[c]

Went out for a walk yesterday to check my laccaria spot and I was suprised to notice that there are still several species of mushrooms present out there this late in the year. My last hunt turned up only one species (mid november) yet here it is Dec and I am finding several.
There seems to be two species of laccarias that grow in one specific area. This species does not appear to be Amethystea. However [EDIT]:laccata is also edible and probably tastes the same as amethystea. Either way these specimens are in pretty bad shape, some look aged/dried.

My hunt got cut really short as the sun began to set, but today we are getting lots of rain and I have hopes of geading back out and finding some more hopefully fresher specimens.

Sorry about the poor indoors pic quality guys, I was forced to take the pics inside because it was dark out.
Thumbnails linked to larger images..



Here are some misc finds from yesterday:


EDIT: Fixed link.
I am unsure what type of fungus this is. It is jelly like and grows from what appears to be birch sticks and twigs:


Another shot of these, didnt get a chance to make a thumbnail:

[mark_h]

The Yellow jelly fungus looks very much like Tremella Mesenterica- the yellow brain fungus. As for the Laccaria, I'm still working on it!

Mark

[c]

Interesting, I usually dont pay attention to those little orange guys but I figured since nothing much else was going on out there that I would bring it back for the learning benefit.

[mark_h]

Well obviously I can't be 100% sure on what the yellow stuff is, but thats what I would say it is for an educated guess. I haven't been out for the last couple of weeks, however my groups' last foray is this Saturday so hopefully I'll be out for that.

I will report back with any finds- there probably wont be many because the temperatures have been hovering around freezing recently.

Mark

[c]

A guess works for me, I couldnt really find it in any of my books(only searched for a brief period). I'm kind of lazy to go on an in-depth search for info on the genus or species.
Good luck on your foray Mark.

[whistle]

Looks like T.Mesenterica to me. Have you been having a bit of a dry spell wherever you picked it? They either expand or contract depending on the ambient moisture level. If that is what it is, and you enjoy adventures in eating, cook them in with some Won Ton soup. Not much flavor,veery delicate, but the texture is great!

Whistle

[mark_h]

Around here T. Mesenterica is quite common- the was one place in the New Forest where it was abundant on burnt gorse. Also growing on the burnt gorse was Flamulina Velutipes(Velvet shank).

Fairly close to the site was where I photographed Clathrus Archeri. I do have a piccy of T. Mesenterica somewhere, when i get time, I'll post a link.

Mark

[whistle]

Mark: Re. Tremella messenterica (witches Butter)

These are very common fungi all over the world, they are very nice to look at, and there is nothing that looks vaguely like them which is harmful. And they honestly do add a "mushroom pickers" touch to a simple soup like a Won Ton, or chicken broth soup.

Eastern Europeans are (seemingly) born with this knowledge. I do not know what is wrong with the rest of us.. I live in British Columbia, I am fifty-five years old, I did not know that Cantharellus grew here ( I thought they all came from Europe) until I was in my forties. But , you know what Mark, I know very much better now. I am living in a place that, in one of its many environments, is going to grow almost any edible mushroom known to man.

For me it is much easier to get to know the mushrooms one at a time, the ones that I pick cannot be mistaken for anything else. That gives me a list of ten or twelve, plus Boletes. It has taken me awhile, maybe two or three species a year, but I have never had so much as a gut ache.

Finding them is one thing, using them is another.

[whistle]

Mark

Sorry that was misdirected , it was for C

[shroomgal]

[whistle]

shroomgal:

That is so true. I am a chef so people tend to think that if it is food I may know what I am doing. But the only people who are receptive when I bring bags of Mushrooms to give away are from Asia, Eastern Europe, or for some types, boletes and Chanterelle, Western Europeans without English in the bloodline (except for my English manager, who has married a Czeck, Everytime I bring him a bag of shrooms he gets... well never mind we will just say tha he welcomes the gift and enjoys it to the fullest).

I haven't decided yet whether the fear is some Freudian sexual thing about mushrooms springing up from nothing, or perhaps some primal fear that all of our mothers wisely instill in us not to eat odd growths, or fear of the forest and the wild. You pays your money youse takes your choice.

What I do know is that it is going to take a change of attitude that we must bring about to take this North American Culture forward to relly create a market for those "forbidden fruits" of the forest. And that may be the only way to preserve the forest.

Whistle

[Kadakuda]

i always had teh fear due to teh fact that tehre are so many poisnonous look alikes of many mushrooms (moreso for the psychoactive).

i think that because when someone hears the word, mushroom, that tehy automatically get it in their head "magic mushroom". even if the discussion is aimed at cooking or whatever, its my opinion that the tripping species at least come to mind, even if jsut for a second. that said tehre are lots of poisonous lookalikes. and it is then my opinion that it is just considered that all mushrooms have to be id'd very carefulyl by a profesional. which is good but probabyl too paranoid. also mushrooms that are edible make people sick...tehn tehres teh other group where i fall into that jsut dotn like the taste/texture.

or we could jsut say we north americans are ignorant and stuborn.

[whistle]

Kadakuda

Do you kow how many tons of morels, chanterelles, lobsters, pines, angels wings, boletes, and other mushrooms are sent out of this Province every year?

Most of those have, once you have picked them once or twice, nothing that you could confuse them with. It is as I said to C in another thread, take two or three a year, get positive ID and learn about them, learn how and where to pick. Don't push yourself and don't take any chances. Picking is supposed to be fun, not some sort of Saigon Roulette where you are holding a gun to your brain. Learn from your friends and your books.

Yeah, I get that alot too---majic mushrooms, nudge nudge, wink wink---WELL HELL!, that's just another nice thing about some mushrooms. I sampled some in the early seventies. It was interesting, but for me it was NOT habit forming lol, memories, lol. But I never picked them, I would'nt know a magic mushroom from a mesquite tree (lots of politicians never inhaled either, at least I am being honest).

Seriously; you say that for you the pleasure is only in the hunt and the marketing, they are fine things that I enjoy myself. But DAMMIT MAN! (lol) you have got to learn how to cook what you catch! It takes at least three legs to make a stool.

Whistle

[Kadakuda]

hehe ya.....edibles are easy to id yes...but i think its the magic mushroom trickyness that spreads over to the edible side as well.. if that makes any sense...

what im tryign to sya is that a lot of people dont know anyhting about them so they hear all these stories of people getting sick and whatnot from mushroom picking...know what i mean.

i may not know how to cook, but i can cook if i stand in front of the barby or the oven and fry soem meat up it always turns out great! but i couldnt tell ya what it is that i made. same sorta deal with mushrooms although im still a tad bad at cookign some of them. they jsut aint my texture.

if i can get paid and spread some joy for doing somthing i would normaly, not only do for free, pay money to do...well thats just groovy. man.

[whistle]

Kadakuda,

I sure hear that al right, nothing I like better thansomething for nothing, and there is nothing my friends like better than forest treats even more free than that (no effort).

I'll bet you do fine cooking, mushrooms tend to be a bit more complicated to prepare once you get away from the slab o'meat and shrooms thats all. But they are well worth the effort. When picking time comes around again I would be happy to lead you through some recipes if you like.

You sound like you do a fair amount of picking, wasn't this a great year? For some reason on the mainland where we pick there were few chants, but pines everywhere, never saw the like---didn't even need a dog. Which reminds me, I really would like to know what you thinik about training a dog to scout pines. The idea has been worming its way into my brain for several years and I have never had a talk with sanother avid picker about what they think.

Stuck in the rain---I wish I was in Tennessee!