Maddladyj Posted September 9, 2021 Report Share Posted September 9, 2021 Not sure if this is a reishi or a hemlock varnish self. Found on the ground at a campsite between oaks and hostas. Campsite is north bank of the grand river, Ashtabula county, Ohio. Forest is oaks, maples, hemlocks. White micro pores, brown spore print. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbenn Posted September 10, 2021 Report Share Posted September 10, 2021 Kind of looks like Ganoderma curtisii, hard for me to know without more info. Maybe you can follow these keys for help: https://www.mushroomexpert.com/ganoderma.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted September 12, 2021 Report Share Posted September 12, 2021 Need to know the type of wood this was growing on. Cap color is kinda interesting. Yes... a type of Varnished Ganoderma. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddladyj Posted September 12, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2021 Ok, the long version. my son is obsessed with foraging. He found a chicken of the woods on property and it really turned it up the last few weeks. Over the weekend we were at the family friends permanent camp site, he found these, thinks they’re reishi’s and he should save them. I did save them, but I’m still not letting him make himself mushroom tea because I really don’t know what this is. Im in wine country, between Cleveland and Erie. Around here, there are ‘camp grounds’ where the city people spend their weekends. Truth, they’re fancy trailer parks with golf carts and lots of booze. Not not my scene, but it was a memorial service. These mushroom where NOT on wood, they were in a rediculously compacted flower bed between two sites, just sticking up out of the ground about 2.5 apart. The bed had a few scraggly hostas, and there were 3 oak trees within 6-10ft of the mushrooms. The trees looked healthy and alive, it’s possible they came from surface roots, I guess, but I couldn’t see any (I made a point to look, I was told reshis need wood), and even the hostas (which don’t die) were having a hard time. The surrounding woods are oaks, maples, and hemlocks, but a decent 30 yrds from this spot. They were stuck to the ground fairly well. Does that help? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted September 14, 2021 Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 I think these polypores were likely growing from buried wood, ie. old roots. In my experience Ganoderma curtisii is more likely to grow like this (as opposed to G. tsugae or G. sessile). G. curtisii grows on hardwood, often oak or maple. There are differing opinions on whether or not the native North American "varnished Ganoderma" species may be considered Reishi. My understanding is that both G. curtisii and G. tsugae are chemically similar to the rue Asian Reishi. I have used a double-extract tincture made from G. tsugae; couple drops in a glass of water. However, the tea made from this species is bitter and causes minor stomach issues for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maddladyj Posted September 14, 2021 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2021 I thank you for your feedback! so, like it or not, Thomas Robert, your mushroom treasure is not consumable. back to searching for chickens, lions, and chantrelles. thank you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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