Islander

O.K. Another day finding a few mushrooms. I'm going to make some guesses on these to see if people agree with my opinion based on personal research and feedback from the forum. I am going to use common terms at this point, and let people offer the scientific names. "Database Dave" probably has some slam dunk answers, as always. Ha. A. Found side of road on grass. Seems like an obvious Shaggy Mane. I tell you, you never notice these mushrooms until you start paying attention! Anyway, there were 4 in one spot. B. My guess. Shaggy Parasol. Found growing under tree (there were two) in a small woods by cottage. Couple of pics of the tree I found it under. Smells like a mushroom, but strong. Gills look like they are whitest originally but turning brown. Research says this type (if it is a saggy parasol) is a choice edible. Anyone have experience trying this? I was surprised. Looks neat, but not tasty. C. These are those nasty "black smoke" puffballs. I forget what we called them as kids. I'm curious if it qualifies as a mushroom. I know you wouldn't eat it, whatever it is! D. Based on research and feedback, Marasmius oreades, Fairy Ring mushrooms is my opinion. White spore print. Would we say these are safe to try and consume? Found on grass. When I smell them, can't really smell much of anything. E. Found in woods. Small. No idea what these might be yet. F. Looks like a nice King Bolete to me. Finding boletes to eat has been my favorite part of this hobby so far. Taste great. G. OK I will get technical on this one and say this is Amanita muscaria var. guessowii , young and older version. H. Ahh, so here is a big one for me. Are these Chanterelles? Found on grass but growing under tree (pictured). I couldn't really smell them UNTIL I cut the stem, which was white inside but pretty quickly discoloured reddish-brown. The smell was not typical mushroomy. I have a hard time trying to pick a smell. It just smelled sort of fresh, like a garden salad or something. So, I am guessing this are mature Chanterelles. Working on some spore prints. Regarding H., looking at the photos now I realize they didn't capture how orange the mushroom actually was. The picture of the gills is close to accurate, and that color is what you see on the top of the cap. Don't know why the camera washed out all the color on the cap but just imagine it looking closer to the color of the gills. Late. I can submit more photo on request. I picked a sample of most of these.

Sorry about that. Fixed photo. Labels should be correct now. Thanks Dave. Your help is invaluable as I try and kickstart this hobby.

OK. Thanks again. What follows is some spore prints to help with confirmation. So far I looked up suggestions for E. ( Marasmius oreades) and that spore print seems to match (white). The F. spore print is pretty weak. Basically, a little white is all I got. Also, finally found something growing in the woods. A few not appetizing looking boletes (slugs got at them) and Sample G below. Any solid guesses? Edible maybe? Didn't pick them, so no spore print but they are just down the road. Could go back. The stump is possibly an Eastern Hemlock or Eastern Larch. No tree expert. Evergreen of some sort. Also possibly spruce. Thick, rough bark.

So, here are some more, err, perhaps "interesting" varieties. I am guessing some of these would make you high or maybe kill you! So, no intention to eat them, but still would like to identify them. Since I don't plan to eat these, I will make a few guesses on what they are. Also, my camera was losing battery fast, so I could only take quick photos in the field before the battery ran out. So the quality of some is less than desirable. Too much sun hurt some shots. Note: All these mushrooms were found on or just beside grassy areas near the ocean. A few growing near a few small stands of trees (which I will mention.) Sample A: Thought this was a possible death cap(!) at first. Now, leaning towards false death cap. Also maybe a small Fly Agaric. Sample B: Small Fly Agaric or False death cap? Near a small hedge of trees. Balsam Fir or Spruce. Sample C: Same as B, except smaller (I think). Found beside some trees, but also just beside open grass. Balsam Fir or Spruce. Again, everything is near the ocean. Note: I believe these A, B and C are all the same variety at this point, but different stages of growth. They were all found within a 60 foot radius of each other. I love the way B looks. Just like the classic cartoon mushroom. Will try and do a bit of a spore print on it. Sample D: Found very near some evergreen trees. Balsam Fir or Spruce. I have no idea what these are. Color is weird purplish. I will do spore print. Sample E: I believe these are might be "shrooms", which are supposedly fairly common here in PEI. Very tiny. Color difference is because I used flash one time. The true color is between what the two photos show. Medium-to-light brown would best describe the color. Very tiny. Sample F: Maybe these are same as D, but more mature? They are no bigger though. These were on open grass. Anyway, haven't researched these very hard because, again, with no plan to eat them they don't "scare" me. However, I do plan to try and figure them all out, but thought I would post there here quickly to give people here a good shot at identifying them. Any help appreciated.

