coolslug Posted October 7, 2019 Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 Hello all. I found these mushrooms beside some big fir trees in Western Canada. Can anyone here identify this type of shroom please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dig Posted October 7, 2019 Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 Did you happen to do a smell/taste test, or a spore print? First mushrooms look like shaggy parasol, Lepiota rachodes. Did the tissue stain orange-red when cut? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolslug Posted October 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 Thanks Dig! I think all the pictures are of the same variety of mushroom, just in different stages of growth. I will go back to them tomorrow and get more of the info you mentioned and post what I find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dig Posted October 7, 2019 Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 Remember it is ok to taste And spit mushrooms, even toxic ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitog Posted October 7, 2019 Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 The last photo has different mushrooms, probably an Agaricus species, based on the fragment of cap with gills in the upper left corner of the mushroom cluster. A photo of the bottom of the cap, showing the gills' attachment to the stem would be useful, along with a spore print. As Dig stated, the first two photos show Shaggy Parasols, but the species is probably Chlorophyllum brunneum, since C. rhacodes is an eastern NA species, according to MushroomExpert.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolslug Posted October 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 Thanks Dig and Vitog! I went back and picked some of the mushrooms, Here is an attached picture of what I got. I don't know how to find the spores. I tapped the tops of them while holding over black cloth but didn't see any spores fall off, perhaps because the mushrooms were wet from the rain. Do you still think these are shaggy Parasols? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Posted October 7, 2019 Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 Hi coolslug. Making a spore print is simple to do. Take a piece of non-porous paper that will contrast with the spores of the mushroom specimen. If not sure whether the mushroom has light or dark spore, lay the cap (gills down) on half white and half black paper. You can also use aluminum foil, which will show either light or dark spore. You could also make the print on a glass microscope slide. The glass can be laid over either light or dark background. Once you have the mushroom cap on the print background, cover with a glass or bowl, to protect from drafts and air current, leaving one edge raised slightly to allow humidity to dissipate. Leave covered for several hours, up to 12 hours or more. The spores will deposit on the paper and can be compared or saved for future reference. See the info on spore prints at Mushroom Expert: https://www.mushroomexpert.com/studying.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolslug Posted October 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 7, 2019 Thank you Howard for explaining how to get a spore print. I'll give it a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolslug Posted October 8, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2019 I bit the bullet and fried a few slices of my find this afternoon. Wow! I’ve never had a better tasting mushroom ever. It’s delicious! I’m very glad I found this friendly informative website. Thanks for the help guys. Hopefully one day I will have enough 🍄 knowledge to help a newbie here also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitog Posted October 8, 2019 Report Share Posted October 8, 2019 Shaggy Parasols are one of my favorite mushrooms. Not only do they have a great flavor; they also dry really well. I use the normally rather large buttons either fresh or frozen (after blanching) and dry the older flat-tops. The dried mushrooms are very brittle and easily crushed into a powder that can be used to flavor soups or anything else that goes with mushrooms. They are also saprobic and can be grown in compost or soil with lots of rotting vegetation. If you have some appropriate habitat, try planting carefully excavated young stem butts with soil attached. If you're lucky, you could start a new colony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCn15 Posted October 8, 2019 Report Share Posted October 8, 2019 10 hours ago, coolslug said: I bit the bullet and fried a few slices of my find this afternoon. Wow! I’ve never had a better tasting mushroom ever. It’s delicious! I’m very glad I found this friendly informative website. Thanks for the help guys. Hopefully one day I will have enough 🍄 knowledge to help a newbie here also. Please tell me you did so AFTER the spore print. If not, you could have made yourself very sick. Shaggy parasols have a poisonous look alike that must be ruled out before consuming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted October 8, 2019 Report Share Posted October 8, 2019 Some people are allergic to the white-spored Shaggy Parasols, bad reactions have been reported. Most people are made ill by the green-spored species, C. molybdites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vitog Posted October 9, 2019 Report Share Posted October 9, 2019 Note that C. molybdites has not been reported from BC; so, it's pretty safe to assume that anything that looks like a Shaggy Parasol, is a Shaggy Parasol. However, as Dave W said, a few people are allergic to them; and only a small quantity should be eaten the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCn15 Posted October 9, 2019 Report Share Posted October 9, 2019 Did not know there are no C.Molybdites in BC, that's pretty cool. Makes Parasol hunting a lot safer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolslug Posted October 9, 2019 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2019 Thanks for that info vitog! My spore test showed up as a dull white , almost tan colour so I was pretty confident the mushrooms were safe. I'm very pleased to hear that BC hasn't reported the poisonous variety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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