Topic: Safe identification of mushrooms

[Sverige]

Anyone know a reliable method to safely identify mushrooms? There seem to be risks involved in jumping to too many conclusions that these things are edible, when they could in fact be deadly.  Is there a simple guide which may be followed or is it a case of committing to plenty of study before become confident in such matters.?

[Peripatetic Phil]

My own method is simply to eat those that /cannot/ be mistaken for a deadly poisonous species.  This include all boletus (Boletus edulis, Boletus spp.) [my personal favourite, but avoid those that cut red or yellow -- they can give you an upset stomach], fairy ring champignons (Marasmius oreades), parasol mushrooms (Macrolepiota procera), blewits (Lepista nuda) and shaggy ink caps (Coprinus comatus).  Those are the /only/ mushrooms I will gather and eat, unless I am accompanied by an expert mycologist.

** Phil.
--------
True story from a conference in Sobieszewo, Poland, in the early 1990s.  The organisers learned that many of the foreign delegates were harvesting mushrooms, and were understandably concerned.  During the opening session the next day, the Chairman made an announcement :  "Ladies and gentlemen, it has come to our attention that some conference delegates are picking our local fungi.  While we welcome this interest in our native species, we are concerned that those of you who do not come from countries where these fungi are found may accidentally pick and eat a poisonous species, perhaps even a deadly species.  We therefore recommend that before eating any mushroom you have picked, /please/, have it properly identified by a Pole, or a Ukrainian, or a Russian, etc.".  Applause followed.  Then a gentleman spoke, in a pronounced foreign accent, from the back of the room :  "Mr Chairman, your advice is necessary, but not sufficient.  Before eating any mushroom they have picked, our guests should have it properly identified by an /elderly/ Pole, or an /elderly/ Ukrainian, or an /elderly/ Russian".  Long, loud and sustained applause !

[Garp]

Sorry bud, the only help I can be is that I can safely identify them in Tesco 

[Geezah]

In all honesty, I only ever used to gather Psilocybe semilanceata and Amanita muscaria.

I doubt you would want to add those to a curry or serve them to your guests....... or you might

[Invisible Mike]

Lol Geezah. Those were the days...

No there is no formula for safely identifying all mushrooms but there are formulas for identifying safe mushrooms from certain genuses. Eg. poisonous members of the agaricus (field mushroom) family tend to turn yellow if you bruise them and will smell of TCP esp agaricus xanthodermus and agaricus moelleri. But it is not so straightforward as horse mushrooms (agaricus avensis) are edible but also can have a faint tinge of yellow to them. If you taste a member of the russula genus and it has a mild taste it is generally thought to be safe to eat, if it is bitter or has a hot chilli-like taste it will seriously upset you. The notorious beechwood sickener springs to mind!

I've been foraging for mushrooms and all types of wild food for years. At last count I'd eaten 59 species of fungi. If you need any help with ID upload a photo and I'll do my best to help. I do guiding sessions aswell if you're ever around the Midlands. There's plenty of easy species to get you going. Just yesterday I picked some chicken of the woods - ideal for beginners!

Failing that buy a book called Mushrooming with Confidence by Alex Schwab. About the most foolproof ID book as you'll ever lay your hands on.

Best

Mushroom Mike

[Sverige]

Thanks guys. Seems I have found the right guy in Mike. Will take a pic tomorrow and upload. Ta

[Sverige]

Not great photos, sorry

[Peripatetic Phil]

Not great photos, sorry

Agreed

[Invisible Mike]

Winter Polypore (polyporus brumalis)

[Sverige]

Thanks Mike. So from what Mr Google tells me this is not an eater and is actually left over from last year.