Ah,@jasonhernandez74, thank you for reminding Huitlacoche. I am so fascinated by uses of specific fungi and fungi-like organisms in Mexican cuisine, such as Huitlacoche and Caca de Luna. Would like to try them one day.
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And yes, as a true mycophile, forgot about visual. Well, Phallaceae go without competition when it comes to phantastic forms (smell not included). Hiericium and Exidiopsis effusa are great, too. But then, in my country mushrooms are in general considered as flowers of the forest (especially in southern Lithuania) and appearance of fluffy white anamorphic Pezizales on soil is termed âflowering soilâ and considered a good sign of approaching yield of mushrooms, especially boletes.
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from ordinary mushrooms, I would say that these are definitely champignons and porcini mushrooms
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Wow, I didnât know the Eastern Jack-o-lantern was bioluminescent. Iâll have to check for the ones that grow in my neighborhood every autumn.
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To eat, Armillaria gallica of course! Theyâre a traditional Cherokee/Appalachian food around here, called âslicks,â and are some of the first wild mushrooms I foraged, cooked, and ate independently as a kid. Fried in butter over a campfire, you get to know why theyâre called âhoney mushrooms.â In late October/November, thereâs really not that much they can be confused with due to the sheer numbers in which they pop out of the ground in the mountains. Also, their life history is completely insane.
A. gallica has a swollen base, scale-like projections on the cap, and an ornate membranous ring in itâs prime, so itâs definitely not an ugly mushroom either. Hydnum, Craterellus, and Cantharellus are also delicious. For vegans (even though Iâm not one myself), I highly recommend barbequed or deep-fried Laetiporus cincinnatus. Thatâs a meal not easily forgotten, and it tastes remarkably like (drumroll): chicken!
Hoping to try some Lactarius fragilis (Southeastern Candy Cap) this upcoming season.
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Someone once made a post about âChicken Lipsâ and now I really want to find one!
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/348808-Leotia-viscosa
I personally donât know a lot about mushrooms. I once was out with a mushroom-savvy friend who found an enormous âChicken of the Woodsâ and she shared it with me. I was skeptical, so I cooked a tiny amount and tried it. It was delicious! I waited a decent amount of time and when I did not die, I immediately cooked up the rest and made the best fried âchickenâ sandwich ever.
My favorite personal observation of a mushroom is here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/62354218
My daughter said âIt looks like an apple pie!â
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Iâve always been particularly fond of bolete mushrooms for some reason.
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Ophiocordyceps sinensis Am not sure I can categorize this as my favorite. But itâs impact on himalayan mountain communities have been tremendous. Between 2000 and 2018 the collecting of this from the high alpine zone ( 3500 to 5000 metres) by 1000âs of collectors has changed their lives, the local economy, But has also been greatly detrimental to the ecology of these fragile ecosystems. It was somewhat of a âGold rushâ with similar dynamics.
The Morel mushroom is a favourite edible of the community where I live,
However my favourite wild edible Mushroom I donât have a name for - found in the alpine region - preferring to grow on dung - large almost rectangular and white. When picked at the correct time is almost like a block of âIndianâ Cottage Cheese.
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The fly agaric is indeed a picturesque mushroom, a very pretty fairy-tale fungus.
I ate one once, back in the crazy 1960s. The people with me told me I would see God for sure. I didnât.
I did not hallucinate at all, although I got rushes like nicotine rushes and eventually I threw up. But for almost a year afterwards, whenever I shut my eyes, I could watch brightly colored and very entertaining animation created by my own brain, whereas normally I see nothing when I close my eyes. Eventually the animations all faded to pastel tones, and then disappeared.
Apparently what compounds are present in the fly agaric vary enormously according to where it grows.
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We have Shaggy Manes pop up in our yard every fall, and they are delicious when fresh. The deer like them, too.
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That is correct. Doses of A. muscaria that will cause really serious problems may vary very widely in different geographical regions. Judging from the reports, A. muscaria is less toxic in colder climates. Though the ârecreational effectâ seems to to be less varying.
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I find the Australian Craypot Stinkhorn the most fascinating of fungi. Watching one unfurl and take on its basket shape is just amazing. And theyâre such a bright red colour. Unfortunately, the smell is a bit of a deterrent to making lengthy observations.
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Sounds delicious! In California, there are also very desirable Boletus and others. My family tells stories of my great-grandmother from Lithuania who knew what to gather in the woods of New York even after moving here. The knowledge wasnât passed down, but Iâve took a little mushroom workshop last year that was fun. Now one of my favorite mushrooms is an edible Amanita (of course some in the Genus are toxic).
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Ah, this is sad⌠It would be so interesting if the knowledge was passed and to see how it evolved with different fungus species (compared to European). But this is very interesting what you say about edible Amanitas. This is comparable to Southwestern Europe (viz. Amanita cesarea). In Eastern Europe no Amanitas are ever collected for food. Not even edible ones (A. caesarea does not occur there).
