Basketing Boletus

This young button mushroom appears to be a King Bolete, Boletus edulis.

There are lots of King Boletes under these Norway Spruce in this area though there are a few other boletes here which are close relatives and quite choice edibles.

The one in the center could be possibly Boletus reticulatus as it is known to appear around 400 miles south of here.

Here is another one with a nice cracked cap. If this is Boletus reticulatus it also goes by the common name of the Summer King Bolete which would be fitting on the last day of summer.

Another young King Bolete.

The also good to eat King’s snitch, Clitopilus prunulus, also known as the Miller and Sweetbread mushroom. Where Clitopilus prunulus appears the King Bolete will often soon arrive in the same area.

Here we see the basket looks pretty fine with these Boletus on board. If you seen a man balancing a large basket of something on the top of his head while walking along the edge of a forest in N.B. Canada yesterday morning, you now know who it was. ciao

Spruce Bolete

Leccinum piceinum are starting to arise along with the white matsutakes which I showed earlier tonight.

This gotta be the easiest of red capped Leccinums to identify since it only grows under conifers and usually in thick moss.

It also has some loose cuticle material hanging from the cap margin which aids in identifying this one, though there are other red capped Leccinums with similar loose hanging cap edges though they will be growing near birch or poplar trees.

Spruce Bolete is considered a good edible if you only eat the caps and cook them thoroughly , it also drys well which makes it more flavourful.

A Sweet tooth for Hedgehog mushrooms

This is a choice edible mushroom I’ve enjoyed eating for a number of years now though I never seen them as plentiful as I did here today.

Hydnum repandum is known as the Sweet tooth mushroom in North America and the Hedgehog mushroom in english speaking areas of Europe.

Some of these young mushrooms were weighing around 6 ozs so the basket was filling quickly, the cap color is very lively looking and really stands out from a good distance.

This mushroom is very good cooked in butter low and slow in a covered pan for 30 to 40 minutes. I usually remove the soft spike teeth before cooking as they scrape away very easy. The mushrooms will give of their liquids in around the 15 minute mark and then they will absorb them again in the last few minutes.

By far my best collection of Hydnum repandum ever, as you can see a few Lobster mushrooms and Russulas along with at the back between the baskets a nice 5 lb Chaga mushroom horn which I’ll do a post on later. ciao

Sheepish grin

Visiting a place which is new to me today, lots of caves in the area with plenty of limestone and gypsum outcrops. Should see some Chanterelle and some other interesting mushrooms.

Usually I do not see Suillus grevillei till next month though here they are.

Can’t see any larch trees here either though the larch is I believe Suillus grevillei’s only tree associate.

This one is a new Russula to me, very robust thick stem and compact heavy cap with a cap and stem color I haven’t noticed on Russulas before.

The deep black staining on the gills calls for further investigation. I sliced the mushroom down the center and it turned black within a few minutes. This mushroom must be Russula adusta or a very close relative. This is an inedible mushroom.

More yellow Coral mushrooms which I can’t identify as of yet. We have 3 different types of yellow coral in my area by the looks of things. I’ll have them figured out by next year.

Ah, I’ve seen some big Sweet tooth mushrooms lately but this is too much.

On flipping this one over I notice there is too much, as in tiny pores instead of long teeth. This mushroom is either Sheep Polypore or Albatrellus confluens both are edible and I haven’t tried either one yet.

More of this Albatrellus species mushrooms are on this hillside.

It is kind of interesting that in Europe Sheep Polypore (Albatrellus ovinus) is considered the best edible, while in North America Albatrellus confluens is viewed as the better edible mushroom as long as it is well cooked. Back in Europe Albatrellus confluens in most of the northern countries is parboiled and then cooked again when it is eaten though few eat it when Albatrellus ovinus is available.

I won’t know which Albatrellus I have here until I get some in the frying pan and heat it awhile as Albatrellus ovinus’ white flesh turns lemon yellow and Albatrellus confluens white flesh turns an apricot color when cooked. These mushrooms once cooked appear closer to the apricot shade so I suspect these are Albatrellus confluens.

