Mycology / Mushroom Hunting General

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Went out today for a quick hunt. The weather has been very warm and wet and I've been seeing more mushrooms popping up here and there. I had found a good concentration of Cantharellus cinnabarinus last year on a local trail last year so I decided to see if they are coming back.

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Finally found some Chanterelles I was hoping to see. They are still small but I'm happy to see they will come back.

>>807772
Indian Pipe isn't a fungus but I still find it interesting. Plus it usually pops up right around the same areas.

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Are these safe to eat?

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Not even good b8 m8

>>807768
You sure those are chanterelles? They look pretty red to me...

Cool pics, where are you from?

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I've been on a diet of chanterelles these past few days, the Finnish early mushroom season started out great.
I foraged my first mushrooms in April. I was taking the cat for a walk in the grove and it was sniffing around in a bush. Turns out it was some morels, pic related

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Here in VA, both the yellow and cinnabar variety of chanterelle are present. Those are the cinnabars when they have the most orange in them. Once they get bigger they have an almost pink color to them.

>>807881
See reply above, forgot to add post #.
>>807899
Nice find!

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>>807910
thanks, it's the first time an animal helped me out.
I've also found some boletes and hedgehog mushrooms. I hope August won't be too dry so I'll get some horn of plenty, my favorite shrooms.

>>807902
I pick those but the yellow/white ones here in Canada BC. Damn fine mushroom. If you dehydrate them I'd suggest grinding the stems into a powder and using it as a spice. I do this and it tastes amazing, and gives the taste without the mushroom (if I dont have any)

Can anybody recommend any book on the matter?

>>808018
Where are you from?

>>808018
Mushrooms Demystified is a decent guide if youre in NA, but youre probably better off getting a region specific guide.

If you're in California by chance, California Mushrooms by desjardin, Wood, and Stevens is good.

>>808018
The peterson guides are very good for North American wildlife. I just recently bought the medicinal plants, edible plants, and mushroom peterson field guides and they just arrived today. They seem good quality, but I haven't handled them enough to give you an unbiased reccomendation.

>>807993
I will certainly try that. One of my favorite attributes of the Cinnabars is their peppery flavor.

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There are some mushrooms that I spot just because they're uncommon or look odd. The Sarcoscypha mushrooms, for instance, aren't good for eating but I still like finding them.

>>807756
>psychedelics

English and American people often think of magic shrooms when I say I look for mushrooms every year. Is mushroom hunting a weird thing to do in the Anglosphere? I often notice that books and documentaries warn never to eat wild mushrooms or to consult an expert. Where I live, it's considered perfectly normal and my teacher even took our class mushrooming in elementary school.
If it's not just a cultural thing, I've been wondering of another alternative: maybe it depends on the proportion of edible mushrooms found in an area. There are some extremely poisonous species here, but they're not very common and the prime edibles aren't easily confused with them.

>>808266
Most places in the USA have many look alike species that are extremely poisonous.

Honestly I agree with the teaching of "don't fucking touch any of them" because it's just not worth it. Pretty to look at, though.

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>>808321
That's my impression too. Mushroom hunters in the US are serious mycophiles because there aren't as many choice species as readily available as in the Eurasian taiga belt, for example.
So what's the most dangerous fungus there? Here I'd say it's the destroying angel.

>>808356
We also have those in florida

>>808356
>>808266
Places like Australia and the US dont have the long cultural tradition of foraging for mushrooms and the cultural knowledge that comes with that. Many renowned Mycologists in Australia strongly discourage foraging due t many look a-likes and our poor understanding of many of the native fungi here. Theres a chance, albeit minute, that you could fuck up and pick a look alike that you never knew existed.

Mostly though, I think the discouraging here is because we have a lot of people in urban centers, typically recent immigrants from Asian backgrounds that have foraged in their home country, die from eating look-alike mushrooms they assume to be the same as in their home country.

So it all just boils down to why risk death to forage for mushrooms you can just buy at the supermarket (like all the rest of your produce, if you're a typical Australian).

>>808266
I am from Latvia. Here it's perfectly normal to hunt mushrooms. It's a very popular hobby for older people. Our stores and foods have a variety of mushrooms.

