Old Oak

Eastern Nebraska and the Missouri River floodplain are dryer than, but similar to eastern woodland habitat. North Platte is way out in the plains compared to where we are. Oyster come up September-October. The only look alike you need to worry about is much smaller and has a furry cap. When there’s some rain and the lows dip into the 40’s they start popping. http://www.mushroomexpert.com/crepidotus.html

I’m in Omaha and those look like the ones we find along the Missouri on the willows. Super tasty! Where you from in Nebraska?

That last pic looks like a metal album cover. ?

Nice finds!!

Sounds good. Just wanted to be sure she had the best tools to fight it.

I’d you slice it through and it’s white throughout go for it!

Holaroo, If she has stage IV cancer she should maybe consider taking a polysaccharide K (PSK) extract bought from a store or online. This is the anti-tumor compound in turkey tail. Eating the mushrooms or even making a tincture with the mushrooms only gets a bit of the desired compound out. If you want to really retard tumor growth (as opposed to people who take it as an immune booster who are healthy) a purer form of the compound would be better. You need a more sophisticated extraction method (salting out with ammonia) from the mycelium to get really high levels of PSK, which is what is available from some supplement companies. She should talk to her physician about this as well as it could have interactions with other medications. That looks good Camille. They have a furry /velvety top that also distinguishes them from stereum.

Looks like turkey tail to me. If you can see the pores you’re good. It’s when the surface just looks uniform white that you get stereum.

? Why would you be embarrassed about being a proficient forager? That’s something to be proud of!

Welcome! Lots of very helpful people here.

I think that in my case, there was so little rain over the summer (it didn't rain for about 2 1/2-3 months) that it didn't allow for any underground growth over the summer. We just got 6 inches of rain over the course of a couple weeks and there are very few hens when they should be blowing up....we'll see what the next few weeks bring.

I usually find them associated with red oaks in my neck of the woods. I’ve also had years where they fruit early and that’s it. Hope you still get some!

Looks like it. Ganoderma lucidum. That’s a fine specimen.

Look like Flammulina velutipes. Not 100% but confident. These are edible but you should use EXTREME caution when eating brownish mushrooms off of wood because deadly Galerina marginata is a close look alike. A white spore print will rule out galerina species though.

Same here! We got >5” in Nebraska. Bought time! I saw some little hens fruiting yesterday. Gonna give em a day or two then snatch them up.

I've also found them when it is hot out too. Some rain certainly helps bigger/more numerous fruitings but there will still be some out if it hasn't rained much.

One time a friend of mine and I found a field full of these. We picked a few id'ed them but never ate them. Just too freaky.

Thanks guys! A lot of eastern US mushrooms struggle to fruit in my area. Just always want to find some trumpets. Maybe one year.

I don't know if they even grow where I am, but do you guys normally find them associated with beech trees? We have mostly bur/red oak and hickory forest in E. Nebraska. No beech anywhere.

I'd say that entoloma abortivum. http://www.mushroomexpert.com/entoloma_abortivum.html I've never found these though so I'd wait for somebody else to chime in before eating them.

old gomphus X2

That is a beautiful specimen! When you harvest it pop it out of the ground without turning it over. This will keep the dirt out. Tip it up as little as you can and cut all the dirty parts off the bottom. This will ensure the least amount of cleaning later.

I've seen hens that look like this before. But as Dave said the picture makes it a bit difficult to ID.

I'm not an expert, but they look like Clitocybe nuda. Blewits. Their purplish color and pinkish spore print are what I'm basing it on. http://www.mushroomexpert.com/clitocybe_nuda.html

I'm up in Omaha and haven't found any in my usual spots yet. We finally have been getting some rain though so maybe soon.