ID confirmation

[Adamaki]

Well I spent ages making a long post yesterday, but it seems to have disappeared, so let's try again!

I've found a spot where I work that's full of mushrooms. It's a small pine coppice next to a loch (lake) and under the trees it's dry and dim and covered in pine needles. I've found quite a few different mushrooms and have used a book and online keys to identify them, but I'm a little wary about eating them in case I make a rookie mistake. So I thought I'd ask you guys if you could help to confirm my identifications.

Ok here's the first one. I'm pretty sure this is Boletus edulis:

I think this one is a blusher (amanita rubescens):

It stains pink when damaged as you can see where the slugs have had a munch. There are loads of these, but I'm a bit worried about trying them as most of the amanitas are poisonous.

This fine specimen I think is the prince (Agaricus augustus):

This one looks like a wood mushroom (Agaricus silvicola):

This one looks like a bay bolete (Boletus badius):

As you can see it stains blue when damaged.

And finally there's this one, which I won't be eating, because I think it's a death cap! (Amanita phalloides):

I have plenty more photos, but the forum doesn't seem to like me posting too many on one post. Any help to confirm my IDs would be very much appreciated.

[Dave W]

1. Some kind of bolete. Maybe Boletus edulis? Is the stalk reticulate?... which means there is a netlike pattern. Is the taste mild? nutty? Is the cut flesh white? Does it stain any other color?

2. Looks like the Blushing Amanita. Although listed as "edible" in many manuals, this mushroom (Amanita rubescens, A. amerirubescens) is not recommended for beginners, on account of its resemblence to the Yellow Blusher (A. flvaorubens, A. flavorubescens).

3. Need to see the stalk base and the gills before I'd venture any ID. Is the spore print dark brown?

4. looks like some sort of Agaricus, but I think probably something other than A. silvicola. The stature is kinda stout and the cap quite scaly for this species. Does this one have a pleasant odor? Some Agaricus types are sickeners.

5. Boletus badius is a possibility for this one. But there are a few types of reddish-brown boletes with pores that turn greenish. B. badius has whitish flesh that bruises slowly and weakly bluish.

6. Cap looks like A. phalliodes. seeing the stalk base is often helpful when IDing an Amanita.

Where are you located, Adam? Mushroom species differ quite a bit from east to west coast in North America.

[Adamaki]

Hi Dave,

Thanks very much for the response. In answer to your questions:

1. Yes there is a netlike pattern at the top of the stem. The flesh is white and doesn't stain any other colour. I tasted a bit as I was sure it's Boletus edulis and it was nutty and very tasty. I would've eaten more but it was full of maggots!

2. I looked up the yellow blusher and I don't have to worry about that because we don't get it here in the UK. The only mushroom that could be mistaken for A. rubescens is the panther cap (A. pantherina), according to my ID guide. Apparently A. pantherina doesn't have a striated ring and has a dark cap with white scales as opposed to a light cap with grey scales in A. rubescens.

3. I'm afraid I didn't look at the base of the stem or take a spore print as I left this one In situ

4. Yes it has a pleasant odour. I haven't cut it to see if it yellows though.

5. The main reason I think this is B. badius is the chestnut coloured cap and staining blue when bruised.

6. I didn't realise this could be A. phalloides until after I looked it up at home, so I didn't look at the base for a volva. I'll have to be careful if there are A. phalloides about where I'm collecting though.

I'm in central Scotland. I guess we have quite a few different species to you guys across the pond, and consequently different issues of misidentifications, although I think we also have a lot of the same species as you.

[Dave W]

My wife and I visited the UK during summer 2011, and as our tour bus made its way north through the Scottish uplands I couldn't help but notice the abundance of good mushroom habitat; lots of wooded areas, streams, and diversity of tree types. While in Edinburgh, I had opportunities to observe some msuhrooms, mostly in the area just below the bluffs. I recall finding Marasmius oreades (Fairy Ring), Clitocybe gibba, Auricularia auricula (Tree ear), Paxillus involutus (dangerously poisonous), and a Leccinum (Scaber Stalk) that I think was L. scabrum. Somewhat surprisingly, these all looked very much like the versions that I find here in eastern North America. However, DNA sequencing has shown that many NA species that look just like Euro species are actually different.

