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Wild 'shroom Identification

post #1 of 12
10/21/07 at 7:53am
Thread Starter 
Okay Gang!

Regretably I didn't pay attention on the day we did recognition of wild 'shrooms and given that what I rememebr took place more than two decades ago...... These look like Shiitaki to me.:confused: Before I harvest them, could I get some clarification? I'd really rather not poison anyone.:rolleyes:

They're in a shady area, North side at the base of a dead tree.
Thanks in advance!
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post #2 of 12
10/21/07 at 9:03am
I dunno, oldschool-

You may be barking up - or looking under - the wrong tree...

Even if I was a mushroom expert - which I'm not - I'm not sure I would undertake the responsibility of telling you to eat 'em just from looking at a small photograph :o

Mike
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post #3 of 12
10/21/07 at 9:37am
Although it's hard to tell from this distance, I'd send a PM to Shroomgirl. She's our resident mycologist!
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post #4 of 12
10/21/07 at 9:41am
Does that mean she's nearsighted :D

shel
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post #5 of 12
10/21/07 at 9:55am
Good Lord! Stay away from those! They closely resemble Death Cap mushrooms! See this link:
http://americanmushrooms.com/deathcap.htm

Whatever you do, make sure to keep at least one of them in a labeled bag just in case someone needs to take you to the hospital. That way, they can make a quick identification and possibly save your life.

Thirty years ago I had an intimate experience with these mushrooms. A friends baby was napping in her playpen under a large oak tree. Her other daughter (about 3 yo) wandered around the tree, picking mushrooms and thowing them into the playpen. When the baby awoke, she put them into her mouth and nearly died of poisoning. Two weeks in intensive care and a helicopter trip from the Atlanta CDC with antidote saved the baby's life.
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post #6 of 12
10/22/07 at 1:09pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the replies gang. I don't believe them to be the "Death Cap" but rest assured we'll not do anything until I get a proper identification. I ain't a friggen idget.;)

We have eliminated the Shiitake but still can't find anything on the web. Hopefully Shroomgirl will chime in soon.:D

Here is a better picture.
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post #7 of 12
10/22/07 at 3:31pm
Old School
Please don't think I'm calling you anything like an idiot. Just please be very very careful.
I once had a whole yard full of little mushrooms that looked identical to chantarelles, but turned out not to be when properly identified. :eek:
Tom Brown, who teaches wilderness survival near here in NJ even advises against relying on anyone but the best, most confident mycologist when considering wild mushrooms.
Maybe I've just had too many close calls with them (one is more than enough) and I'm a little paranoid. I'll give you that. With so much safe food available, why risk it-JMHO.

Shroomgirl, love to hear your take on these.
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post #8 of 12
10/22/07 at 3:37pm
Oldschool,

Like Mezz said, please PM shroomgirl, she is the real deal. A mycoligist.
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post #9 of 12
10/22/07 at 3:46pm
Thread Starter 
No, no no not at all foodnfoto. An apology for the coincidental statement. I heed all warnings and, in general, I am one to be very cautious tho. I have a feeling that when we finally get these named, it'll be too late. They're not holding on to well and since we have had to follow watering restrictions I believe their fuel is fading. We do have some possible wood ears or a close cousin forming on the trunk now too. I'm sure I'll be posting those for identification too. We've never owned property that has had so much tree cover anytime before so if many of these turn out to be edible that's great!!!

CC working on that, unable to contact her by email from the site.
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post #10 of 12
10/22/07 at 6:06pm
they are not shiitakes....I found numerous bunches of the same looking shroom this weekend, have NO clue what they were probably LBM (little brown mushrooms....really, that's what they are called).

Actually I'm not a mycologist (PHD in wild shrooms, fungus, slime molds etc), but a mycofogist (cooks wild mushrooms, fungus, not slime molds)....
I do hang out with the Missouri Mycological Society and cook at forays and talk about cooking and certainly can identify loads of shrooms BUT for goodness sakes there are a whole lotta lookalikes that can be deadly.
Alot of Eastern Europeans find shrooms that looked like edible ones from their country over here and get poisoned. Cook up a mess of wild shrooms and die horrible deaths.....or the stupid trying to get high, and die instead.....BAD death, you get sick, better and then 3-5 days later your organs start failing one by one....ugly. no cure.


So, call your local NAMA chapter and find out who is identifying....they will want to see some.

And by the way, hen of the woods, chicken of the woods, wood ears, etc are OUT right now!!!! YES!!!!

As my cornball shroomer friends say," There are old mushroom hunters, bold mushroom hunters But no old bold hunters." kinda says it all.....
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post #11 of 12
10/22/07 at 6:29pm
Thread Starter 

I'll buy that for a dollar! I may be old and maybe a little bold (at times) but....................... I sure ain't a mushroom hunter!

Thanks for the post shroomgirl. I'll try and contact our local organization. Heck just south of here near Ettrick VA is VCU (at least I think it's VCU) and they have an "Aggi" program. Looks like there's a trip to see them in my future.
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post #12 of 12
10/22/07 at 7:01pm
Nama=North America Mycological Association.....there are chapters in every state and in most areas they will recommend someone to visually ID your shrooms.

I can't tell you how many times people figure the mushrooms growing in their yards are inedible....my dad mowed down some huge morels, my stepmother had a huge hen and let it dry up.....I've found oyster shrooms growing on a neighbors tree stump.....Most of my chanterelle hunting is in the city limits in state parks....20# in 3 hikes this past summer. I find black trumpets, hen of the woods, chicken of the woods, chanterelles...numerous varieties, morels on rare occasion and usually one of my buddies is standing over it pointing at it, puff balls....edible but why?, matsutakes in Oregan....I'm really comfortable IDing any of those mushrooms. And several non-edible poisonous ones....
Nothing like walking along and seeing a whole bunch of prime edible shrooms.

Out on a dbl decker bus visiting Mo. wineries all day Sunday. Apple cider at a neighboring farm was the best beverage of the day IMHO.

Did find a whole lot of shrooms Sat around where a tree had died, got pix but still figuring out how to make that work with Cheftalk.....I'll see about hiring the college kid in the office below the kitchen to educate the cook on techie camera/computer shtuff. She likes to eat, I need classes.....looks like a trade made in heaven.
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