Jump to content

Mushrooms Found While Camping


Recommended Posts

I didn't have much luck with edible mushrooms on our recent camping trip, but I did see the biggest amanitas I have ever seen. They were huge--probably 7" or so across the caps.

The eggs were so large I thought they might be puffballs until I cut them apart and saw the mushroom inside.

So here are some photos of the few mushrooms I did find, including a few suilli. I don't know what the little red ones near the bottom are.

31.jpg

11.jpg

gotchas.jpg

4.jpg

10.jpg

9.jpg

mushrooms-and-flowers1.jpg

I ate this one... :)

a-true-puffball1.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First 5 pics appear to be Amanita muscaria types. Note the variation in cap color. 6th pic is a species of Suillus. Looks to be one of the veiled types... covering over pores that breaks apart into a ring on the stalk. Maybe S. luteus. Type of tree associate is helpful here. Those red mushrooms hiding in the grass --7th pic... maybe Russula? Need more detail. The last pic appears to be one of the Skull-shaped Puffballs. There are two types... purple spored and green spored. But the glare on the cross-section pic makes it a little difficult to see whether or not the interior is a homogenous cream-cheese-like context... or a mushroom button.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was a purple spored puffball, Dave. The shape of the slices are due to cutting out bug tunnels. It was perfectly white inside. We ate it. :)

Thanks for pointing me toward Russula as a possibility on the little red ones. They sure were cute, and some critter had been enjoying them.

While we were at the rally, I got another friend interested in photographing mushrooms. She probably won't study them enough to hunt for edibles, but she was fascinated by what interesting photography subjects they make.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

The amanitas seen in the above photos include Amanita mucaria. Some people claim that this type mushroom is edible when it is prepared in a very special way, and even then a large meal should not be eaten. I have never tried this special prearation. If Amanita muscaria is casually prepared and eaten in sufficient quantity, one could become quite ill. It is a beautiful mushroom, nonetheless.

Here at Wild Mushrooms we often discuss eating types of well-known edible mushooms. we discourage experimenting with poorly known types, or if the collector is not very familiar with the ones he/she picked. Sometime a photo can fool a person!

We also share our photos of all types of mushrooms... and even things that aren't necessarily mushrooms.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was a purple spored puffball, Dave. The shape of the slices are due to cutting out bug tunnels. It was perfectly white inside. We ate it. :)

Thanks for pointing me toward Russula as a possibility on the little red ones. They sure were cute, and some critter had been enjoying them.

While we were at the rally, I got another friend interested in photographing mushrooms. She probably won't study them enough to hunt for edibles, but she was fascinated by what interesting photography subjects they make.

If you don't already know this, the Russula genus is pretty easy to identify because the stalk will break clean like a piece of chalk if you snap it in half.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was a purple spored puffball, Dave. The shape of the slices are due to cutting out bug tunnels. It was perfectly white inside. We ate it. :)

This is a bit of an old thread, but, aren't the "purple spored" puffballs non-edible? Plus they become purple fairly quickly; I don't know if I've ever found one that was perfectly white inside, unless just a wee baby.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Calvert, I think you're possibly referring to Scleroderma species, which are very dark purple to black inside. These are sickeners.

But there is a large skull-shaped puffball, Calvatia cyathiformis, which has immature white spore mass that eventually turns purple.

http://mushroomexpert.com/calvatia_cyathiformis.html

This one is edible when the interior is white. The very similar Calvatia craniiformis, also skull-shaped, has spore mass that turns yellowish.

http://mushroomexpert.com/calvatia_craniiformis.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Calvert, I think you're possibly referring to Scleroderma species, which are very dark purple to black inside. These are sickeners.

But there is a large skull-shaped puffball, Calvatia cyathiformis, which has immature white spore mass that eventually turns purple.

http://mushroomexpert.com/calvatia_cyathiformis.html

This one is edible when the interior is white. The very similar Calvatia craniiformis, also skull-shaped, has spore mass that turns yellowish.

http://mushroomexpert.com/calvatia_craniiformis.html

Thanks, Dave. Yes I was referring to Scleroderma.

I just looked into it, and we do get Calvatia cyathiformis here in Quebec, although it is referred to as "very rare".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

We just got back from camping in Florida again. I didn't find any mushrooms at the Ft. Pickens campground on Santa Rosa Island because the wind was incessant and it's a dry, dune environment. But then we went to Lake Seminole on the FL/GA/AL border and I found what I believe are spring agaricus (Agaricus bitorquis). (?)

The spore print was a very dark brown, they had a nice mushroomy odor, there was no hint of yellow on them, even after rubbing. I was sure they were edible, but they were growing in very green grass that had probably been fertilized, so I reluctantly tossed them.

mushroom2-sm.jpg

mushrooms1-sm.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

These look like an Agaricus species, but my guess is they are not A. bitorquis. Bitorquis is a really hefty mushroom with a double ring on the thick stalk. It tends to grow on bare ground, someimes partially buried. My guess about these is that they are closer to A. campestris than they are to A. bitorquis.

Some Agaricus species are sickeners. Most manuals say that one may seperate the good from the bad on the basis of odor, with the sickeners having an unpleasant medicial odor. But the more Agaricus types I see posted online, the less convinced I am that the genus is well understood from region to region. So I think it's a good idea to toss unfamiliar Agaricus types, especially when one is away from home.

Although it's mid-spring up here in PA, down there in Florida the types of mushrooms curently popping are more like what I'd expect to see up here in August. I have seen several such observations recently posted on Mushroom Observer. So the name "Spring Agaricus" may be a little misleading.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Agree it doesnt look at all like bitorquis. The ones I find tend to have a flatter cap and they are almost always dirty from their tendency to not fully emerge. Not all agaricus have a pink stage so that might provide a bit of a clue. It looks a bit like the cap is developing a raised and flat section in the center of the cap. We have a couple of Agaricus species here in Ontario that have that characteristic and they both have that nasty chemical aroma and I havent been able to positively identify either. One of them fruits by the thousands in mid summer in deep woods and I know they do it just to annoy me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Dave and DS. They look just like the ones that pop up in my yard in late summer here in NW Georgia. I have eaten and enjoyed them here, but the ones I photographed were also more brittle than I expected. I really wasn't 100% sure of my ID.

Appreciate the info on the difference with bitorquis.

I have lost my Mushrooms of the Southeastern US by Bessette. I don't want to pay that hefty price again, but it looks like I'm going to have to. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Yes, here just south of Atlanta we have a bunch of what look like the same Agaricus out in the grass. Gills start very pale pink, brown in a couple of days, caps up to about 12 cm I guess; stems often somewhat contorted, grass seems to impede their development. Lots of rain so far this year. These are coming up in the same places where I picked cute little campestris or similar last year, but these are a lot larger. Guess I'll cut some and smell them. I've had one experience getting the "wrong Agaricus" once, the unpleasant creosote like aroma is unmistakeable in my opinion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I have those wavy gilled Agaricus in the front two acres constantly, they also keep a little bit of the veil on the edge of the cap. Gills do go brown eventually but they take a lot longer than the campestris we used to harvest in California (which came up in the gravel drive next to the grass, so we called them A. drivewayensis). Back in California there were some big oily smelling hondensis or similar in the woods, I'm a bit leery of trying agaricus I'm unsure about here in Georgia. Plenty of chanterelles, black trumpets, etc. etc. anyhow this year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.