cscutellaris

Roundup is an herbicide and would be ineffective against the fungal mycelia under the door frame. In addition, it isn't a particularly nice chemical (organophosphorus compound) to be spraying that close to an access point to your house, especially if, as you say, you have kids around that like poking at interesting things. I'd just collect it with a plastic bag, toss it out, and keep an eye on the area.

vitog, if you are referring to the Radical Mycology link you posted, that was a fascinating read. Thanks for the info.

Thanks, Dave. Haven't run across the Mushroom Expert page before (yep, I'm new at this) and it's quite handy. Now I need to figure out how to keep the squirrels away from the mushroom and/or to delve into the possibility of growing it at home.

Hoping that this is a sign that the log will continue to produce fruiting bodies even after being shoved around and broken by a bulldozer. Got some magnificent (and delicious) specimens earlier this year that were head-sized. Is this considered H. coralloides in North America or does it go by another name?

Absolutely gorgeous specimen. I've only found one head-sized Lion's Mane before, but it was in a similar virtually-untouched condition. They taste great. When it comes to cooking, I also undercooked my first test batch. On my second try, I went lower on the heat and fried it until the spines were crisp. That yielded a texture similar to lobster with a flavour that wasn't far off although it also reminded me of scallops and sweet ocean fish (like a sablefish). Great find!

Thanks for the confirmation and help! I've got a lot more reading to do.

Greetings! This is my first post here and it's great to see an active group of fungus fanciers. I took the plunge last week and ate my first Hericium (not sure which species, but looked closest to H. coralloides or H. americanum depending on which name I find attached to the pictures). Great flavour and texture and you gotta love such a safe genus. My wife's comment was, "Who needs lobster?" In any case, if I'm going to learn mushrooms, I need to start collecting and identifying (I'm an entomologist by training, so this is second nature). I found a trio of mushrooms this morning on the grass outside the building where I work (Maryland). No trees or other vegetation nearby; this 3-point group was on a slight curve, so it may be part of a larger ring. Took a spore print from the middle one and picture from the youngest specimen; the oldest was trampled. No volva on either specimen, remnants of a partial veil on margin of cap although I don't know how to characterise the partial veil yet, but based on description, I would call it membranous. The older cap (maybe 5 cm diameter) had much darker brown gills than the younger specimen (3.5 cm diameter) and the cap itself was almost completely flat compared to the younger one's domed shape. There was no latex and the white flesh bruised just a bit darker (tan or brown). As far as I can tell, this would key out to an Agaricus, but that's as far as I could go with it from the key I ran across at http://americanmushrooms.com/monenaag.htmwithout a microscope. And no, I don't plan to eat it. In fact, I don't plan to eat any gilled mushrooms based on my own identification until I learn all the characters and honestly, probably not even then. Making a mistake on a beetle identification won't land me in the hospital (or worse). I'd appreciate your opinion and/or education on where I went wrong if I am mistaken. Thanks in advance.