Since this is my initial try with this mushroom I did take the European advise and parboiled and then fully cooked the mushrooms later in the frying pan, the aroma of the cooking mushrooms was pleasant and the taste was quite good though I only ate a small quantity to be on the safe side. Oh with all the new mushrooms grabbing my attention I didn’t show any of the nice Chanterelle I gathered out there, well sometimes it is interesting to show only the surprises. ciao

Foray it’s Friday

Starting on the evening of Friday the 27th of September 2013 and ending around noon on Sunday the 29th the Nova Scotia Mycological Society will be holding their annual wild mushroom foray near Berwick NS. Here is the address if you would like more info www.nsmushrooms.org/forays/2013               Judging by soil maps and the forest types in the foray’s surrounding areas this should provide the society with quite a few new species to add to their already impressive list of species in N.S.   Check out their site, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with what you will see there, they offer a great deal and a good opportunity to enjoy and learn on the trails and back at the Identifying tables at the campsite. (Photo above) Dyer’s polypore, Phaeolus schweinitzii

I did a little (Foray it’s Friday) myself tonight and here are some photos, you’ll see lots of mushrooms similar to these at the NS foray plus many more. One of the first mushrooms I seen on my walk this evening were these Lobster mushrooms.

This one weighed around 12 ozs

I walked for an hour through these woods and here are just a few of the ones I photographed in order as I found them, here we see some Pear-shaped Puffballs.

Next a stranger to me, looks like a very dark capped Amanita, but with  all wild mushroom and especially the Amanitas you are best to not guess. I may dry these to sent away for identification.

You will need to click on to enlarge this photo, the white mushrooms far off in the distance are the very common Destroying Angel which is another member of the Amanita family which host many of the Maritime provinces most poisonous mushrooms.

This is one of our most common early fall mushrooms, Cortinarius Armillatus which isn’t very tasty and mistaken identity in the Cort family can be a life threatening experience. This mushroom known as the Bracelet Cort is best left off your edible list.

More Lobster mushrooms.

Here is a large coral mushroom, this may be or may not be a variety of Ramaria flava, I’ll dry and send some of this mushroom away for identification.

Forays are not all about mushrooms, I found this birch tree quite frilling as well.

Here I see a tree with what appears to be plenty of Chaga mushroom on it about 300 feet away with my car visible a 1,000 feet away in the light green area noticeable near the bottom of the tree trunks. You’ll need to click on this to see anything on this one.

So the tree did actually have some Chaga on it but only a very small horn so now I’m heading towards the car and see this very large bright capped mushrooms growing on this downed log, don’t know this one, I touched the underside of the cap and my hand was quickly stained with a reddish-brown watery powder, interesting stuff out here.

Around 400 feet from the car and now I find a nice surprise edibility wise.

Sweet Tooth or AKA  Hedgehog mushrooms these are the largest ones I gathered this year. As far as wild edible mushrooms go I did very well ending up with around 5 lbs of Lobster and Hedgehog mushrooms.

Across the street from my car here are a few lbs of Lobster mushrooms and these are the ones you should not gather for food. For every pound of wild mushrooms I gather for food or medicinal use I walk by double that number of pounds of the same species due to them being in areas where they may accumulate toxins. The wild mushrooms you can see from your car while driving are great for indicating a mushroom is available in that area but again leave them there to spread spores and indicate good gathering grounds.

If you have hung around to make it to the end of my Friday night foray, thanks for the company and maybe we will meet again at the NS Mycological Society’s foray in a few weeks. ciao

Trees, fruits and mushrooms

This Fir is quite burlumpuous.

Young Chaga mushrooms on mature birch trees.

Eastern white pine with developing cone. (click on to notice the resin on the cone)

Heavily fruiting Hawthorn.

Closer look at the fruit.

Hobblebush with unripe fruit

Here we see lots of red and a few ripe black Hobblebush berries.

Catathelasma ventricosum mushroom in button stage.

Here we have mature, button and young all growing within a few feet of each other. These are the first ones I seen this year and this usually indicates its look-alike White Matsutake will be appearing in a few weeks, rain permitting.

Xerula furfuracea, this one was growing out of a beech tree stump which is the norm for this mushroom. We see around a foot of stem yet I was unable to get the whole thing as it snapped of at some point which helps in the identification as the breaking of the stem has a real green bean snap sound which is unusual in mushrooms.

A few fresh Chanterelle. ciao

Berry good to see you

I’m exploring a new area tonight with my main interest in the ripeness of the Chokecherries in this neck of the woods though there are a large number of Staghorn Sumac which have made me thirsty for some sumac-ade.

Somewhat elegant for a name like Staghorn Sumac isn’t it. This small tree often grows in groups and in this area I see around 30 small trees ranging in heights from 4 to 10 feet.

