Archives September 16th

September 16th, 2006: This is in Northwest New Jersey - Roxbury Township in Morris County and very large. It's about the size of two women's hands with fingers spread out. It's in a northeast exposure under a Tulip tree! 3 photos attached if it works. Colors: Bright orange with some creams and a very lopped earred cauliflower shape to the center.

September 16th, 2006: Hugh, We made a trip down to hocking hills yesterday and found some cool stuff: boletellus russellii, which I'd never seen before; a HUGE beautiful boletus bicolor in perfect shape; also a number of large hedgehogs, a few chanterelles (cibarius) and assorted other stuff

September 18th, 2006: Hi, these were found in Orangeville Ontario, the first 2 pics were found in an open grassy field, ringed on top part of stalk but not at base. The rest were found in mixed woods, some are honeys, do you know the rest? THANKS, I want to eat all these.

appears to be the Honey mushroom (Armillaria mellea). It's edible, but be very careful and double-check each specimen against the description in a good mushroom book to be sure.

appears to be a Collybia, Rhodocollybia, or possibly Clitocybe. Not recommended as food.

appear to be the Smooth Parasol mushroom (Lepiota naucina = Leucoagaricus naucinoides). It's generally listed as "edible" but is NOT recomended because some people get gastrointestinal symptoms from consuming this, plus its strong resenblance to the deadly Destroying Angel mushrooms (Amanita virosa and A. bisporigera).

appears to show the Comb Tooth mushroom (Hericium coralloides) and the Apricot Jelly mushroom (Phlogiotis helvelloides). Both are edible, though Apricot Jelly is quite bland.

Note that for edible mushrooms, it is very important to follow the guidelines presented here: http://americanmushrooms.com/ten.htm

Best regards,

September 18th, 2006:

Dear Chris! I found these mushrooms this morning around Cleveland, OH. I want your expert opinion, especially about ringless form. Please, let me know are they edible or not. Thank you in advance. Nick

September 18th, 2006: Hi Chris. I found this mushroom in may lawn on Sep./06.Can you tell me what kind of a mushroom is it and is it safe to eat it.It weights about 2 lbs.I live in Griffin Georgia. Thank you. Renata

These are edible puffballs which are excellent edibles while the interior is still pure white. Double-check to make sure that the inside of the mushroom is solid, white undifferentiated tissue to rule out the possibility that this is a "button" stage gilled mushroom of some unknown species. -Chris and Dave

Chris,I found your website while trying to identify the mushroom that I found. I have a number of books, including Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora (one of my best books) and was unable to indentify the mushroom that I found. I found it at Palisades Park, outside of Mt. Vernon Iowa. It was at the base of an oak tree. It's structure and shape is very similar to Grifola Frondosa, except it is completely covered with pores. I tasted it raw (and then spit it out) and the taste was mild, and without any unique attributes. The flesh is soft and tender. Even the base of the stalk is soft enough that it could be eaten. The flesh (stalk and caps are a cream color that turn an orange brown when bruised, but not immediately. The texture of the fleshy stalk is identical to Grifola Frondosa. This mushroom was similar in size to an average Grifola Frondosa, approximately 5 - 6 lbs. I have attached some pictures. If you have any idea what this is, please email me back. Great website by the way! I am interested in joining. I have been studying and hunting mushrooms for about 10 years. Thanks, Ron Chupp

Unique indeed! We often see gilled mushrooms that have grown extra gills atop the cap, as well as polypores that grow extra tubes on the upper surface, but I have never seen an example this extreme! It is probably the Hen of the Woods (Grifola frondosa), but I cannot rule out the Black-staining Polypore (Meripilus sumstinei = M. giganteus) and, less likely, Berkeley's Polypore (Bondarzewia berkeleyi). All three are technically edible, but the other two don't hold a candle to Grifola for flavor.

September 19th, 2006: I found 2 small but beautiful hens at my usual spot at the park today; I left one to grow. Here are my dates for hens at that spot for the last three years; this is the earliest yet: Hugh
2004: Sept. 22
2005: Oct. 4
2006: Sept.18

Hard to say for sure, may be a Scaber Stalk, could be a bitter bolete.- Chris M

This could be a tasty Boletus or a bitter Tylopilus. Can;t see quite enough detail to be sure... taste a small bit of the cap flesh (and then spit it out!) to see if it's bitter. If not, enjoy! When eating wild mushrooms, always follow the guidelines presented here:

http://americanmushrooms.com/ten.htm

September 21st, 2006: Here are some of the pictures of mushrooms growing in my yard an one growin on a white oak tree in the
panhandle of FL. If you would give me some info on them I would appreciate it. Zenaida

September 22nd, 2006: Tzvi Grossman, Hen of the woods - general location = Sharon, MA. Growing Conditions = Around two oak trees.
Additional Comments = I found 4 hen of the woods totalling more than 15 pounds. These were under two oak trees which produce every year. Usually they appear in mid-October, but this year they were earlier. None of my other regular spots have produced yet this season.

