A beautiful day here in Upper Michigan. It is starting to dry out , so we do need some rain. I was out of town last week and we had a couple days of rain. Right after the rain would have been a great time to go foraging for Oyster mushrooms. Although a little late I decided to go take a look today and see what I could find. I was able to find enough Oyster Mushrooms that weren’t dried out to take home. I will be posting the recipe we used on this collection of mushrooms in the recipe catagory . If you are not familiar with the oyster mushroom I have included the link from a previous post. Wild mushrooms-Hunting the Oyster mushroom
I also came across a mushroom called Platterful. This mushroom is edible but has absolutely no taste. They are very plentiful here in the spring and early summer. But are of no use.
Platterful Mushroom (Tricholomopsis platyphylla)
Cap-2 to 5 inches brownish grey streaked with dark radial fibers. Gills attached.Stem-3 to 5 inches fibrous with tough rind.Spore Print WhiteSeason-May to early October
This is one of my favorites. The sweet tooth mushroom or in this area they are called the hedgehog mushroom is very plentiful here in upper Michigan. Season starts in July an goes though September. I have my best luck foraging for the Sweet Tooth mushroom starting around the beginning of August and though the middle part of September.When my kids were younger-this was their favorite. They would come running to the door when I got home to see if I had found any.
This mushroom is good tasting an very easy to identify.
Instead of gills it has spines. The cap is good size 1 ¼ to 6 inches. The color is cinnamon brown to white. The stem is tapered at the base and the same color as the cap. The spore print color is white.
If you aren’t sure what you are picking don’t eat it. If you are new to mushroom hunting consult an expert for positive identification.
There is a lot to learn depending on how involved you want to get. You might want to focus on the easy to identify edible wild mushrooms when you first start out. A few I would suggest would be, the Morel, Oyster mushroom, Chanterelle and the Shaggy Mane. These all have fairly easy to identify characteristics. Several good books on identifying wild mushrooms is a must have. When you are choosing a book the colored pictures of the mushroom is as important as the information it provides. You want the pictures to be as true to the actual mushroom as possible to help with accurate identification.
For collecting your mushrooms carry a sharp pocket knife. Cut them off close to the ground, but high enough to leave the dirt behind. If you are collecting a mushroom for identification- take the whole mushroom. Make sure you get all of the stem. Do not put them in plastic. A plastic bag will destroy the mushrooms before you can even get them home. Use paper or a basket with a flat bottom. Do not mix varieties of mushrooms and never mix poisonous or mushrooms you are unsure of in the same bag. I like to carry paper lunch bags with me for collecting specimens I want to take home to identify. I package each of these separately.
Pay attention to the time of year it is. Chances are you won’t find a Shaggy Mane in the middle of the summer.
Is the mushroom growing in a wooded area or a field? In clusters, fairy rings, singly or on a tree? All characteristics of different genera’s. Know the characteristics of the Wild mushroom genera you are searching for.
Note the cap color, size and texture. Smooth or sticky, fibrous or scaled. How long is the stem? The color of the stem can be different then the color of the cap and many times will aid you in a positive identification of the mushroom such as the Chrome-footedBolete.
Is the flesh soft brittle or rubbery? What does the mushroom smell like. I love the smell of the Chanterelle. It is as close to the smell of fresh apricots as you can get. Another one I can think of off hand is the Almond scented Russula. Smells exactly like almonds. But although this Wild mushroom smells great this Russula is a poisonous mushroom.
I hope this article was some help to you if you are new at hunting Wild mushrooms and has provided some helpful tips for you on mushroom hunting. If you cant positively identify the mushroom don’t eat it. Consult an expert to aid you in the mushroom identification.
I have had a lot of interest in identifying the false Morel. Probably because there are usually so many of them out their. In this part of the country they start to appear just before the Morels and extend into the Morel season. They are called beef steak mushrooms here in our area. They are eaten by many, but this is considered a poisonous mushroom. The false Morel is known to have a cumulative type poison. You might get away with one or two meals of this mushroom and the next one may make you very sick. This mushroom is chambered with no gills. It is also very brittle.The cap looks like a brain for the most part. The color ranges from brown to dark brown to almost what I would call a brownish purple.This mushroom is not Recommended for eating-It is poisonous.
With summer almost here the thought of hunting Chanterelle Mushrooms gets me pretty excited. This is one of my favorites. This mushroom is one of the easiest wild mushrooms to identify. They are very good and many times grow in large quantities. They have excellent size, caps ranging 1 ¼ to 6 inches. They have a good texture and taste great. They also freeze well for later use. I have not tried canning these- but think they would also take to that very well. Their color being yellow to a yellowish orange makes them very easy to find. There are some poisonous look a likes so be sure of your identification before eating them. The Chanterelle Mushroom has a great smell. It smells just like fresh apricots. They don’t have true gills, but instead have shallow thick edged wrinkles and veins descending down the stem of the mushroom, often being crossed veined and distant. The stems are about the same color as the caps being ¾-2 1/4 by ¼ to 1 inch. They are found in July though September here in this part of the country. I seem to have my best luck in hardwood forest areas. But I have found these in almost any type of wooded area. As with almost any mushroom you do need the moisture in order to have a good season. Their are also growing kits available for Chanterelle Mushrooms.If you are new to Mushroom Hunting be sure to consult a professional for positive identification. If you are not sure what it is -don’t eat it.
