# eatable mushroom?



## SusanB (May 26, 2006)

I just bought a new house that borders on one side with a woods. As I was checking out the property line I noticed small clumps of white muchrooms. They are all pure white and grow in a mound ( all attached) are they eatable? would my local cooperative extension office know? I have never been a forager before and it makes me a little nervous to just go out there picking things to eat. :help: 

Susan


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

just because they are white doesn't mean they are edible. i am not being critical but some folks think that is the case. some of the most deadly fungi are white.

without a picture it is hard to say from just the description. it sounds like they are "buckhorns"...i forget the proper name. they most likely are edible. there are several members of that family of fungus that are questionable or that disagree with some people. i bet they look like coral, don't they? from what i understand, the true white members of this family (wish i had a book but i cannot find mine) are edible and taste ok.

*you really need to research them or any mushroom very well before you try them.* research online is possible...nearly everything about fungus can be found online. if you do try them after researching them, only try a little bit and wait a few days before trying more.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

i found this...

http://www.treknature.com/gallery/Europe/photo34127.htm


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## SusanB (May 26, 2006)

Thanks for the link but they do not look like coral. They look like the mushrooms that they sell in the stores, except they are all mounded together! I'll try and get a picture and post it.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

oyster mushrooms growing on dead trees perhaps?

http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/UL207.pdf#search='oyster%20mushrooms'

http://www.ipmimages.org/browse/subimages.cfm?SUB=596


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## moonwolf (Sep 20, 2004)

I'm with WIHH about making 100% certain of what you are going to eat for wild mushrooms. 
I pick and have eaten about a dozen different species from various seasons and areas. Morels in spring are best.
Lobster mushrooms about this time of year are easy to identify, but marginally tasty. They make good 'filler' recipes IMHO.
Lactarius are abundant and fairly easy to recognize the edible 'milky sufur' types, but I'd stay away from these unless you have experienc already. 
Boletes are common here and quite good. I've come across 4 different edible ones, including pine bolete, boletus edulis, and the orange looking aspen bolete less flavourful.
puffballs, but be careful that you don't pick a baby stage of a veiled poisonous type.

I'de start with a good identification book and someone that locally can mentor you with the species available wih experience to recognize 'what is what'.


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## suburbanite (Jul 27, 2006)

I have been eating wild herbaceous plants for years, but I won't touch wild mushrooms. They are too difficult to identify, with a few notable exceptions. And the penalty for making a mistake with green plants is usually a gastrointestinal upset. Mushrooms, on the other hand, will literally kill your liver in about 2 days, at which point if you don't happen to match type for a rush liver transplant, you're dead.

We had a family of 7 die after eating a wild-mushroom pizza in a town where I lived for graduate school.

I recommend starting your foraging career with green plants and taking *many* many classes in mushroom identification before adding wild mushrooms to your menu.


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## suburbanite (Jul 27, 2006)

wind in her hair, if that handsome guy is your hubby you're a lucky woman. yowza!


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## moonwolf (Sep 20, 2004)

suburbanite said:


> And the penalty for making a mistake with green plants is usually a gastrointestinal upset. .


a green plant something like hemlock can kill you. The point is to know what you are dealing with. same with mushrooms as any other thing one might take to eat. baneberries come to mind also that are a berry that looks good to eat, but can make you pretty sick.


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## suburbanite (Jul 27, 2006)

moonwolf, the really dangerous things in green plants are fairly rare compared to dangerous mushrooms. Baneberry and castor bean are very dangerous, hemlock is only deadly in a certain dosage--more and you'll vomit it up almost immediately--less and it won't kill you, which is why Socrates, when given his cup of hemlock as a means of execution, quipped about 'spilling a drop for the gods', a tradition that was done commonly in his time for wine but which would have resulted in a sub-lethal dose.

I tend to avoid wild members of the carrot family because too many of them have toxicities--not only hemlock, but sanicle, and some of them are even photo-sensitizers for some people--brush against them and get trivial sun exposure and you'll get a dramatic rash.

I tend to go for easy ones, miner's lettuce, chickweed, amaranth, a wide variety of berries, cat-tail pollen, leeched acorns, certain flower bulbs native to the west (but I've dropped off on those after learning how long they take to form and the rarity of some of the plants, though not protected).


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## tweety (Oct 14, 2005)

I love wild mushrooms, but studied several guide books and was REALLY sure I knew what I was dealing with before I ever nibbled on one. And even then your body may react to an otherwise innocent mushroom, so you should never start out eating a whole mess of a species that you've never tried before, even if you are sure that it is edible. Just try one at first.
There is a type of morel here, called "Andy Capp" because it looks chinless, like the old comic character. Some people eat it, some don't. When I tried one it made me feel drunk, I was dizzy for hours and then had a whale of a hangover the next day. No more Andy Capps for me!


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## SusanB (May 26, 2006)

Thanks for all the help. my mushrooms don't look like any of your wxamples so I'm going to dig them up and take them to my cooperative extension. If I can I'll get a pic and post it.


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## moonwolf (Sep 20, 2004)

SusanB said:


> Thanks for all the help. my mushrooms don't look like any of your wxamples so I'm going to dig them up and take them to my cooperative extension. If I can I'll get a pic and post it.


This is the best plan for you which will also help you learn more. Hopefully the coop extension office will have some good info to pass on. I enjoy the wild edible fungi that I'm able to find seasonally in my area. I plan to gather some boletes this weekend hopefully. We need rain though.


