Phil

Thanks for your responses. I tried a few caps. Quite tasty! They are more yellow than the ones in Golden Oyster or other Oyster mushrooms thread.

I found these golden oyster mushrooms growing on a dead tree trunk in Umbria, Italy. They are not supposed to grow wild in Italy so I guess they have escaped from a cultivator. I dont think there are any poisonous pleurotus so I will give them a try. Has anyone else found these growing wild?

The owner of the restaurant confirms that the mushrooms probably came from China but they thought they were Spanish. https://business.facebook.com/pg/RestauranteRiffValencia/posts/?ref=page_internal Its interesting that they can't serve good wild mushrooms in a Michelin restaurant in Valencia. If they were shipped from China it seems likely they were dried, frozen or tinned even though the restaurant says they were in perfect condition. Personally I would keep clear of any wild mushrooms from a restaurant or supermarket.

That reads like a good recipe. In central Italy wild asparagus is quite common and is more tasty than the cultivated variety and would be perfect in your quiche. I just need to find the morels and the fiddle heads.

My mushroom book says that in some parts of Europe Gyromitra are still consumed after some prolonged cooking. To suffer such a strong poisoning you would probably have to eat them raw or be allergic. May be some other mushroom was included by accident. I have been looking out for morels for quite a few years but I have never found them.

That tree is a good find. You can keep going back to pick more.

Great pictures. What type of tree is that?

Thanks for your comment Dave.

I found this mushroom growing on a path in open broadleaf woodland. It does not stain when cut or rubbed but is yellowish at the base of the stipe. The flesh smells slightly inky. It has something like a root growing at the base of the stipe. It looks to me like the poisonous Agaricus bresadolanus. What are the best rules for identifying edible agaricus types?

Some people like to pick the A. Caesarea before they have emerged from the veil as white eggs. In that case there isn't so much difference. He might have picked a lot of "eggs" and not spotted the odd poisonous one in his basket. The council office won't check them because picking the eggs is illegal. Personally I wouldn't think of consuming the eggs. A. muscaria poisoning would be bad enough.

I'm doing a funghi course at the moment. The lecturer sometimes shows a picture of an edible variety and next to it a similar non edible type. It makes it clear that you have to be careful.

They try to prevent admissions to hospital by offering a checking service. In August an entire family in Rome were badly poisoned with Amanita Phalloides that they thought were Amanita Caesarea.

This looks quite like your mushrooms. https://www.funghiitaliani.it/topic/64869-armillaria-mellea/

I took them to the council offices for checking. They rejected the one that you mention along with other smaller ones. They also removed all the stipes because they say they are indigestible. I asked If I could use them to make mushroom soup and they said certainly not! I had them for lunch.

I found these Macrolepiota this morning in a sunny oak wood. Any ideas about how best to eat them? I identify them by the distinctive cap and leopard skin stem with moveable double ring. Is that sufficent?

My mushroom book says that Armillariella Mellea have to be boiled for 5-10 minutes to remove toxins. The water is discarded and they can then be consumed or used in cooking. The problem with this is the flavour goes along with the toxins.

It looks a bit like Marasmius oreades. My book however says found in meadows and road sides.

Three days is what I thought too. The trouble is where I live if you are late the mushrooms have been picked. Mushroom hunting is very popular in Italy.

The climate where I live is fairly dry often for weeks at a time. Wild mushrooms usually appear some time after a storm. I wonder if anyone knows more precisely how long it takes for the funghi to grow after the ground has been watered? Probably it is different for various species? My book on funghi doesn't seem to cover this topic very well. Any thoughts please?

Thanks. When I looked closely at the gills I thought that it was omphalotus olearius. Quite poisonous!

On mycobank.org it says Boletopsis subsquamosa "The species can be recognized in the field by its fleshy and generally grayish fruitbodies, unlike any species in Albatrellus." Is it fleshy?

I guess it belongs to the species Scutiger.

They have a strong sweetish smell. Any ideas please?

I thought the taste of R cyanoxantha wasn't bad at all. I have tried the boiling method with other types of funghi but the taste seems to go along with the toxins. I would prefer to find the porcini but no luck so far.

I thought if the taste of the raw flesh wasn't peppery they were generally OK. I ate one cap a couple of weeks ago that I thought was R. Vesca and although the taste was good it gave me a tummy upset. The only two edible types that I have identified so far are Russula Virescens and R. Cyanoxantha.