I also lived in the UK. In the UK they eat only one type of a mushroom, agaricus bisporus, which is seen as ''THE mushroom''.
If you're not talking about these pizza mushrooms then you're talking about drugs. No one has heard of chanterelles, which are my favorite mushrooms.

I also just took some mushrooms for the first time. Hope I don't die tbqh senpai

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Just found these. Can't identify them. They all look the same to me.

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>>808474
Are these even different species? Or is it the same species that has just been longer in the sun?

>>808467
>If you're not talking about these pizza mushrooms then you're talking about drugs.
This is fucking infuriating.

>>808474
>>808475
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygrophanous
Could be the same. Looks like Mycena to me.

>>808536
Or maybe not. Mycenas have white spores.

>>808475
Dunno man. Might be a Psathyrella...

>>807768
Wrongo

>>808475
Can't see from the picture, but are the lamellae mottled?

>>808832
If they are it could be Panaeolina or Panaeolus.

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Aspen Boletes in Colorado at 8,500 ft

Is it possible to find edible mushrooms in a desert environment or is that too much to hope for? My area gets 8"-10" rainfall per year, but I remember when I was a kid, there'd be strange white/beige mushrooms growing on neighborhood lawns after a rainy weekend, seemingly out of nowhere

>>807899
>diet of molds
>walking your cat

>>809130
>molds
how are basidiomycotes "molds"?
>walking your cat
like you would walk a dog. I don't let it run loose because it's not an indigenous species and there are endangered birds here.

Mods, sorry for replying to this bait.

How fucked am I if I wanna mushroom hunt in the central texas region?

>>809119
thats some oddly lush grass and forbs for 8500ft m8
>>809120
depending on what they are you might be okay. Dont ever eat white/beige mushrooms (like the ones from your supermarket) from neighborhood lawns under trees though. Best thing to do would be to try and hook in with some local/s that has good knowledge on the matter. There would surely be someone in your locale that forages or has foraged in the past

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>>809673
There's actually quite a lot of fungi that grow here. I also live in that region and only just started hunting about a year ago, but I've found quite a few, some edible. The best time to look is after a good rain, which can be rare sometimes, but they are still pretty common.

I believe this is a bicolor bolete I found in NW Austin.

>>808266
I believe the widespread mycophobia in America started because, as others have said, there are many poisonous or simply unknown mushrooms. I've read that as European Americans ventured into the American landscape, they knew almost nothing about local wildlife, including mushrooms. It only took a few sicknesses and deaths before they realized it's not a good idea to sample fungi as they may have done in the old world. This has instilled a cultural fear that affects most Americans today, where many people don't even like eating safe mushrooms from the grocery store. I had a roommate once who was disgusted by the fact that I actually enjoyed the taste of mushrooms. She was a total bitch, too. Anyway, I believe it has to do with our inherited culture just not being around long enough to build up that knowledge about wildlife. There's also a tendency to not care what's in your food and to process, industrialize, and sterilize it, but we're just now starting to return to a food movement where people want fresh and organic food, which has revitalized interest in fungus.

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Oyster mushrooms from east Texas. One of my favorite photos. They were delicious.

Y'all need to learn how to focus your cameras if you're going to take pictures of mushrooms.

>>809706
>we're just now starting to return to a food movement where people want fresh and organic food, which has revitalized interest in fungus.
If French cuisine becomes trendier, it might give mushrooms a bit of a boost, too. But it definitely makes sense that a shorter history explains the reluctance to forage.
>roommate once who was disgusted by the fact that I actually enjoyed the taste of mushrooms. She was a total bitch, too.
Conversely, I've never met an obnoxious mycophile. People who are into foraging are never very high-strung.

>>809680
It's grassy because it was on a creek bank.

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I haven't found many mushrooms this year in the usual spots which is concerning. I found plenty last year. I did see some nice reishi developing and plan to pick one once they mature.

I hope I find some shaggy stalked bolete, they're my fave.

>>807782
your photos are too shitty to see certain things, but those look like psilocybin mushrooms.

>>809877
Psilocybe azurescens to be precise.

>>807782
Are you Paul Stamets or just a shitposter?

>>807756
I wanted to get into mushroom hunting since my grandpa goes all the time and I now live in a really good area for it (Vancouver BC).

