure, I had one like it is why I remember it. The Cinnamon dots on the stalk is what I recalled. BUT there are lookalikes and I was too chicken or smart to try it. Boletes can be tricky to us beginners.

 

[blackchisel97]

Corrals can be tricky to positively ID from the picture. There is one which looks similar to the one you found - Ramaria pallida which also belongs to the corral family but unlike golden aurea isn't edible.

V