Short post on my first gathering of Polyporus umbellatus which is a rare and quite unusual wild edible mushroom here the Maritime provinces. This Umbrella polypore is the size of a loaf of bread and has a scent of toffee. Umbrella polypore is also aka the medicinal mushroom Zhu Ling which makes use of the large woody sclerotia underground the fruiting mushroom. These sclerotia left as is should produce fruiting mushrooms for decades, so I shall return next year to check this out. Zhu Ling is best known for its results for folks with lung cancer and has a long history of usage in China. As for  tastiness of this above ground mushroom, I’ll add a comment later on after I fry some up. This mushroom was found near birch, poplar and young beech so keep your eyes open my fellow Maritime foragers.
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Gary Lincoff rated the Umbrella polypore as a choice edible in the good old ( NAS field guide to Mushrooms) and I must agree. Not quite as good as a Hen of the Woods which it resembles but mighty close.
Beautiful and clean looking compared to some hen of the wood I have found
Yes Louise this one was fresh and quite clean, there were a few bugs and slugs dancing inside but they were easily removed once opened up.
Really interesting, I wonder if they grow in France. Must check it out.
Rare in France Jude, can possibly be found though under beech, hornbeam and oak trees in Europe.
We have oak all around us, I shall keep an eye out!
….so despite this, I gather you hadn’t found any chanterelles yet either eh? (admittedly, a few early nubs found while myself across the duff has me cursing *FLOCCOSUS* under my breath since)
it’s good reading your posts again!
The few chantys we had dried up, nice big Umbrella.