There are occasional mushroom festivals and things like that here in town to take whatever mushrooms I gather to be properly examined.

But my question was what sort of gear do I need? How should I store mushrooms? Is there any way to get poisoned by hand contact or does it require ingestion? Where should I store them while traveling and hiking? Would a zip lock bag do fine?

>>810049
Wew.
>But my question was what sort of gear do I need?
You don't really /need/ any gear. I carry wax bags, a clear plastic tackle/craft box for delicate specimens, a sharp knife, and a toothbrush to clean em. But literally all of that is optional.
>How should I store mushrooms?
Brown paper bag or wax bags. Mushrooms need to 'breathe' or they get nasty pretty fast. if you store them in plastic it accelerates this.
>Is there any way to get poisoned by hand contact or does it require ingestion?
You will not be poisoned by touching mushrooms. Ever.
> Where should I store them while traveling and hiking?
Brown grocery bag. Your hands. Your mouth. Your backpack. Wherever.
>Would a zip lock bag do fine?
Plastic bags are a bad idea. Use paper.

>>810049
>>810102
You're in a great place for hunting msuhrooms. I hope you give it a try!

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this is handsdown the book to have, it's big so it may not make the best field guide but it's got everything.

also, all the people in here eating Little Brown Mushrooms, those nondescript mushrooms, have fun potentially losing your bowels.

>>810418
take it easy, people who do pick them are very familiar with which ones are safe to eat

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These are slippery jacks, yeah?

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>>810494
I also have saffron caps growing in my garden.

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hello there. I hike quite a bit and would like to know more about the fungi among I.

That book listed above looks like a good start.

Here is a neat looking one I found on a recent trip, any thoughts to what it might be?

Does some Euroanon has a book suggestion for mushrooms in middle europe?
What book has the best discriptions or what do you use?

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Went for another quick hunt today and managed to hit the jackpot. I found a few different types that I'm not familiar with but ended up finding some Golden Chanterelles on my way back.

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>>811451
I love chanterelles. I'll often sell what I don't eat.

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>>811470
Another of my recent harvests. Collected these in about 15 minutes.

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>>811481
Nice find! What general area are you located? Those are the two types that I find in my area with the Cinnabars being more common. I haven't tried selling any of them but what do you usually ask for them?

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>>811502
I'm in Mississippi. I can usually get $15-20 per lb for goldens. I'd probably ask more for the cinnabars considering they're a lot smaller.

I also found pic related this afternoon. I sold it for $30.

>>811507

Where do you sell 'em? I'm in Alabama and I find absolute dickloads of Cinnabars and sometimes Chicken of the Woods.Found Bear's Claw on a couple occasions.

>>811509
I target higher end restaurants in my local area.

>>811511

Aren't they worried about where the shrooms come from?

>>811513
I've never been asked about where I find them.

>>811515

Fair enough. In my town the fanciest restaurant is Olive Garden anyway.

>>811517
You can always pickle chanterelles to preserve them. They'll last longer and you could stockpile them until it's worthwhile to sell them somewhere outside your local area.

>>811518

Doesn't change the flavor? I might try it. I find a lot in the fall. Right now unfortunately it's nothing but turkey tail mushrooms outside.

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A lot of good info here, thank you. One more question, where do you guys usually spot the highest concentrations of Chanterelles? I usually find them right next to the access roads in the woods. Would venturing deeper into the trees yield any better results or stick to the trails?

>>811520
Pickling will change the flavor a bit. If you want to avoid changing the flavor, immerse them in olive oil. They'll infuse the oil with flavor and then you can use both the shrooms and oil in cooking.

>>811521
Chanterelles associate with hardwoods, typically oak but also hickories. Looking at forest composition will help you target good areas. Also, I've found they seem to prefer soils that retain moisture and have had great success foraging near streams.

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I feel like there's too much misinformation out there.
Just look at this. Google apparently can't decide what a Liberty Cap is supposed to look like.

On the left side is what apparently Libs are supposed to look like, on the right side it just looks like the shit that grows in my yard.

How am I ever supposed to identify them if I don't even know what they look like? I don't even know what I am looking for.

