# well, please don't hate me ...



## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

David found these in abundance growing under a large maple tree.

There were many and most were in clumps. They are young and all have dark brown gills (some have opened; some have not). They do not look like anything I have in my very large mushroom folder.

David did what I've heard some of you say you do, i.e. take a tiny nibble, chew it, spit it out and swallow a tiny bit of the juice. After a few hours of nothing happening, he swallowed a bit of the mushroom itself and waited. (This of course is frightening me; but he is not the type to act foolish; so I must trust his judgment on things we know little about, especially after all the research we've been doing on mushrooms.)

Anyway, last night he gathered many, washed them well & dehydrated them in the oven. I wouldn't touch them ... yes I'm much more cautious than he is ... but he ate them all. This morning he is quite well without any physical differences in his digestive system; thus, I am guessing he is ok.

I found some more this morning and had him take a picture of them. (He takes nice close shots.) Do any of you recognize these? (I have not found them on the net either.)


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## Guest (Oct 1, 2011)

I was thinking about you yesterday, My walk through the woods showed a whole lot of mushrooms. A lot of those big stumpy looking ones I think you tried out a few days ago. How were they??


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## bee (May 12, 2002)

Look at Cluster Crumblecap Psathyrella hydrophila...this does NOT carry an eat -don't eat rating in the mushroom idetification book where I found it..Petersons Field Guide.

It will surprise me if you get much response on this thread, I almost did not. Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous thing your husband did. I dread one day seeing a tragic post here.


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## Waiting Falcon (Nov 25, 2010)

Could it be Inocybe lacera ? Or have you already checked that one?


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## bee (May 12, 2002)

WF that one IS poisonous and unless drying voids that poison they would know it by now(really last night)....but it looks very close doesn't it??? BTW, the poison is muscarin and also found in some Amanita (death angel) species.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

There are old mushroom hunters, and there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old, bold mushroom hunters.


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## Meconella (Dec 21, 2008)

Keep the doctor's number handy. Make sure he is an expert in liver and kidney transplants. 

Good luck.


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## Guest (Oct 1, 2011)

You guys are talking like people are dying by the thousands from mushrooms. In reality, "some of the most useful records are compiled by the American Association of Poison Control Centers.7,8 From such data, plus other public reports (such as accounts of poisonings collected by the North American Mycological Association; http://www.namyco.org), it appears that the number of fatalities in the United States is small (perhaps ranging from 0 to 5 per year) over the past several decades."
Most mushroom poisonings are from 1 type of mushroom, the "death cap" Some are from goofballs trying to get high on "magic mushrooms" not knowing that every mushroom isn't the same. And a few, tragically, are small children who as we all know will eat nearly anything except what you want them to eat.


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## Meconella (Dec 21, 2008)

Granted they may not be dying by the thousands, but they are getting sick by the thousands. That's pretty high considering how few people are willing to take the chance of eating wild mushrooms. 

The following is just one year's figures, but gives one an indication of numbers.



> In general, most ingestions result in minor GI illness, *with only the most severe requiring medical attention*. Because the number of unreported cases is unknown, accurate figures regarding the frequency of mushroom poisoning are difficult to obtain. Cases usually are sporadic, and a few outbreaks have been reported.
> 
> In the American Association of Poison Control Centers National Poison Data System 2008 Annual Report, *6034 mushroom exposures were reported in the United States (a slight decrease from the prior year), with 2367 treated in a health care facility and no fatalities.[2]*


http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/167398-overview#a0199


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## Guest (Oct 1, 2011)

Well, I know a lot of people that die from old age. Does that imply old age should be avoided at any cost? Some of my friends have gotten injured and some killed in automobile accidents. Should we be scared of cars? So on and so on. your quote shows 2367 people went to see a doctor because of mushroom toxicity. Further on down in the article is another statistic that shows less than 1 in 5 cases of "mushroom exposures" were in adults.The 80%+ were in teenagers(trying to get high you think?) and smaller children. Those younger than 6 accounted for over half. The same age of "putting everything in their mouth" Of those over 19, I would imagine quite a few of them were searching for "magic mushroms" So, no, people looking for mushrooms to eat aren't getting sick by the thousands.


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## bee (May 12, 2002)

*sigh*.. I really don't have a dog in this hunt. I like identifying fungi but it is something I don't enjoy eating. Even commercial kinds.

