A few new ones

[djg]

My knowledge is limited, so here goes.

The white/beige one was on the trunk and base of a dead standing ash tree. It felt very gelatinous and not firm.

I have had the reddish brown one in my yard before.

The black one is way paste it's prime...I could guess but I'd just be showing my ignorance.

Thanks

[Dave W]

I think the white gilled mushrooms found on the ash tree may be Pleurotus, Oyster Mushrooms. These look to be past prime and possibly water-logged.

The reddish polypore is a Varnish Shelf Ganoderma. This looks like a variety that grows on wood of a deciduous tree, Until recently, hardwood Reishi mushroom in North America was called Ganoderma lucidum. But this species is now known to not occur in NA. A name that may apply is Ganoderma curtisii. Is it growing near roots of a hardwood tree?

The last photo looks like maybe a very old decrepit mushroom from the genus Lactarius... but I wouldn't bet much on this!

[djg]

Thanks for the reply. It looked like the shelf mushroom was pretty fresh and that it's fragile state was normal. But there were other dried up one on the same tree, so I guess it too was on the downside. I read up on the Ganoderma and it sounds interesting. It looked pretty hard, so I'm guessing no one eats it for the flavor value.

I met a guy at the park and he said the black trumpets were starting in our area, so I was hoping my decayed black one might have been one. I never go to this park in the summer because I don't like to camp in the Midwest heat, but he said he found bags full of chanterelles this summer. I guess I'm going to have to change my plans.

[ChefsWild]

That decayed one is not anything like a black trumpet, sorry!

Actually fresh reishi makes an incredible bitter/umami stock base. I use it for a "dashi" type stock to showcase its appetizing bitterness, balanced with salt and sometimes textured with agar. A little goes a long way and it takes some advanced tasting and tweaking to be able to balance how bitter it is. Properly done however, it is goooood.