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## lgslgs (May 30, 2005)

You might want to check and see if yours is Hen of the Woods (maitake - grifola frondosa).

Lynda


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Go to the library or online and get "National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms". It is the best mushroom field guide (in my opinion). It is easy to use and lists mushrooms by shape. However, mushrooms can be incredibly hard to identify. Many, many are good too eat some are better than others, and some not too good at all. Some will make you sick and a few are deadly. Most of the deadly ones look somewhat like an edible one.We forage for mushrooms. I found a bumper crop of Chantrells this year and have a good stash of them dried. 
Like my lovely wife says, "all mushrooms are edible, its just that some you can only eat once"  If you cann't without question ID it, don't ingest it.
Edited to add: We went for a walk today (gathering some rhodadendrums to transplant) and found some chicken of the woods, and some shrimp mushrooms. We are looking up a couple more. I found some really pretty coral mushrooms also. DW has the book right now, so I haven't been able to look it up.
At any rate, NO WAY should you depend on having a shroom ID'd by describing it to another party. It is hard enough ( and often impossible) with a photo. You would need several photos including a photo of what the shroom is growing on (or in)


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## ajaxlucy (Jul 18, 2004)

Do be careful. We just got back from Minnesota where a Hmong family was poisoned by eating wild white mushrooms they'd gathered. I guess they looked like some edibles ones they knew back in Asia.


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## Bee_Rain (Jun 15, 2004)

I've been studying wild edibles for over ten years, and I won't EVER try to identify an edible mushroom. The only types I'll eat are chicken of the woods (which is pictured by wind in her hair) or morells. They are unique in the mushroom world and can't be confused even remotely to any other type of mushroom.

You can't go by looks alone with mushrooms. Too many edible ones look exactly like the deadly ones. The only way you can get a true and possitive identification is to get a spore print from the mushroom and compare it other prints in a reputable and professional guide book.

I have a mushroom ID book, and they say that many "mushroom experts" have died because they ate what they thought was edible.

Don't take a chance.


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## moonwolf (Sep 20, 2004)

Bee_Rain said:


> I've been studying wild edibles for over ten years, and I won't EVER try to identify an edible mushroom. The only types I'll eat are chicken of the woods (which is pictured by wind in her hair) or morells. They are unique in the mushroom world and can't be confused even remotely to any other type of mushroom.
> 
> .


The beginner could confuse morels with false morels. Some of those may have carcinogenic properties. 
The beginner also 'might' confuse the 'safe' chicken of the woods with the poisionous jack o lantern mushroom. 

check this link:

http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/2005/11-9/jack.html

also:

False Morels


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## Bee_Rain (Jun 15, 2004)

moonwolf said:


> The beginner could confuse morels with false morels. Some of those may have carcinogenic properties.
> The beginner also 'might' confuse the 'safe' chicken of the woods with the poisionous jack o lantern mushroom.
> 
> check this link:
> ...



I stand corrected. Looks like I need another 10 years, eh?


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

moonwolf said:


> The beginner could confuse morels with false morels. Some of those may have carcinogenic properties.
> The beginner also 'might' confuse the 'safe' chicken of the woods with the poisionous jack o lantern mushroom.
> 
> check this link:
> ...



And 
Chicken of the Woods (According to my books) "becomes somewhat indigestible as it ages and , in some cases causes allergic reaction, such as swollen lips.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

verpa bohemica can also be mistaken for morels. most often the "cappies" or morchella semilibera.

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/verpa_bohemica.html


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

i read that gyromita esculenta can be parboiled and then fried and eaten, but who would want to, lol.


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## moonwolf (Sep 20, 2004)

MELOC said:


> i read that gyromita esculenta can be parboiled and then fried and eaten, but who would want to, lol.


I've eaten Hellvelua's, though no one should. It's claimed there is rocket fuel in them. I boiled them with 3 changes of water in between. I still don't recommend eating them, but in Finland they do from what I've read. 
Don't light a match around me, I might launch into outer space with that rocket fuel. I might die from cancer too. :shrug:


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## fernando (Jan 11, 2005)

Picked a few puffball types in our pasture a few weeks ago. Diced into half-inch size chunks they will substitute in any recipe calling for styrofoam.


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## Zuska (Sep 22, 2006)

suburbanite said:


> hemlock is only deadly in a certain dosage--more and you'll vomit it up almost immediately--less and it won't kill you,


I don't mean any disprespect, but a group of people here in the little town I live in had a dinner together a while back. Someone made soup and with a little knowledge enough to kill someone, put in a teaspoon of minced hemlock in the soup thinking they were adding wild carrot.
They all ate the soup and almost immediately started getting muscle paralyzation. Luckily, one had the presence of mind to call 911, they all got transported to hospital and survived.

You just got to be careful. I tell my students not to eat anything unless they know for absolutely 100% sure of what it is.

Another story....one of my foofy (soapmaking...I also teach wild plant Id and foraging workshops/apprenticeships) students heard me talking about making a massage oil with St. John's Wort, Arnica and other herbs I gather myself. I said to the class....do NOT go where I go and DO NOT harvest anything unless you know what it is, what you're going to do with it, waste nothing.

Well, she was caught on the specific mountain where I said not to go as there are too many harvesters going up there and told someone she was an "herbalist" (sheesh) and was harvesting St. John's Wort for a tincture. The guy told her she was actually harvesting Arnica. Dang. That girl can kill someone. I have yet to say anything to her as I don't know how to go about it without snatching her head off.

Enough soapboxing from me. I'm new here and don't want to start off by offending anyone. :angel:


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