Not very Poultry mushrooms

This is no chicken little. This is the east coast conifer version of (Chicken of the woods) Laetiporos huroniensis which I happen to notice on a big old eastern hemlock around a 100 feet up a steep bank on trail 2 at the foray.

(Ma i take) a step back now to – who came first the chicken or the hen – and the truth is  on the way down to the 2013 N.S. Mycological Society Foray I decided to take a short detour over to a side road in Hants Co. N.S. to see if the red oak that gave me 3 nice (hen of woods) after last year’s Foray was going to be generous again. There wasn’t 3 this time though 1 huge Hen of the woods (Grifola frondosa) was all my basket could handle.

Check out the info and especially the story at the bottom of this mushroom–collecting.com/mushroommaitake.

Now back to this conifer chicken of the woods Laetiporos huroniensis, it is considered by a few people a good edible though 10% or more of the population may experience some GI problems after eating this one.  That is a high percentage so it seems good advise to only gather chicken of the woods of hardwoods which will make your mushroom either Laetiporus sulphurous or Laetiporus cincinnatus in New England and Eastern Canada at least, there are a few other varieties out west which seem to be studied a little more than our east coasters. Well time to fly the coop. ciao

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Hen of the foray

Gypsy mushrooms (Cortinarius caperatus), click on any of the photos for a closer look.

This next photo of gypsy mushrooms is foggy though the white powdery bloom is very noticeable on the young caps.

I returned home Sunday evening from the Nova Scotia Mycological Society’s 2012 weekend foray held in Ship Harbour NS at the Deanery Project. This down to earth or more accurately into earth event was very enjoyable and although my usual outings are silent,  timeless experiences, I was deeply moved to be on the trails with a variety of folks enjoying nature, the truth of what we are one might say.

Since this rugged part of Nova Scotia with lots of conifer forest, rocky areas and many lakes and small rivers along the Atlantic coast was new to me I chose a variety of routes back and forth to the foray and noticed Red Oak trees in a few isolated areas I decided to make a stop at one of these spots since Oak trees are rare in my home area and Oaks are well known for hosting many choice edible mushrooms.

I’ve been foraging wild mushrooms for many decades and this is my first gathering of Maitake or Hen of the Woods, (Grifola frondosa). No wonder this wild edible is so popular in the New England states as it is very tender and tasty and fills the basket in no time.

This mushroom is excellent pan fried in butter, but 3/4 of the collection will be dried and used as a nice addition to my other medicinal tea mushrooms (white matsutake, chaga, and the gypsy mushroom)  Maitake will add a new pleasant flavour to the contents of the tea cup this winter and throughout the year.

There were a few other wild mushrooms amongst the oaks which were quiet striking, including some large colorful Russulas and this purple stemmed bolete which looks like Tylopilus eximius  but the nearest conifer was 75 feet away?

I’ll stop now, you’ve been dazzled enough by the glorious fungus fruits of Nova Scotia. ciao for now