September 22nd, 2006: marianne brand, I don't know, but would like to. - general location = bergen county, new jersey. Growing Conditions = under maple tree. Additional Comments = big orange mushrooms growing at the foot of the maple tree. First time i have ever seen these and I would like to know if they are poisonous.- sounds like maybe the toxic Jack-O-Lantern, hard to say without a photo.- Chris M

I just came across a mushroom growing JUST where my morels usually do in the spring. It looks like some sort of shaggy mane, but only one of the pictures turned out clearly enough to check. What do you think? (I’m most interested because I’m wondering if this is a companion situation underground between the two mushroom species.) Lisa Mathews

This could b e a Shaggy Mane, but also could be a Shaggy Parasol (Lepiota) unable to tell for sure with one photo. -Chris M

September 23rd, 2006: Thad Gazzo, Fly Amanita - general location = Western PA Butler County, Cicora. Growing Conditions = Side of a Standing Dead tree. Additional Comments = I found a few Amanita's And what I believe to be A sulfur Chicken.. could you please confirm the sulfur chicken, also i have included a pic of a mushroom i have yet to identify,, is it an edible.. thanks

September 23rd, 2006: 2MOONZ, puffball - general location = Ohio,Miami County. Growing Conditions = I found a big white puffball the size of a cantalope in the woods with leaves on ground around over it were honeysuckle bushes

September 24th, 2006: Erica, stinkhorn - general location = suburb of Cleveland Ohio. Growing Conditions = in our mulch beds
Additional Comments = I was trying to find out what was growing in our yard (they really smell strong) and I found it on your site. Thanks!

I found this growing in a tree stump north of Toronto, Ontario. Judging by the colour, the attached gills and the green staining, I think its a Lacterius deliciosus. I cannot get any trace of milky latex from it, though.What do you think? Colin Cassar Aurora, Ontario

This is not lactarius for sure. Possible Cortinarius, may be poisonous. -Chris M

Although this looked similar to another Lacterius delicisiosus I found once before, this cannot be one. I looked up similar mushrooms that grow on wood. I think it is a type of gymnopilous. I forget which exactly. - Colin

September 28th, 2006: Chris are these safe to eat and can you tell me how to cook them. I am finding a lot of them now. Thanks again. Greg

This is a Calvatia Species, may be purple spored, good to eat as long as flesh is solid white,- Chris M

September 29th, 2006: Wayne, Hen of the Woods - general location = Mifflin County PA. Growing Conditions = Open area at base of old Oak tree. Additional Comments = We searched for only two hours and found four good size ones, it may be a tad early, and we haven't had a good soaking rain for several weeks.

September 29th, 2006: Cris, I found this "room" in my yard, next to the base of an Oak tree. Years ago, I went Fall mushroom hunting with an old buddy. He was retired (since deceased) but claimed to know the safe ones to hunt. I found one just like this, and he said it was a "Kousia Brodda" (phonetically spelled) or "Sheepshead" mushroom. His wife prepard it and I must say it was delicous. Dale O'Neal Thanks

September 27th, 2006: The hens are out all over the place here in central Ohio. I've found about 10 close to home (one right outside my office at OSU); my friend Chris Ott and I saw 14 today at a local park -- some were enormous, and a few already too old, which is surprising for so
early in the fall. All were on large oaks

September 28th, 2006: wipple, Found in Belmont County Oct 1st About 2" tall. What is it, and is it editable?

Hello, I was hoping you could assist me with identifying these mushrooms. The photos were taken Sept 29, 2006 in my yard. I live in the interior of British Columbia, just north of Kamloops. The meadow mushroon? and the smaller unidentified one also shown growing in a group are located under a large Fir tree on the lawn. The suspected Shaggy Parasols are growing in a compost of horse manure, hay, straw and some wood shavings. There is grass and wild rose amoung them. Please email me your evaluation and or if you believe them to be edible or not. I also have several other species growing on my property and have as of yet not identified them. Thank you Jane L.

