Jump to content

systemslib

Members
  • Posts

    13
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by systemslib

  1. Yes, I have spent many a hour is southern swamps and you will not find the kings there or matsutake but man the spillway crawfish..... Here are some matsutake I found yesterday, early as normally appear around September. These are best taken before veil breaks, generally have to gently dig them out. They come up in same places if conditions are right. Cooked these in oil with some fresh garden garlic and kale, tossed together as rice bowl with some plum vinegar and soy sauce.
  2. Downeast Maine has been in a drought like state the last 2 summers. Last summer was really bad, found less than 10 porcini during the season. Others were left alone. All mushroom flushes were way down last summer and fall. This spring and summer have also been very dry. In early July had about 5 inches of rain from tropical disturbances, good soakers and flushes have come out. The porcini have had a nice first fruiting but man are the slugs on them fast, like as soon as buttoning up. I guess they missed them too! Still have had a good time over last week, maybe 25 or 30 pounds of prime porcini. Today it looks like the first flush is pretty much over, hopefully we get some more rain and later flushes will happen. Here is what I found at lunch today, mostly hemlock but also white pine. Left plenty due to size or slug damage. No other gatherers out, fine with me!
  3. Found in clumps in deep hemlock, growing near old mossy hemlock stumps, location downeast Maine. Multiple clumps, they get much bigger than ones pictured, look very breadlike and are meaty. These samples did not really stain blue. I cut the larger clump after picture and much yellower. Boletus huronensis is reported in the state and is recommended avoid though some older references suggest edible. No plans to find out, just curious. I found two distinct flushes about quarter mile apart both in deep hemlock. Can take some pictures of other ones in wild state next few days...edit went to toss in garden and broke the cap, it did stain faintly blue so pretty sure this is indeed Boletus huronensis.
  4. I had considered Tricholoma caligatum but seems to pair with hardwoods, these were found in dense hemlock stand with no hardwoods around. If it is a matsutake look alike then very tasty indeed. The smell of earth and body funk gets very strong when cooking, also noticeable on the taste, unlike any other mushroom I have tried, I can see how some people would not like the flavor. I don't get the spicy/cinnamon smell but probably just personal take. Also very chewy on texture but meaty, more solid than porcinis. I went back today and found the mothership of fruitings nearby, will update with some pics tonight. I looked around a bit in the original site but did not find anything. As I was leaving saw a nice fat king bolete and went to look at it, then saw these nearby. Under hemlock, maybe 40 ft from the other site on the road. Probably 50 or so coming up, much larger and more advanced than the other spot but also more sunlight. Picked a big one to look at ring closer, appears to be single ring so this would seem to confirm Tricholoma magnivelare vs caligatum.
  5. I have found laughing gyms once, they had a brighter yellow tint, esp the gills, smell of anise was strong. edit, After looking around pretty sure I found Gymnopilus luteus version of laughing gym as it was smaller, yellow, only three in the clump growing from old log. Definitely one that I never forgot though! It was found in the southern Appalachians.
  6. I concluded that they are indeed matsutake based mostly on soil and flushing pattern and process of elimination. There are many destroying angels around here, I looked at some young ones yesterday and they all have that classic bulbous base, plus the amanita stem crushed when pressed, the matsutake are like almost like cork, you cannot crush these stems! I ended up going back and taking the smaller one, left a few large ones to hopefully spore. They are in a pretty visible location on old logging road if any forager in the know goes by. Have to assume they must be others around if this one appeared, just how far can the spores drift? I remember this area had some selective timbering about 3 years ago at which point the road was graded a bit....I am thinking the resulting mix of clay and sand then washed out a bit down the road and after several seasons of hemlock duff created the required spawning medium. I cooked a few up, sliced, seared in oil, salted and ate. They are meaty, chewy and taste good. I don't get the spicy but do have a earthy flavor, moreso than king bolete for sure.
  7. he that guy, just wanted to say looks like you may have a leccinum of some type next to that king bolete. Some eat the leccinum but others say to avoid.They have that shaggy stem, always looks a bit darker. See lots of them around here often where the kings are.......
  8. They look similar to porcinis I find around here, not all have the fat stem and easy reticulation id. Many will have thinner stems with no sign of reticulation if in area of less light under dark hemlocks. The cross cuts look just like the porcinis I just cooked up for pizza. It has been an unbelievable year here for them. I got home the other day and looked at edge of driveway to see 4 growing under a birch. here is example of variety found one day last week the stems can be thin or fat, most have the bun color but also find paler caps, also a shot of one under the birch
  9. On the plus side these were found under hemlock, flushing in a straight line approx 30-40 ft, approx 25+- buttons pushing up at same time. soil does appear to be spodosol -like, gray, sandy. On negative side I did not see any brown flecking on caps as per other eastern NA (maine) examples, elevation is low, maybe 200 ft above sea level. Also does not seem to have that gym sock/spicy scent--to me they smell earthy, but a coworker said they smelled like old fish! They were found on a the edge of a old logging road under a dense stand of eastern hemlock. I covered up the buttons in a possible fruitless attempt to let some get to the stage of cap breaking out a bit more. I looked around online a bit for other possible matsutake lookalike, mostly seems to reference aminitas, of which these do not match any known one I see around here (lots of destroying angels and muscarias around here) and def not those. I took a few home for pictures, the ones on left in first shot I brushed off, the ones on right left as is.... any feedback appreciated, thanks.
  10. Thank you Dave for that reference to Tylopilus, did some other reading on those, it would seem that variobrunneus is the closest, the print is like hot chocolate powder, see below. I did find a bitter one earlier in the week as well, I now know about a whole other bolete like genus! Also see a ton of various leccinums around which can resemble the kings.....but man has it been a banner year on the edulis. That is a nice looking subglabripes, The few I cut all were all mixed color but good to know they are decent edible if wanted or a lean year! I have seen quite a few of them in same areas as edulis. Again great site!. I hope to bring back some various leccinum or boletes for futher ID that have been leaving, mainly blue stainers. Found a few yesterday that thought perhaps bicolor but they were under hemlock grove which I guess is not where you find bicolor, stained blue and bottom of stem was bright yellow.....more rain today here as dorian goes by, next week should be another good one for flushes.
  11. Been a wet summer here in eastern maine, the fall flushes are large. Finding a plethora of king boletes but also have been seeing what I believe is Hemileccinum subglabripes in same locations (mixed hardwood and hemlock). How is the edibility of Hemileccinum subglabripes compared to kings? I mostly dry for winter soups but just curious if worth collecting the Hemileccinum subglabripes as they are about, here are a few pics. Also I have found a bolete like cap the last few days that is not the same as Boletus edulis but very similar. Cap color varies a bit from most kings, but still brownish, pores are whitish to brownish, no bitterness, does faintly stain brown once cut. Found today's example under a white pine, yesterday found another under an oak. Most Boletus edulis I find under hemlock or hemlock mix. It has been an amazing year for mushrooms, today found the below, plus about 20 kings, some black trumpets, a few lobsters....also the chantrelles flushes have been heavy but I am not a huge fan of the flavor so have not been picking them so much. Anyway great site and hope your hunting is going well!
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.