Toward the end of the Morel hunting season and after a couple days of good rain. It is usually a good time to start hunting oyster mushrooms. Although Morel mushrooms have to be the most popular there are many good wild mushrooms to be picked though out the summer and fall. In the early part of the summer one of the first to appear are the oyster mushrooms. These can pretty much be divided into 2 groups. The most popular being the summer oyster ( Pleurotus populinus), And the darker fall version (Pleurotus ostreatus).
One advantage to hunting the fall oyster mushroom is you don’t have as many problems with insects destroying the mushrooms before you can get to them. As far as look a likes- there are not many. Most of them are so tough or thin you can’t eat them anyway. I find the summer oysters growing mostly on dead or dying poplar trees, from ground level all the way to the top of the tree. Which can get kind of frustrating if you are a short person like me.
This mushroom can get pretty large. Cap-2 ¼ to 5 ½ inches.
Color-Brownish white to white or grayish- in the shape of an oyster shell as the name implies.
There is a very short stem if any. The flesh is white. The spore print should be white to lilac.
The oyster mushroom is classified as an excellent edible.
This article is written for educational purposes only. If you are not sure what you are picking- don’t eat it! If you are new to mushroom hunting purchase some good books. Consult a professional for positive identification.
If you are not comfortable picking wild mushrooms there are many mushroom growing kits on the market. You can purchase a kit. You can also purchase spawn and start from scratch.
Here in Northern Michigan when you are hunting for Morel mushroom, one of the first mushrooms to appear is the False Moral. I wouldn’t really call it a look alike but this is what they call it. Here it is called a beefsteak mushroom. I have also head it called a brain mushroom. I guess that is what it really resembles. It is found though out the country. But is most common in the North, and in the Mountains. It is very popular here in upper Michigan. The color is brownish becoming darker with age going to almost black. This is a fairly good size mushroom. The cap averaging two to four inches wide with a short stalk ¾ to 2 inches long. The cap sometimes will take on a saddle shape but mostly they look like a brain. The flesh is very brittle and the cap is chambered.For Habitat they are found in conifers and deciduous woods singly or in groups.This mushroom is classified as deadly.It has been found that this mushroom creates a chemical similar to what is used to make rocket fuel. It has been fatal in a number of cases. The toxins can be removed by the process of boiling. The problem is sometimes they are not completely removed. The poison appears to be cumulative. You could eat a meal of these and not have a problem. But the next meal could make you very, very sick. If you’re not sure don’t eat. In my opinion this is a good mushroom to stay away from.
With spring and summer coming I cannot emphasize enough. Know what you are picking. I just thought I would touch on the death cap a bit. This mushroom intrigues me because of its place in history. As I have said in past articles this is a good genus to stay away from. There are some edible mushrooms in this group. But why take the chance. The caps are generally greenish in color, with a white stipe and gills. This is one of the most poisonous of all the mushrooms. It appears mostly in the summer and fall. The spore print is white.Murder, or by accident, Roman Emperor Claudius and Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, death by Death Cap. This is a brief discription of this mushroom- consult your mushroom guide for further identification. Tags:wild mushrooms, mushroom hunting, poisonous mushrooms
Wow! I look outside here in upper Michigan. It is the end of March and it looks like the middle of January. With a temperature of 4 degrees. This is too cold even for us.I just thought I would touch on something that is often overlooked by many mushroom hunters. Pay attention to where you are picking the wild mushrooms. As the old saying goes “Garbage in, Garbage out”.
Stay away from picking on roadsides. Avoid roadside collecting.
There are a couple of main reasons for this. Mushrooms will concentrate metals from car exhaust. A death was actually reported do to lead poisoning from eating mushrooms picked from the roadside. Also many herbicide sprays are used by the road controlling agency’s.
Many edible mushrooms grow in areas of rotted wood. If you notice any off coloring of the wood (blue, green, red ect.) it may be an indication the area had been sprayed. Use good judgment and some common sense. If in doubt look for a new location.
There are many wild mushrooms species that have look a likes that are poisonous. It is crucial that you are able to positively identify the mushroom. The most dangerous species are members of the genus Amanita, which includes the well known Death cap, Destroying Angle and the hallucinogenic Fly Agaric. All with white spoor prints. If you have a good mushroom book or guide it will list the spoor print colors for each mushroom along with the shape and size of the spoors.To make a spoor print, take a full grown cap and lay it gill side down on a clean piece of glass. Cover the mushroom cap with a glass or jar. This keeps any breeze or air movement from blowing the spoors away. It also helps keep the mushroom cap from drying out. Left overnight the cap should give you a good print. Use a razor blade and scrape the spoors together to get a good color observation. Tags: wild mushrooms, mushroom hunting, edible mushrooms, poisonous mushrooms, hallucinogenic mushroom
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