October 4th, 2006: hugh urban, hen of the woods, agaricus, lion's mane - general location = Columbus, OH. Growing Conditions = hen on oaks; agaricus around pine; lion's mane on maple. Additional Comments = I hunted with Chris Ott and found 14 hens, all on big old oaks, ranging from little babies to a few too old to eat. I found another one on my usual spot in a local park. Agaricus arvensis are still coming up in large numbers, and I saw one small lion's mane on a neighbor's maple tree

Hi there -I know you probably get sick of idiots like me, but I was wondering if you can tell me what this is. I attached a pic, but did not put anything in it for scale. It's about 16" tall and 16" wide and grew up in the bullrock next to my house.. I live the in the NW suburbs of Houston. I haven't been able to find a good on line guide. Thakns for your help, Marygrace Huber Houston, Texas

This is a tough one, would need to see photos of underneath side. Maybe Paxillus?- Chris M

October 5th, 2006: hugh urban, shaggy parasols - general location = Columbus, OH. Growing Conditions = in ivy in neighbor's yard. Additional Comments = I've found several patches of large shaggy parasols (lepiota rachodes), mostly among ivy in my neighborhood, or in one spot under pine. I don't pick the unopened buttons, since they're too easy to confuse with green gills

It appears to be Armillaria tabescens, the "Ringless Honey Mushroom." Many eat it, though some small percentage of folks get upset stomachs. Always follow these guidelines:

http://americanmushrooms.com/ten.htm

October 7th, 2006: Found in Green Bay, Wisconsin generally wooded area off a walking path. By clumps of oak trees in a semi-sunny area in cooler October temperatures. They have very black caps at the base of the cap. Smell delectable. Can you help identify?

October 7th, 2006: hugh urban, Hen, blewit, puffball - general location = central OH. Growing Conditions = On oak and in mixed woods
Additional Comments = I found one nice hen at the base of a large oak up at Alum Creek s.p., plus one blewit and a number of puffballs. I was expected to see some scaber stalks, but the woods were very dry

October 9th, 2006: James C. Harrison, grey morel - general location = I found morrels in southern Chile, 11th region, on the southern bank of the large lake, Lago General Carrera. The location is near the small community of Mallin Grande. Growing Conditions = We find the mushrooms in various locations. Around the Alamo tree and in moist forest areas that get some sunshine. Additional Comments = The low income residents of this area sell their mushrooms to a local buyer. They dry the musrooms and sell them by the kilo. Maybe I can find a foreign buyer and increase the income in this poor rural area.

Hello, My name is Cody. I recently stumbled, quite literally, upon what I'm thinking might be a sort of calvatia mushroom. I found your e-mail on your site and, being that I couldn't figure this one out, I decided to beg your council. The location is in the Uintah mountain range above the city of Kamas in Wyoming. The typical weather at the time is rain and snow, but little if any wind. I found this one as I was climbing back down a cliff. I reached a rather large protrusion from the face and stopped for a breather, and lo and behold, kicked the thing over. unfortunately I didn't have my camera and decided to bring it back with me. It's been frozen for a little less than a day, I hope that doesn't affect its determinability. (The pictures should be attached, just in case.)

October 9th, 2006: hugh urban, lion's mane, hen - general location = columbus, OH. Growing Conditions = On maple and oak. Additional Comments = we found a lion's mane on the same maple tree on our street as last year. I also found another nice hen on an oak on OSU campus, the second one within 15 yards of my office this fall. Anywhere you have a lot of big old oaks -- like college campuses -- is a good bet for hens. I

This has been our week of new finds. Saturday we found what we thought was an interesting ant. What we did find was a wingless female wasp. Never saw one of those before either. Thanks for your help in identifying the mushrooms, and for your Web site, Sincerely, Judy Greiwe

It looks like Armillaria tabescens, though I cannot confirm this with certainty on the basis of the single photo.

David W. Fischer - Binghamton, NY
AmericanMushrooms.com
Coauthor of Edible Wild Mushrooms of North America and
Mushrooms of Northeastern North America

Thank you !

I googled "Armillaria tabescens" and the pictures on various site look exactly like the clusters that are in our yard. I was hoping you would say they are safe and delicious = ). Thanks again for your knowledge and fast reply. Sincerely, Judy Greiwe

October 9th, 2006: hugh urban, hen, blewit, puffball,- general location = columbus, OH. Growing Conditions = on oak in a park, Additional Comments = We found a HUGE hen on a large oak at a neighborhood park. Maybe 10 lbs or so, all in good shape. We have a recipe for a really nice mushroom pate made with hens, which is excellent both hot and cold. I can send the recipe if anyone is interested

October 10th, 2006: thenewshooter, I have found many brain looking puffballs this year in Michigan. Only I was hoping you could ID these two. I found them both under a spruce tree about three feet apart. Also found these white gilled shrooms in a woody area. Are they edible?

