mushroomaniac

My first strategy is to check the places where I found morels before. I found morels in two different places three years ago and I've been checking the same places since then around the same time of the year. Yet, I haven't found a single morel at the same places. The second strategy is to go to the places where the local people find them as soon as we get the news. If they have missed a few and if we're careful enough, we may find a few of them. The third strategy is to check where there are forest fires. However, I've never been able to find one in those places, either. I like the last strategy; the most exciting one. Look around carefully while rambling.

I've found plenty of Devil's Urn (black cup fungi) this week. If I'm not mistaken it is said that it appears just before (how much time before?) morels, so it means I can hope to come across some morels next week or the following week. Right?

I remember that after the disaster in Chernobyl, the tea leaves produced in the north of Turkey were reported to be contaminated in high levels and the exportation of tea had stopped for a long time. However, the politicians did not take the matter much seriously and tried to persuade people that the situation was being exaggerated and that drinking tea was safe. Furthermore, one of the ministers appeared on TV and assured people by drinking a cup of tea that there was no danger at all. About a decade after the event, the number of the people who died of cancer dramatically increased. It's essential to be cautious for that matter, I say.

Last summer I had them on my legs twice. A friend of mine tied a piece of sewing thread around it and pulled it off my leg. The second time I got one, I had to go to hospital to have it pulled off. I was worried because a number of people had lost their lives because of the disease they'd caused. Fortunately mine were not of those types.

Yes, vitog. I did have a look at two burnt sites around the city in 2009 and the year after, but I didn't find anyting. Perhaps I was a bit too late for the visit. Last April I went to a burnt site near Gemlik, on the way to Bursa, but when we arrived there, we heard that the villagers had already picked up the morels. My friends found only a few. I didn't find any morels but I found some other interesting kinds of mushrooms. Around the same time, my friends and I went to the forests around Pamukova, Sakarya where they found 3-5 morels. Gyromitra was abundant there. We found many other kinds of mushrooms, too, including Hygropolus marzuolus..

I see very impressive pictures of morels here, full baskets of morels, and I envy the ones who found them. The only time I found a few blacks was early April of 2008. Since then, I have travelled hundreds of kilometers to different parts of the country to find nothing. Yet, I haven't lost hope and I'm planning a weekend trip to Ida Mountain (about 600km from Istanbul) where I hope to find some in March.

Thanks Dave, Both the shape and the color of this mushroom are really attractive, but for one who does not know much about mushrooms, the amethyst color must be a strong deterrent, don't you think so? Take me for example; during the time when I began to be interested in wild mushrooms, I mean the time when I knew nothing about them, I found a perfect Lepista nuda and I thought to myself, "Wow, this must be a deadly one," so I threw it away. Then I found out that it's an edible kind of mushroom that many people are fond of.

Oh, yes. Now I remember that scene.

Yeah Mushroom Jack, Isn't it a shame? In my opinion, it isn't worth paying that money. Agree?

What luck! Thanks, Mary.

Mary, I found these two mushrooms on January 28th under coniferous trees. They were not completely under the ground. Half of them had come out of the ground. I didn't get that famous sharp smell of truffles. (I've never smelled a truffle, though.) Do you think you could tell from the pictures whether these are truffels or not? They look very much like the ones you picked.

No way, Luigi, sorry. It's an edible kind but biologically too precious to be cooked and consumed as it is very rare.

On December 6th 2009, two lecturers of biology at Mugla University, Dr. Hakan Allı and Prof. Dr. Mustafa Isiloglu found a new kind of Morchella mushroom in the village of Elmalı in Mugla, south-west of Turkey. It is said to be confined to that area only. The mushroom was found in a canyon near the village. It's an edible kind but biologically too precious to be cooked and consumed as it is very rare. The details about the discovery were published in a magazine called ‘Mycologia’.

Feral Boy, What's that "little guy"? A photoshoped picture? "Rosecomb deformity" is something I didn't know. Thank you for the information.

Let me tell you about another mushroom that I'd call a Tricholoma terreum. I saw it at the side of a path which was opened through a forest of mainly coniferous trees to use in case of a forest fire. As you can see in the photograph, this mushroom has gills not only beneath the cap but also on top of its cap center. Have you seen a shroom like this before?