Here are enough Staghorn Sumac berry-heads to make a few litres of ade. This one is easy to gather and also prepare and  I am a bit surprised it isn’t more popular as a wild food. I’m tempted to gather some to dry for winter this year and experiment a little with it beyond the usual jellies and beverages, I’ll let you know how it goes.

There are some more interesting berries around here, these are Highbush Cranberries (Viburnum trilobum).

Here is a better look at the whole shrub, these berries are far from ripe at this time and are often gathered  in the fall after a few frost have hit them, they are hardy and are often on the bush when the snow is deep.

Another Viburum this one is called Wild Raisin (Viburnum cassinoides), a few blue berries are already ripe and very sweet. Interesting how the berries will continue to ripen here and there on this shrub for many weeks, nice shrub for a small snack in the yard in late summer, the taste is something like dates, this berry has a large seed.

You may want to click on to see this Wild Raisin shrub closer, lots of clusters on this one.

The Chokecherries are not quite ripe enough, maybe in a week or so.

The elderberries in this area probably will be killed by frost before they become ripe, it happens sometimes this far north, especially in shady areas like this one. You’ll need to click on to notice all the small green clusters of elderberries in this photo.

These are not berries though for those who haven’t seen Milkweed in the seedpod stage let me introduce them to you. I know I was surprised the first time I seen this plant with their unusually large pods for plants in a cool climate. I’ll add this photo to my edible plant page after.

Now for some Sumac-ade refreshment. cheers

Apios americana flowers

In my (wild edible plants) page I ‘m adding a few  Apios Americana flower photos as these flowers are rather pleasant to the eye as well as being one of our better wild tuber plants.

This was an important staple food in some parts of North America long ago.

Easy to notice this plant when the flowers are on these vines though in the fall I usually become aware of their presence by seeing groundnut tubers dangling from washed out river banks, this far north I have never noticed seed pods developing on this plant.

Here if you click on the photo you will see the Apios americana vines climbing over these spent Daylily flower stocks with a bed of Jerusalem Artichoke in the background, so we have 3 good tuber plants together in this one. ciao

Craterellus ignicolor and neighbours

These fresh Hydnum repandum are a welcome sight right here in the heart of the Craterellus ignicolor community.

This is a choice edible mushroom often called the Hedgehog and also Sweet tooth mushroom. Not very noticeable in the photo are the small spines on the underside of the cap on these young mushrooms which become easier to see as the mushroom matures.(click on for close up)

Here is another pleasant neighbour Xanthoconium affine var. maculosus, known as the spotted Bolete.

Now to focus on the Craterellus ignicolor family itself, here we see many bright orange young mushrooms with a few of the elders with their faded caps to the right.

Here we have a close look of what is comparable to a group of secondary school children in the craterellus community here in New Brunswick.

A middle aged Craterellus parent.

Here we see a few members of the national basketball team and then some as these mushroom are much larger than the usual as the stems were around 6 inches high and the caps over 3 inches with these weighing around an oz.

Hope you enjoyed getting to know some of the little ones of Craterellusville. ciao for now

Craterellus ignicolor

This little mushroom is just starting to make an appearance around here and I am quite thankful as last year these mushrooms were very rare and my supply of dried Craterellus ignicolor mushrooms ran out about 6 months ago, so I went without one of my favorites for quite sometime.

You may notice a resemblance to the golden Chanterelle with forked gills though it is smaller and  lighter weighing due to it being hollow which makes it ideal for cleaning and drying. First time I tried this mushroom fresh in a soup I found it acted as a mild laxative in my body so I dried the rest of the mushrooms I collected and in the dried form they do not have that laxative effect on me, plus their flavour comes to the forefront in dried form being especially good crushed and sprinkled on omelets and chicken. They will remind you of dried Chanterelle only with a little more fresh fruity flavour, some say it is similar to plums in some ways.

Here is a tray of Craterellus ignicolor ready for drying.

Now I do see these mushrooms and a few similar species are actually commercially gathered from some regions and marketed as Yellow Foot Chanterelle and yes they can be plentiful though you need to pick a hundred or so to weigh in with a single pound, so this mushroom I suspect is back-breaking work for the folks trying to make a few dollars picking these guys, hopefully they will find a large string of big 1 lb Lobster mushrooms to balance things out at the weigh in station.

In my case fortunate thoughts are arising as these gatherings appear joyful, a labour of love as it seems these little mushrooms are a beautiful sight on the forest floor along with them being much tastier than gold. ciao