I understand knowing found food sources; but I think that potential harm negates wild 'shrooms as a food source unless trained by a real live person. You won't do much more foraging if you are sick as a dog ..or dead.

In my opinion there is a wonderful middle ground. Buy plugs or spore and start your own known variety plots of edible(and delicious) mushrooms. Some kinds use logs, others use chip piles or manure. All can be propogated and expanded...after all those plugs you buy are drilled from logs supporting the fungi and used to inoculate new logs. What is to stop you making more plugs from your own producing logs? Oyster musheroom "bags" you buy will produces several "flushes of mushrooms"..they die when the nutrients in the media run out..so determine what the media is and remove inoculated old media to the new media.. indefinately. Those white(usually) fibers in the wood/media are the "body" of the fungi..the mushroom is the fruiting body.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Bee, I am pretty much self trained. A healthy dose of paranoia helps. I eat only a few well known varieties of common local mushrooms. Any new mushrooms that are added to my diet are thoroughly researched from multiple sources. 

I will often throw the manure against the wall to see what will stick, but never with mushrooms.


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## Meconella (Dec 21, 2008)

Motdaugrnds has started several threads the past week asking for opinions about identifying and eating wild mushrooms. And people have taken their time and tried to help and answer her questions and give her guidance. She, and anyone else, can ignore it all and eat whatever they want. 

It has been obvious she and David are inexperienced mushroom hunters, but trying to learn. There just are better ways of learning about unknown mushrooms than by eating them to see if they make you sick. That's the point of the warnings.... not that all mushroom hunting and eating what you find will be fatal. 


As to Bee's suggestion about 'growing your own', that sounds like a fun idea and something I'd be interested in trying myself. I doubt I'll do it however since I already have so many other garden experiments in progress.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Goodness, didn't mean to get so many in an uproar.

Zong, those puffballs David brought in were "delicious"! (I sauteed them in a little coconut oil, butter and lots of minced garlic.) I froze some just to see what happens to them when frozen. So far they haven't even changed colors. Also, please know I appreciate your attempt to calm the waters in this thread.

I do appreciate everyone's concern; however, David is not as foolish as it appears. I understand the concern you all have for me. I do appreciate it as well as the time and energy you have all spent in helping me understand to be cautious about mushroom hunting. It has become obvious to me that my posting pictures of mushrooms in here has brought up more anxiety in so many of you kind people that I will not do so again. I apologize for causing you all to worry. Truly there was and is no need. Believe me when I say, I do have a strong sense of paranoia when it comes to consuming mushrooms (My posts on wild plants should have told you all that.); and believe it or not, David does too. We have, indeed, been learning and experiencing; and we do not throw caution to the wind.


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## Guest (Oct 1, 2011)

wrong thread, I put this on the puffball thread instead.


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## bee (May 12, 2002)

This has nothing to do with "hate"(your header). I hope you realize that many mushroom gatherers would consider the subject event of this post risky behavior. The fact that you/he seems to have gotten away with it and posted to that effect can encourage others to do the same.

May I inquire what you identified the mushrooms in your original pic in this thread to be?? Because if you still don't know what they were that David ate and frankly should have known before eating, then IMO you/he are not cautious enough. BTW, wild foods are variable enough that what one person may consume with no ill effect could cause an adverse reaction in another.

You seem to be blessed with a good deal of luck in your wild foods adventures; you are braver than I. It helps that there are two of you so one can still call for backup if needed. The oldeer I get, the more cautious; forgive me.


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## Meconella (Dec 21, 2008)

> Goodness, didn't mean to get so many in an uproar.


An uproar? I prefer to look at it as a spirited discussion - which is far more interesting. 



> It has become obvious to me that my posting pictures of mushrooms in here has brought up more anxiety in so many of you kind people that I will not do so again. I apologize for causing you all to worry.


Dear Mot (hope it's ok to shorten your name), it is better to post pictures of things you are proposing to eat than not. First, it's interesting to see what you are finding, and second, if you find something that is dangerous (as apparently you did in one picture) someone with more knowledge might be able to warn you. 

As to any worry you might be causing, I can only speak for myself. While I would not want anything to happen to your or your family, it would not be a surprise. If you or your husband gets sick, that is your problem, not mine - you are adults. I suppose that sounds hard-hearted, but it's how it is. 