Hot latex Lactarius Species- there are many, would need a spore print and maybe even a photo of the spores for exact ID.- Chris M

October 11th, 2006: I found these mushrooms in my backyard last week (first week of October 2006). I found them to be so beautiful. I’ve never seen them before. Would you happen to have seen them or know their name? I’ve not been able to find a photo on the internet that matched. I am located in north central North Carolina in Alamance county about 30 minutes west of Chapel Hill & Durham, NC. Let me know if you have any info! Thank you. Let me know if you can’t view the pics somehow. .Carla in NC

Perhaps Coprinus plicatilis, perhaps C. disseminatus... it's pretty difficult to identify them to species without seeing them before the caps expand. Lovely photos!

David W. Fischer - Binghamton, NY
AmericanMushrooms.com
Coauthor of Edible Wild Mushrooms of North America and
Mushrooms of Northeastern North America

October 13th, 2006: Mary Watson, big white 1 foot diameter mushroom - general location = Buckinghamshire, England. Growing Conditions = under oak trees, Additional Comments = I have no idea what this is. What do you think? There are more in the same field but not as big. Smells
very fresh white flesh. I have put a foot ruler beside it in the photo, and it weighs 2.5 kg. Mary

October 14th, 2006: hugh urban, lepiota rachodes, agaricus arvensis,- general location = columbus, OH, Growing Conditions = in yards around ivy and pine trees. Additional Comments = I'm still finding patches of shaggy parasols (lepiota rachodes) and horse mushrooms (argaricus arvensis). The agaricus have been popping up in a large ring around a big pine tree for about the last month. The two together make a very nice stroganoff dish

Hi Chris! We've been finding lots of Hens the past few weeks. My parents came to pic and were glad to find 23 in about 2 hours of easy pickins. All on BIG oaks and maples. So far 66 hens this season. Shaggies, manes and parasols, are good as well in Central Ohio.

October 15th, 2006: hugh urban, hen of the woods - general location = columbus, OH. Growing Conditions = on oak, Additional Comments = I found another hen today on an oak along the river. That makes about 25 for me this fall. My friend Chris Ott has found over 60. It's been the best year for hen since I've been in Ohio; I haven't even been trying hard to find them, and most have been in my neighborhood and local parks. We make an excellent pate out of them, which can be eaten either hot like meatloaf with gravy or cold like a cracker spread

Great web site. I have a tree that had an enormous amount of mushrooms last year and they are back this year. The first picture is recent, the others are from last year and the mushrooms had gotten a bit rotten by then. Are these jack o lanterns?
I live just outside of Salem Oregon.

October 17th, 2006: Koby, found several Morels . These were found today in Shelby Township, Michigan.

These grew in the landscaping next to the house. You can clearly see the freshly fallen Maple leaves in the above photos.

October 17th, 2006: About 10 or so these have popped up over the last 2 days in my front yard. Are these morels? Do morels grow in the fall?
Thank you, Birum Campbell Ann Arbor, MI

October 18th, 2006: Here are a couple of mushrooms I found on Sunday October, 15. The Chicken mushroom is twenty plus pounds and the Hen-of-the Woods is ten pounds. I found both on public land in Western Kentucky in eyeshot of well travelled roads. Both were found at the base of oak trees. We have had buckets of rain and I hope to find more. Happy hunting!

October 19th, 2006: cindy luce, Grifola Frondosa, Agaricus Campestris and Arvensis - general location = Near Perrysburg, Oh. in the Maumee State forest (Hen of the woods-Blewits-Honey mushrooms-Aborted Entolomas) and the school yard next door (Meadow and Horse mushrooms)
Growing Conditions = The forest mushrooms were almost all under oaks. The Agaricus were in yards,the school yard is not treated with chemicals so we harvested many from there (several fruitings this year), Additional Comments = The fall season started for us in August with Chicken Mushroom, Meadow and Horse mushrooms and even a few early Hen of the Woods. It continues going strong in October with Hen, Blewits, Honeys in the forest. Many M. Rachodes in yards here.

October 20th, 2006: Hugh, Columbus, OH. We found some nice blewits plus a huge batch of chicken (a little too old for my tastes, though) at a state park in central OH. We also picked some beautiful wild persimmons which are just now getting ripe enough to eat

October 20th, 2006: I found your website while trying to find out what type of plant was growing in my front yard. It grows overnight. I believe it's a mushroom. I live in Los Angeles, California and these plants grow around the trunk of a dead pine tree. Do you know what it is? Please see attachment. Thatnks in advance, ...Sarris