A. bernardii would make perfect sense. From Wiki A. bernardii "... is a salt-tolerant species that grows in salt marshes, dunes, and coastal grassland. " That is EXACTLY were I found it. Cottage lawns/grass by the ocean. The taste description is also exactly as I described (like store-bought, but more flavorful/stronger) I think that is as positive an I.D. as you can get. Thanks.

Thanks for the info. A, B D and E all smelled mushroom like, and no staining. I am feeling fairly confident these are fine. The local guide book/website shows pictures like A and B, so I feel fairly good. Did try cooking and tried a small amount tonight. Tastes like some store bought mushrooms, but MUCH more flavorful. Skipping C as to eating it. Will try and make a sporeprint for fun, but is there a time limit on that? I haven't had much time the last few days so I am trying to make a spore print from something picked 3 days ago. I'm thinking it might not work. So, one more question again. Do you think A/B are probably same as D/E? The D/E type are similar, grew in same place as A/B, but the heads are flat, as opposed to the more traditional "rounding" of the head of a mushroom. Is that just the variable ways they grow in the wild? Maybe related to age?

"Some would make a person sick." By sick, would you mean mildly? Like nauseau? *If* it were Agaricus species would it be safe to say, eat a small amount, like say 3-4 small bite sized pieces (cooked). Then wait a day to make sure everything was fine? Eat a little more next time? I want to be careful, but not too afraid to try anything when the evidence looks really good that it is not a super-dangerous variety. Oh, and I should have included this as my starting point reference. Hopefully it is OK to add a link here. So, yes, I feel these A and B were almost certainly #14 on the list, meadow mushrooms. http://northernbushcraft.com/guide.php?ctgy=edible_mushrooms&region=prince-edward-island

Thanks. I had settled on that as the likely culprit, and decided I couldn't chance trying these, even though they are so close to home.

I am going to add 5 more types I found. You will see each picture is labeled Sample A, B, C, D or E for easy identification (didn't want to hog the forum with 5 separate posts!) Sample A - Found on open lawn. Several more in area. Smells like a mushroom, mild. Sample B - Found on an open lawn, same as sample A (maybe the same variety, just older?). Smells like a mushroom, fairly strong. (FYI, both near ocean. I was at a cottage). Sample C - Found in an old clover field, near my house. Forest nearby, but not that close (100-200 feet away). Sample D - Found on open lawn. Several more in area. Smells like a mushroom, mild. Sample E - Found on an open lawn, same as sample D (maybe the same variety, just older?). Smells like a mushroom, fairly strong. Again, I have my guesses on some of these from research, but want others opinions to see if they match up. To be clear, I am looking for edibles. If any of these are edible, there were lots more I could pick. However, don't want to take a chance so am researching hard. I will say that I feel A and B are safe, but looking for a little confirmation. The other, looking for some feedback on what they might be. I even wonder if A,B, D and E are ALL the same, just different looks/ages. All found in same general area, but the cap seems to be differently shaped for A/B versus D/E. Also, gill much darker in D/E. Only mushrooms I found yet I felt safe to eat were some King Boloets, and I thought they looked the scariest! LOL. Also, FYI, I will be cooking everything. If a spore print would be needed to aid in identification, I can make one.

I stumbled upon trying my first mushroom hunting expedition yesterday when I ended up at a place with mushrooms everywhere. I had been researching just the day before for fun trying to identify some mushrooms on my lawn, so suddenly I couldn't stop seeing mushrooms I guess! Anyway, hunting from Canadian Maritimes. P.E.I. to be exact. Anyway, this one looks so darn edible to me, but having a heck of a time finding a picture just like them. This was found near the woods in old clover field near my house (30 feet from woods). A bunch were together in a cluster almost. Pictures should tell the story, but in brief, slightly dark brown top, gills that are brownish or rust colored. On one, when I cut it, there was a slightly purple hue at the top (not seen in picture). Rust colored spore print. Very faint smell, but basically, mushroom smell. This was about 4-5 inches high. Forest it is near has trees like pine, spruce, balsam, poplar, birch, cedar, ash, maple ( no mushrooms in forest, or at least, very rare). I've cut it and bruised it with no discoloration. I have guesses on what it is, but don't want to create a "confirmational bias". Hoping this is an easy one to confirm (as safe) since it is right behind my house. There were quite a few I didn't pick. All look very much same.