In many parts of the northern hemisphere folks find the rare Umbrella Polypore in late spring or fall. Here in the Maritimes I have only found & gathered them in July which is when they are not suppose to appear.
This is a choice edible mushroom which is associated with beech trees, though the closest trees to this one were poplar, birch and hemlock.
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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