So keep learning, be cautious, ...and have fun.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Zong, I saw your post on the other thread and responded. 

Bee, I used the word "hate" more jokingly than anything serious. I have no idea how it got defined as "risky behavior" nor why you consider it as something negative we "got away with". I simply figured people in here were tired of seeing me post about mushrooms and I didn't want them to dislike me for posting about a new mushroom find. If that is wrong, I, again, apologize.....too many apologizes for my comfort. (I am not responsible for another's interpretation.)

Meconella, I don't mind at all your shortening my user name to "Mot". I thought it was better to post pics of what I was concerned about too; and learning from those of you who have hunted shrooms much longer than I is what I wanted. Yes, I tried to make that clear, i.e. we, alone, are responsible for the outcome of what we do. 

I found 2 more types of little brown mushrooms today that looked similar to the ones in the picture above; brought them to David and he said, "No, those don't look like these." and he pointed out the differences. Then he told me to trash them. He has a much better eye for subtleties than I; so in the trash they went.

We will, indeed, continue to learn. I wish we had people in our local who could help us ID on site; but that is just not the case here. So, we do the best we can with the books and the internet without risking our health. (No, David did not risk his life/health with the way he tested that mushroom. He did nothing more than I've heard people in here do.)


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

one year I watched a bunch of inky cap mushrooms go from beautiful to black scum never realizing they were edible before turning black. 

I am not tired of you posting new mushroom pictures. It just makes me wish I knew the location of my mushroom id book that also told how to id them from the spore pattern. 

As I said, I know of only 2 edibles and so have sadly missed out on many wonderful meals. I wish you lots of luck in finding more edibles and share the concern that some day you might make a slight mistake. People on here do care a lot about you and we would rather you bore us with pictures than hear that you got very very sick from a bad mushroom.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Danaus29, I very much appreciate your post. Thank you.


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## bee (May 12, 2002)

Discretion has never been the better part of MY valor. Henseforth I shall respond no more to requests for identifications. I certainly made no requests for apoligies.

Eat, drink and be happy.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

No problem Bee. All is good!


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## naturelover (Jun 6, 2006)

They look like wild shiitake mushrooms in the picture, they appear to have all the physical appearance characteristics of young shiitakes. Yes, they do grow wild in North America. Did David happen to notice if the piece he ate was quite chewy? Were the stems very, very firm and solid feeling? Did either of you notice if they have an almost perfumed scent to them? If so, my guess is they could be shiitake. The young wild ones are more solid brown on top than when they're a bit older when they get lighter colored patches spreading over the top. The commercially cultured ones that are larger are covered with patches of lighter color on top. 

Pick up a couple of fresh samples of fresh shiitake mushrooms in a grocery store that sells them and make a comparison of appearance, flavour, firmness, substance, smell. Shiitake has a fairly distinctive taste and smell and they're really quite delicious.

[ame]http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&sugexp=tshc&cp=3&gs_id=1f&xhr=t&q=shoitake+mushrooms&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1024&bih=567&wrapid=tljp1318475755734012&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi#um=1&hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=shiitake+mushrooms&oq=shiitake+mushrooms&aq=f&aqi=g3g-m7&aql=&gs_sm=s&gs_upl=472906l477109l6l479328l14l14l0l0l0l1l282l2610l1.7.6l14l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=7e9bc01f01dc69e2&biw=1024&bih=567[/ame]


If it turns out they are shiitake mushrooms then you really want to *encourage* them to grow where you found them and try to spore some out in other locations on the property. They have medicinal properties as well as being highly in demand on the culinary list of gourmands and are quite expensive by the pound on the market.

.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Naturelover, that is a very exciting post. Thank you.

David does not have any teeth; so he could not answer some questions. He said the most he remembers about them is they had a strong nutty aroma when he was dehydrating them in the oven. (I noticed the stem was firm and not at all hollow and they were somewhat chewy. I ate some of the second batch he dehydrated and thoroughly enjoyed them.)

I think I'm seeing some more of those in another area on our place; however, instead of being under a maple tree, they are under some pines not too far from where I found those large boletes I recently posted about.

I've eaten ----ake bought from the store and do enjoy them; yet never though to compare these with those. I've so much to learn!


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