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Fall Mushrooming in PA


SSgirl7855

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Hey everyone!

So this is my first year attempting a fall mushroom hunt...I am usually out in the spring aggressively harvesting morels, fiddleheads, ramps, nettle, etc... so I figure I could try my hand at some fall foraging. 

Could someone help me out with what should be out this time of year? Ive seen puffballs for sure...but Im thinking hen of the woods and chicken of the woods should also be out (or have been out), right? Any other common mushroom suggestions to add to my list?

I always mean to do some late summer-fall hunting, but my timing is just never any good :(

Much appreciated....Can't wait! Thanks

 

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I assume you mean edible mushrooms. Besides chicken and hen of the woods, there should be plenty oysters, Leccinum and Suillus species, as well as honey mushrooms (careful with identifying the latter as it has plenty pousonous lookalikes), blewits (careful confusing with poisonous Cortinarius, Entolomas etc.), hedgehogs. I'm sure I missed a few.

 

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This time of year in SW PA I'm finding hen of the woods, honey mushrooms and aborted entalomas. Did I spell that right??? lol I have also found some toothed mushrooms too; bearded tooth, combs tooth and that other one. Think bears head tooth. 

I believe the proper names are:

Grifola frondosa (hen of the woods, sheeps head)

Armillaria melea, A. gallica (honey mushrooms) A. tabascens (ringless honey)

Entoloma abortivum (aborted entoloma)

Hericium erinaceus, H. corraloides and H. americanum 

( bearded tooth, comb tooth, and bears head tooth)

The toothed  are my favorites. 

Forgive me if I misspelled any or mixed them up. Haven't had much mushroom hunting time this year. I believe it is a good time of year for pluerotus (oyster mushrooms also!!!....

 

 

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Dualsetters's list looks good to me. I would add that some folks have a bad reaction to eating Honey Mushrooms (Armillaria). I think that par-boiling them helps reduce the probability of a problem. I always par-boil my Armillaria. (The locals in NE PA call these "popinkies".) 

If you find something interesting and get good photos, post them in the identification thread.

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Pictures of today's haul: I am 99.9% sure these are the aborted entoloma but I just want to get another opinion before I attempt to try one since this is my first time collecting these. There were probably hundreds scattered all over the ground.... some at the base of trees, some just like, "hello!" in the middle of the trail. The last picture I believe is the non aborted type which I found growing from the same mycelium. My only worry is they may be too old?? I feel they are more brown inside rather than pink/red. Input?? 

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I agree with dualsetters's assessment. The Entoloma abortivum mushrooms (normal gilled form) are risky because of the risk that another species of Entoloma may be intermingled with the abortivum.

 

SSgirl, I see you're out there in Western PA. You may want to check out the Western PA Mushroom Club.

http://wpamushroomclub.org/

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Well it rained heavily this Wednesday and there's been light rain Thursday and this Friday with predicted more light rain Saturday and Sunday.  That should compensate for the drought (as far as surface growth is concerned) and make probably make everything wet.  Now I just have to hope I get a day off early next week to go out.  Monday would be best.

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Some of those aborted Armillaria fruit bodies look like they nearly became full-fledged mushrooms.

Vault Dweller, I think this soaking rainfall over the past two days or so will set up eastern PA for a nice stretch of fall mushrooms. I'm planning to check a few spots in the Poconos tomorrow (Saturday). 

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Yeah, there were every type that day Dave. Later that week I found twice as many honeys about 100 yds from where those were then the next year there were none .

 

I finally got some free time,  hoping the rain then sunny days provide some good hunting even if it is late in the year. Seems like once we get into October all I ever find are brick caps and the bleached out remains of chickens. 

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Turns out I work all early and middle next week.  Hopefully there will be enough moisture left for there to be mushrooms Thursday and Friday (my days off).

In fact if that particularly intense hurricane moves in our direction it would hit us Friday and that would make next week grand for finding fungi (though too late for the rain to help crops which are already being harvested).

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