http://mushroomobserver.org/73622?q=ddyN

http://mushroomobserver.org/73621?q=ddyN

http://mushroomobserver.org/73620?q=ddyN

http://mushroomobserver.org/73617?q=ddyN

http://mushroomobserver.org/73619?q=ddyN

[Adamaki]

Yes we're lucky to have lots of lovely mushroom habitat around here (I'm in Stirling by the way). There's plenty within a couple of minutes walk from my office, which is great for lunchtime forays! Interesting that you found a fairy ring as I haven't found any yet, although they are meant to be common. More likely is that I haven't learnt to identify it yet! There are definitely plenty of paxillus involutus around here though. I spotted my first one as I was getting out of my car at work!

It's not really surprising that DNA sequences for North American and European mushrooms are different for the same species as there won't be any mixing between populations so must've diverged a long time ago. I guess as long as they look the same and taste the same they're the same species though!

[Dave W]

Yes, lots of information about similar species of NA and Euro mushrooms seems to be the interchangable. But there are some exceptions. When one wishes to ID edible mushrooms on a regional basis, it's best to find relevant manuals, and/or experienced hunters. Adam, are there any mushroom clubs in Scotland?

[Adamaki]

Well I have a good UK manual (River Cottage mushroom guide) but I haven't come across any mushroom clubs around here. I know there are some down south in England, but to be honest I've never seen anyone else collecting mushrooms or any evidence of anyone having collected any where I forage. The advice of the books is to always ask an expert before eating any mushroom, but seeing as I don't know any experts and I haven't found any local clubs, I figured an online forum would be my best bet!

[Dave W]

We can provide some help, Adam. For instance, there may be some mushroom-feature that you didn't think of examining.

One online source of information is Rogers Mushrooms. http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/default~GID~253~chr~a.asp

This website includes a large list of species-descriptions. Both American and European species are documented. The descriptions tend to be rather short. But when it comes to mushroom ID, the more info one has available, the better the chance to get close to a species ID.

[Sunny_0ne]

I have the Simon & Schuster's Guide to Mushrooms which includes European mushrooms. It seems to be a decent guide, and it includes edibility ratings for each entry. That one might be helpful to you, Adamaki, if you don't have it. I've noticed it has several species that it states are not found in North America.

[Adamaki]

Yes, I've been using Roger's Mushrooms for quite some time. It's a great guide. MycoKey is very good too. I probably should get another book or two so that I can cross reference.

Going back to my photos, do you think No. 4 could be Agaricus silvaticus?

[Dave W]

I don't recall ever IDing A. silvaticus. But, looking at the photo seen here, and comparing with photos/descriptions found online, I'd say that A. silvaticus is a reasonable proposal for this mushroom ID. But the scales on the cap of A. silvaticus are described by Phillips as being ochre or brown, and I can't see the color in the photo here well enough to tell if the scales are colored much differently than the cap. A. silvaticus is one of several spceies of Agaricus with flesh that stains reddish after the mushroom is cut. Also, there are several species that sometimes have scaly cap. Here in North America some of the scaly woodland Agaricus are sickeners. For the most part, these types have a disagreeable odor. Phillips lists the odor of A. silvaticus as "not distinctive."

So, A. silvaticus is sounding like a mushroom species that may be easily misidentified. Also, Agaricus species tend to differ regionally. For instance, there are types found in western NA that do not occur in eastern NA. I think there are probably some differences in NA and Euro species.

The only types of woodland Agaricus that I eat are ones that have a pleasant almondy odor. I also sometimes eat Field Agaricus (A. campestris group) which may or may not have a pleasant odor.

[Feral Boy]

I found one of those yesterday -- I'm pretty sure it's Agaricus xanthodermus:

http://mushroomobserver.org/110458?q=eBs1

Had both of the "red light" features -- yellow staining and smelled like ink.

[Adamaki]

Ok I'll give the agaric a miss for now, seeing as it seems to be hard to identify. Feral Boy, it didn't stain yellow or smell like ink so I'm sure it's not a yellow stainer. I did have a nice mushroomy smell though.

Thanks for all the advice guys. It seems like mushrooming is a steep learning curve, with a lot of initial work for not much reward! I guess with time and experience the work is less and the rewards greater...I'm hoping!