JOHNY

Maybe your paraffin had residual tasty odors if it was made from a biological source (not petrochemical). Maybe your spawn material was appealingly smelly or tasty. The first time I spawned shiitake into logs, I used a sawdust based mix. Even with a wax painted cap, ants pulled away the cap and hauled away the spawn material all summer. Maybe beaver just like maple logs layed out in a buffet type dinner situation.

Is this Guepinia? Spore print in process and hoping for white. I found it for the first time, at the bottom of a sloping land behind my back yard. 60 years ago it was a sand a gravel quarry. It was back filled long ago. Tree regenerated spontaneously. Mostly Aspen, Manitoba Maple and a few Bur Oaks and Ash These mushrooms were in an area of partial shade, totally dominated by Manitoba Maple (Box Elder). That concerns me because all descriptions on the web say Guepinia is usually found with conifer and buried conifer wood.

Probably an oyster. But the stems seems big for an oyster. Could they be Hypsizigus tessulatus or ulmaris? Either way they look tasty, you lucky guy.

Spore print should be white. I think your specimen is older. But it looks like many of the Shiitakes that I have grown from Red Maple logs. My most recent picking was a single shiitake from a 4-5 year old spawned log. It you get them a bit younger, they look more "traditional". When they get older they loose that floccose decoration on the cap, then they get really wide and flatten out and can crack. The very oldest one I ever had is shown below.

My property is loaded with mushrooms that look like that. They ooze orange from cut/torn surfaces. But I never seen it turn green. How long does it take for the colour change?

Blewits One of their favoured habitats is yard waste/mulch...but not too much woody material A wide flared stem base without a cup/volva. There is not any hint of ring or any residual brown coloured ring on the stem The gills have a slight notch as they meet the stem All the above are easy to see in your pics. Most critical...a "pink Brown" spore print. It looks like this:

Agree Pseudohydnum. The only one I ever found was late September on a very old decaying conifer stump.

The coarse spongy fertile surface is nasty for eating. The cap is ultra thin after removing the slimy surface and the fertile sponge layer. By the books edible.....but why.....

Pic 2 looks like a different species. The soccer ball type surface fracturing is not typical of any giant puffballs that I have found I hope Dave can comment.

Maybe. But... Blewits are not beginner mushrooms. Toxic purple Cortinarius species can look very similar. There are lot of purple mushrooms. To be sure it is a Blewit I would look for: A wide flared stem base...but NOT any tissue structure that looks like a cup holding the stem...in other words toxic Amanita. There is not any hint of ring or any residual colour brown ring on the stem There is never tissue connecting from the edge of the cap to the mid portion of the stem. The gills have a slight notch as they meet the stem All the above are easy to see. Most critical...a "pink Brown" spore print. Many source describe the colour differently. I call it my Caucasian Inner Forearm Colour at end of summer.

I've seen small puff balls that look like the empty cup a year after I first saw them. They sprout, release spores, dry out, freeze in the winter, dry out again in the spring and stay like that until next Autumn. Also had Hedge Hogs dry out and retain shape for over a year on my my property, in the last 2 years.

They might be. Do a spore print to be sure it is white.

I have eaten "Parasol" type mushrooms twice, growing in Ontario, just north of Minnesota. They might be called C. rachodes but like many morphologically similar mushrooms in Europe vs. North America, they may have enough differences in DNA to be called different species. I would eat them again. They were delicious. As data and anecdotes accumulate, especially on the Internet, almost every species of mushroom can have a story associating it with toxic events. Some people have idiosyncratic reactions that are rare: example, a neighbour friend who has definite GI reactions to Wine Caps (S. rugosoannulata). She finally realised what was happening after five separate nights of nausea and vomiting a few years ago. Others can develop reactions after many years of exposure: example, father of a co-worker can no longer eat Morels after having no trouble for 50 years. No matter how long and hot they cook them, he suffers ++GI reaction. Then there are "once only events" like the cluster of lethal encephalopathy that occurred in Japan 25 years ago from eating Angel Wings (P. porrigens). But it only happened one year and everyone was on dialysis (or extreme advanced renal failure) before eating them. But now, all sources say don't eat them even though people ate them for centuries and still do. People have eaten various Leccinum species for centuries, but even on this forum there are topic threads that suggest caution due to reports of toxicity. Sometimes, I think we can have too much information. The eternal persistence of any Internet postings can be useful but I believe can also escalate unnecessary fears as hyper-rare anecdotes accumulate and are repeated and eventually become accepted fact Ultimately, it your decision to eat or not, your Shaggy Parasols. The cautious approach of eating one bite, wait a few hours...have some more, wait until the next day and eat the rest is a sensible approach every time you try a new mushroom

Classic Lobsters. Brush the dirt off with a soft bristle tooth brush. Slice and fry.

Looks like a Blewit. To me they just smell like "mushrooms" Spore print is pinkish brown like my inner forearm skin colour at end of summer.

Agree with rbenn. Let it grow.

They look a bit old. There is small spotty red marks on the caps when younger. Also, it must be white pine. They only grow in association with white pine. I've never eaten them. The large pores and thin caps just don't appeal to me

Oyster for sure on the big one, if white spore print Crepidotus has brown spores Not Angel wings. Only ones I ever found where on a very old decaying spruce stump. And they are very thin.

Probably. Usually cap is sticky. Critical that spore print is white. The dark stem bases are typical.

Possibly Birch Boletes (Leccinum scabrum) in Pic #1 Possibly King Boletes in the last three pics

Can you post pictures of the mushrooms?

The residual ring on a Cortinarius can very very hard to see. That is why I spore print all Blewits before eating them.

Interesting fairy ring. Maybe S. brevipes

What are they? My first guess would be a Lepiota of some sort. But that need a few days of growth and a spore print to be sure. If true and if edible, you will have a serious feast in few days.

I have successfully fried and frozen Wine Caps, S. rugosoannulata. Fry until all the released water is evaporated. I use butter, but any cooking oil would likely be OK. I also lightly salt them as they go into the pan. I prefer just a wee bit of browning on the mushroom pieces so I stir and fry a bit longer for that effect. It is personal preference. The critical step is to get all the excess water out of them. That way they do not change texture after being frozen. I store in either vacuum sealed bags or Tupperware food containers. Very handy for cooking in winter. Texture and taste is perfect. Other mushrooms I have done like this include: Honey, Porcini, various boletes--Yellow, Orange Cap, Grey Cap, various Leccinum, Blewits, Chanterelle and Lobster