>>811848
If you're unsure how to identify them, then either find a trained mycologist or don't risk using/consuming the fungi.

>>811975
I am not going to risk eating a bunch of harmless mycena mushrooms. I might choke on them.
That's not the point.

The point is fuck Liberty Caps and fuck all this misinformation. There don't seem to be two people alive who can agree what a Liberty Cap looks like.

I'll just stick to Amanita Muscaria, because they are extremely easy to identify and there's no second guessing about it. You don't have to pick a hundred of them and then go home to test their spore prints for subtle cues.
I am not concerned about my safety. I am concerned about wasting my fucking time because people keep uploading pictures of some random shrooms and calling them Liberty caps.

>>812054
There are old mushroom hunters, and there are bold mushroom hunters. There are very few (if any) old and bold mushroom hunters.

I understand your point, anon, but you're a fool if you aren't concerned about your safety when consuming wild mushrooms.

>>812070
I am not concerned for my safety because I don't go around eating mushrooms I can't identify, not because I YOLO XD everything.

I am fairly sure that no one has died from eating panaeolus papilionaceus, but I don't eat that shit in the first place.

Why do you people always assume everyone just walks around eating every mushroom they see? If it's not a Liberty Cap I am not going to eat it. I am just sick of these impostors on my lawn that look exactly like the google images of Liberty Caps.

>>812083
Whatever, anon, I'm not going to argue with you. Good luck with your frustrations and shroom identification.

The idea of finding mushrooms and selling them for cash is like the coolest thing ever. But I have no clue if it's worthwhile as a hobby where I live, if there's local shops that buy from pickers or anything. Does anyone have any starter advice, or ways to locate this sort of info? I do see mushrooms in the parks and woods near where I live al the time, I guess I'm just worried it'd be a total waste of time to go out a pickin stuff where I live.

>>812108
I called around to the higher end restaurants in my town, spoke with their chefs, and asked if they would be interested in buying any wild mushrooms I could forage. Another option, if you're very proficient at foraging, is to sell fresh/dried wild mushrooms at farmers' markets.

I'd suggest learning and specializing on a few types of mushrooms. I focus on chanterelles, but will harvest chicken of the woods if I find it. Offer a fair price (often by lb) and stay consistent on that price between sales. If you're unsure of a selling price, look up prices/lb online to get an estimate. If you're the only seller in your area you can often name your own prices.

>>812083
How about you learn the identifying traits of a species instead of just going by general appearance? Get an identification guide, a loupe, identification reagents and a microscope, you fucking pleb.

>>812128

I appreciate the answer. Gives me an idea of what to go on, thanks m8.

>>812195
No problem. Selling what you forage is an easy way to make beer money or pay some bills. In a good summer season I can make ~$500.

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Have any of you ever tried Old Man of the Woods? I've come across a few in my area and read that they are edible. If they aren't delicious I'm not going to bother with them because their whole appearance turns me off.

Can anyone tell me if giant puffballs are mycoraizal or saprophytes? The internet has conflicting answer. I picked one today, peeled it, sauteed it in butter with salt and spices. It was great.

>>808266
it depends
in the US most urban kids are told to not even go near mushrooms and are almost terrified of them thinking they will die of they even touch them

but then you have loads of people who go mushrooming as well, especially in the South/Appalachians, at least in my experience.

I don't necessarily see the problem with teaching fuckwit kids to stay away since there are LOADS of common and quite poisonous mushrooms around that look similar to safe ones for someone with little experience.

European mushrooms are a bit safer in general and because mushrooming/berry picking is so common there is more knowledge available.

there is no such thing as "ancestral knowledge" in North America. personal history goes back maybe a generation at most before it becomes foggy

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>>813611
>unless your Native American
Fixed that for you Eurofag

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What kind are these? Found these near Lake Placid, NY

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Anyone have any idea what this might be? Sorry for the sub-par quality, I found it on a tree right outside a window at work so I didn't want to spend too long getting a decent picture lest I become pegged as the office weirdo who wanders into the woods sometimes.

>>813688
>your
>>>>>>> *you're
Fixed that for you

>>807899
You sound like a comfy person to hang with

>>814908
That is the same as >>811507
It's called Chicken of the Woods. Edible, but can cause gastric distress in some people. Great if sauteed in a lot of butter and garlic.

