Gathering lots of mushrooms lately with all the rain recently and haven’t posted or viewed much in quite awhile so time to catch up on things here, the little mushrooms above are Hydnum umbilicatum, the (little hedgehog) which I usually do not noticed till Oct though this year they are common in mixed woods with mossy floors. They are a tiny mushroom and quite tasty with a nice crunchiness and usually grow in large groups.
Here the spike-like teeth are noticeable under the mushroom’s caps.
Chocolate Milky (Lactarius lignyotus) is a mushroom I’ve admired for many years though I just recently found out they are edible as many field guides I’ve read over the years never mention their edibility.The Mycoquebec website here in Canada rates Lactarius lignyotus as a good edible and I agree after having a few serving this week.
Here we see the white to cream colored gills which stands out against the dark brown cap and stem. This is another small mushroom which takes plenty of picking to make a meal though they to are often in large groups in mossy conifer woods.
This is a photo from last Oct showing the white milky latex which appears when the gills are touched, at that time I was simply enjoying the beauty of this mushroom as its edibility was still unknown to me.
I’ve been gathering some larger mushrooms as well, here are some Lobster mushrooms.
Boletus subcaerulescens
You also see some small white Miller mushrooms Clitopilus prunulus which indicate the size of this bolete which weighed a pound and a half.
A basket of large Chanterelles.
Lastly a mushroom I suspect most Maritime mushroom pickers are unaware we have here, at least I was surprised to see so many Tree-Ears (Auricularia auricula) around this year. ciao
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Love your photos! I too am fond of mushrooms but mainly just the photography part of it. My brother picks lots of chanterelles and recently found some oyster mushrooms and another he called Bear’s head or lion’s head mushroom. I love the variety of textures and colors but have yet to devote much time in identifying them. Keep up the great work!
Thanks, I am enjoying a great variety of photos on your blog as well, I especially liked the recent Amanita mushroom photo. nice one
They all look great. I wish I knew more about mushrooms. I pick puffballs and common ones, but don’t know enough to branch out – maybe one day if I go for a walk with some one experienced in mushroom matters!
Yes with will wild mushrooms it is important to start slowly and progress at the same pace getting to know each one you decide to add to you edible list very well. An experienced gatherer can be very beneficial in pointing you to the safest and easiest wild mushrooms to start with which can be identified by very visible and memorable field characteristics. Hope you have a chance to attend a foray in your area where you can really get a good feel for these wonderful forest gifts.
How can you tell if a mushroom is edible or poisonous to us? Is there a undeniable way to tell? is there any patterns or look or smell anything that you can tell if it’s poisonous or not? Or do u have to spend countless hours and days studying books of the different mushroom species In order to be able to identify the edible from the poisonous ones?
Start with the knowledge of one and one your way along. The easiest way into to this from an edible point of view is to find out which is the most common choice edible wild mushroom in your local area and research it a bit, next search out a local group or knowledgeable individual willing to share all the key factors of only this one mushroom. Most folks start with Chanterelle and some stick only to this one as it is an excellent edible and is found commonly in good numbers in the same woodland patches year after year and it has very few look alikes. Time will tell how deep you want to get into this though for the first several years expert advise is very important before ever trying any new wild mushroom as food. As you learn just the Chanterelle you will become familiar with the color variation between wet and moist conditions, the faint to strong fruity smell, the texture of the stem and cap, look and feel of young to old specimens, the slight sound it makes when you unearth or cut it, the differences of mushrooms growing in moss or grass or duff, interior flesh color of dry to waterlogged mushrooms or old blackened chanterelles which are no longer edible and much, much more, knowledge you obtain from learning your very first wild mushroom is extremely valuable the rest of the way along the fungi path.