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Yes, I wish the foraging knowledge had been passed down. :)
There are similar looking toxic Amanita species to the edible species, but as with anything else, once you learn the difference, it is not too difficult to tell them apart. I would not recommend trying without a little training and confirmation from an expert.
Currently in the woods here, people are foraging for Morels, and in the Fall, the Golden Chanterelle are popular, but I think the species from Oregon is better tasting than the California species.
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My favorite fungi to eat is probably lionâs mane, which can be cultivated - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/69439176
⌠or lobster mushroom (2 fungi species! Hypomyces lactifluorum is the parasitic brightly-colored one that brings the flavor, and its hosts, milk-caps or brittlegills, bring the body & texture) https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/59192136
⌠this following a clear pattern of me being a long time vegetarian who never really liked land-animal meat but was alright with seafood. Both of these cook up to be seafood reminiscent, especially in texture, to me.
But I havenât tried all that many wild fungi you can eat yet! Iâve been inspired to look into it lately because of seeing presentations by chefs & foragers on safely finding and eating wild mushrooms. A site with a lot of recipes is https://foragerchef.com/mushrooms-2/
My favorite fungi I have seen someone else observe include Golden Coincap - Cyptotrama chrysopepla for its beauty & the fun I had identifying it with help from other WI myco society members in this observation - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/61011375
I have also really enjoy the mysterious ones, that make you wonder âis this a fungus?â, like hazel woodwart - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/65283006 where myco-microscopy really shines in helping us identify them
And to give it up to the unknowns, there is this crust fungus - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/68255323 which is stunning, but I have very little idea where to start with identifying it, for now.
My favorite fungi I have observed include Holwaya mucida, on account of it being so small & also having interesting biology. https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/126908-Holwaya-mucida
And what might be Jafnea semitosta, a fungi species that has the distinction of the largest fungal genome sequenced and reported as of 2017 - https://www.jstor.org/stable/44853684?seq=1
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/61117794
So many cup-shaped fungi are both bizarre (in a good way) and gorgeous - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/59290124
If you like purple fungi, here are a few with various levels of violet, including the species you name -
Cortinarius violaceus, Violet Webcap - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/124344-Cortinarius-violaceus
Cortinarius iodes , Viscid Violet Cort - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/154583-Cortinarius-iodes
Cortinarius traganus Gassy Webcap - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/58676-Cortinarius-traganus
Cortinarius porphyroideus, Purple Pouch - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/127053-Cortinarius-porphyroideus
Lepista nuda, Blewit - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/351380-Lepista-nuda
Laccaria amethystina, Amethyst Deceiver - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/55899-Laccaria-amethystina
Mycena pura, Lilac Bonnet - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/63473-Mycena-pura
Russula cyanoxantha, Charcoal Burner - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/194437-Russula-cyanoxantha
Tylopilus plumbeoviolaceus, Violet Gray Bolete - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/146681-Tylopilus-plumbeoviolaceus
Gymnopus iocephalus - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/340976-Gymnopus-iocephalus Is at times purple.
âŚno common name. I suppose we could make a common name up. Translating the binomial, we get Barefoot Ioâs Head. Didnât âtranslateâ Io because as far as I can tell, that is the mythological figure and not a root part. Weird name, might have to work on it. I found on the wikidata page for G. iocephalus a name for it listed in Chinese, éç裸čäź, which just putting it into machine translation gets âRusty Umbrellaâ. Sounds good to me.
According to an article in this - https://www.psms.org/sporeprints/SP457.pdf - they can have a distinctive smell, possibly sauerkraut, gunpowder, or onion/garlicky, depending on who you ask.
And for non-mushroom shaped fungi,
Trichaptum bioforme, Violet-toothed Polypore, https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/125705-Trichaptum-biforme
Clavaria zollingeri, Violet Coral Fungus - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/126160-Clavaria-zollingeri
Ramariopsis pulchella, Lilac Coral Fungus - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/352201-Ramariopsis-pulchella
& Clavaria schaefferi, which we might call Pink Coral Fungus, while pink, does sometimes look purple - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/701942-Clavaria-schaefferi
In crust fungi, Punctularia atropurpurascens, Violet Crust, https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/514081-Punctularia-atropurpurascens & if you look at Similar Species there you can see at least 3 more.
If you were interested in the wide range of fungal pigments themselves,
https://www.agriculturejournals.cz/publicFiles/37205.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5479939/
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The âdog poopâ ones might be
Daldinia concentrica, King Alfredâs Cakes - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/121714-Daldinia-concentrica
Exidia glandulosa, Black Witchâs Butter - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/55568-Exidia-glandulosa
Kretzschmaria deusta, Brittle Cinder - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/128051-Kretzschmaria-deusta
âŚor perhaps a relative.
Or, a slime mold rather than an actual fungus! Like the brown/grey examples of Wolfâs Milk - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47680-Lycogala-epidendrum
Thatâs a lot of information, I appreciate it
Well, that was fun to look through those! In my recollection, it looked more like the Brittle Cinder than the others.