I've been obsessed with Liberty Caps for the last few months. Been reading about them all day every day.
I have the perfect field right next to my house, full of cow shit, good length of grass, but I can't find anything.

No Liberty Caps whatsoever.
What am I missing? Should I just wait until the end of august or is there just nothing growing here?
I don't think it's too early since other types of mushrooms seem to grow just fine. I got a great batch of chanterelles a few days ago.

Dead thread
Dead board

>>808467
Im from the UK and i can confirm.
The only mushrooms people know of are button/portobello and the magic variety we get: semilanceata.
Also despite the fact there are only a handful of actually lethal mushrooms going hunting is frowned upon as people see it as too risky

>>807756
ive been mushroom hunting for like 5 years. most of my camping and hiking is basically foraging. i cook some gourmet ass food in the woods. i drove up to alaska just to mushroom hunt but i ran out of money so ive been working on a commercial boat. but in a month im gonna quit and go back into the woods to hunt. tons of CoTW, winter chanterelles, hogs, and hericium out here. cant wait for the rain to come :)

what kind of mushrooms could I find right now in Germany (near Belgium/Luxemburg to be precise)?

Im not sure how to compare the climate to a region in the US, in the summer its 20-30° C and it usually rains every couple of days with the occasional hot dry streak. I always thought mushrooms were an autumn thing, but so many people here had good luck already this year

>>816816
Chanterelles and penny bun is my guess, but penny buns are usually full of maggots, so check them out before you gather them.

If I was you I'd simply scout the woods and see what's growing, then research what I find.
Ideally you can take someone who knows the mushrooms with you.
Simply look for chanterelles and penny buns (which are easy to identify) and pick one of each mushroom you don't know so you can research them.
Chanterelles are amazing.

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dumping a few pics of notable finds from last year.

Went out with some friends from my university mycology club and found 71 species of fungus in one foray. Lots of edibles, especially chanterelles (C. cascadensis and C. formosus) and winter chanterelles (Craterellus tubaeformis).

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Catathelasma sp. Picture doesn't do it justice. It was almost the size of my head.

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Dyed some wool purple with Western Jack-o-lanters (Omphalotus olivascens). There's some land behind my house where I found a downed oak with 7+ lbs of Jack-O-Lanterns growing. Used them fresh with an alum mordant. Long soak in the dye bath. Color has faded a bit since, but I am pleased with the result.

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bonus pic of the northern California coast near Trinidad. Great area for hunting mushrooms. Loads of BLM + USFS land in driving distance

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Omphalotus olivascens.

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Honey mushrooms!
...I think. I didn't get a chance to take a closer look.

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I don't really get off talking about psychedelics, but they are some really beautiful mushrooms.
Psilocybe cyanescens peeking through some mulch last winter.

>>816778
pretty far off topic, but how do you rate living in AK and working on a commercial boat?
Thinking of working in AK for a season or two after university for a serious change of pace.

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>>817584
Look for books that are region-specific. Where are you from?
You'll learn more from a day in the field with someone experienced than in a week alone with a book. Even with a good key, there is no comparison. Look for local clubs or societies, most do local meets regularly during the season. Unless you're completely socially retarded, you'll probably find that mushroom hunters a pretty friendly, down-to-earth lot.

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Just this one alone, no other in the vicinity. Kinda eerie how moss, lichen, etc, can be found everywhere dominating a surface, but fungi not.

>>817714
The fungi aren't dominating the surface; they're dominating the interior.

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I know fuck all about mushrooms and totally admit it, but found this massive thing and thought of you, /out/. It's about the size of a hubcap. What is it?

>>818610
That is >>814908 and >>811507

>>807782
>>809877
>>810023
I own Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World by Paul Stamets and this pic is from the section on P. Azurescens.

>>813838
Those could be any number of things. Get a spore print, check for blue bruising (liberty caps are known to grow in NY). More than likely if they're not liberty caps you'll only be able to solve which genera they fall into.

>>818815

Radical. Thanks man.

>>817852
>one (1) single fruiting body (I checked thoroughly)
>dominating
Why doesn't it just grow on every rotting branch and piece of wood in the vicinity?