Spring Agaricus

 Posted by Joe M,

When looking for morels in the woods at 6,000 feet, I found a white mushroom. When I picked it,  I was surprised to see that it had a ring and pink-brown gills that I recognized on sight as Agaricus. It had a big skirt, and some yellow spots on the top. By the time I got home the annulus was damaged, so I had trouble identifying the species. A made a point a few days later to try to find more, I went up and I was lucky. I took some pictures immediately:

I believe that they are Agaricus albolutenscens.  

They arrive a few weeks after the snow has melted, they stain amber permanently, unlike A. Xanthoderma that fades to brown) They have a thick large skirt annulus, stocky stature, solid semi-bulbous stem, that separates them from A. silvicola, and they smell sweet like anise. Most authors list them as choice edible with caution.

A different Bird nest than last ..

Posted by Joe M.

Yesterday, some member (sorry I don't know who) brought a stick with about 25 "Bird nest fungus" on it to our monthly meeting . I ended up taking the stick home for identification. The nests have only a couple of eggs left on them, with no trace of gelatin, and their hairs are old and only clearly visible with magnification anymore; but...

I believe that due to their small size 5 mm wide x 6 mm high, their mug shape with the flared top, smooth interior with white and gold tones, and white and tomentosum exterior, we must be looking to :  

Nidula niveotomentosa.   (niveo is snow, and tomentus is wool of hair)

These Bird nest fungus don't look like much, but magnifying the pictures a little, they become really interesting.

I have been posting often on the new SIMA facebook site, but I see that most of our members are not on there. I thought I would post an update here as well for those still using this blog.

With the recent moisture, I've started seeing various fungus fruiting. The first is a picture of Coprinellus micaceus. I finally found a group fruiting off a stump with spreading roots. I've always wanted to try this edible, but they are usually going inky by the time I find them, even if they have popped up during the previous 24 hours. On this stump, however, I was able to follow the roots and find fresh clumps that had barely broken the surface. After sorting and cleaning, they provided a very tasty bowlful of fungus to add to our scrambled eggs and asparagus. I will definitely be trying harder to collect this one in the future!

Next is the almost ubiquitous Coprinus comatus, or shaggymane. Just a few in a reliable lawn berm. I decided last year once and for all that I don't like the mushy texture, but I do like the taste and, especially, how plentiful they often are when nothing else seems to be growing. So, I make mine into soup or sometimes duxelles to freeze for later.

I found a lot of oyster mushrooms last year and really came to love them - especially their fragrance when fresh. I'd been out looking for them for more than a month this year with very little luck until last week. I chose a picture of one that looks like it's mooning passers-by. It was very easy to see from the greenbelt. =)

Finally, one I haven't identified yet, but Genille and Bob are thinking perhaps it is a young Spogiporus leucospongia. It feels like proofed bread dough. Slightly squishy, but leathery on the outside. I have to go back and see if I can identify any pores.

Happy hunting! Please let us all know when the morels start popping. I have been following some Oregon and Washington sites and it looks like they are showing up close to, if not at, our elevation now. I hope to see them here soon!

Krista W.

Bird nest mushroom

I think that the mushroom that Krista brought to Monday's meeting  could be Crucibulum parvulum.  It means very small. The nest looks like an inverted ice cream cone. (The whole picture is smaller than 1/2 inch).
In retrospect I should have taken more pictures; they were other interesting mushrooms.
Joe,

Crucibulum parvulum

January

Posting by Joe M.

I went this weekend near the Boise river with low expectations of finding mushrooms since the temperatures had been in the low 40's to mid 30's...it wasn't too bad. I found 4 species, one easy to identify, and 3 others, which I found them difficult.. They are not a lot of species present, so we could learn them all given enough time, and that has motivated me to include this post, click on the picture to zoom:

Flammulina Velutipes. Several clusters, about 80 total. Is a common find, but I though it was a good picture.

 

This one is about 3 cm wide, spore print ochre-brown. I think that it could be Tubaria furfuracea, sin T.heimalis.
It looks like Marasmius oreades, with darker gills.

Likely a Clitocybe related to C. albirhiza, smaller, white spore print, doesn't have rhizomorphs,

.

               Flat stipe, with some little white micelial threads, sticking to needles, leaves and humus. It grows in the middle of winter, I have seen it before. It has no smell, grows close to the path, near Juniper.

These are really small, the size of a penny.

White, they grow on wood, I didn't get enough samples, to figure it. 

Do you recognize any of them? 

Chanterelle bonanza!

Posted by Joe M.

Thinking that the weekend weather was going to be bad, I decided to take today's afternoon, thursday the 30th, for a little foray of my own. It was a beautifull afternoon. I went on the road to McCall, up to 5,000 feet or close to that. Everything was going according to plan, I was finding small mushrooms. I found a couple fleshy ones, for a change, and when in my hand I realized they were Chanterelles. I thought that the season for them was over, but with this rain they are actively growing right now ( I left many small ones behind). Heads up! Maybe you should check your favorite Chanterelle spot.

 Cantharellus cibarius var. roseocanus

Man-on-a-Horse, or maybe it was a donkey.

Posted by Joe M.

I guess this story is about the pleasure of learning new things, on a field of interest:
About a month ago I found some Tricholoma equestre out of Sage Hen, Idaho. I was happy since it was the first time that I found them, and I little bit sad too because they have been label no longer edible because some poisoning in Europe; see picture:

Tricholoma equestre

 

This weekend I went to a place close to Cascade, Idaho, and found many different species of mushrooms. Towards the end I found these; see picture:

When I saw them I thought "T. equestre" growing on sandy soil; just as the Smith-Weber book said.

I cleaned them, and here they are:

 

Tricholoma leucophyllum

 

I said to myself, eh,  wait a minute the gills and stipe are white instead of yellow...what mushroom is this?...

 

Tricholomas of North America's key points to T. intermedium, sejunctum and arvernense, but also points to Tricholoma leucophyllum on the T.intermedium's description this way: " ...T. intermedium merely represents a variety of T.sejunctum, whereas, according to Michael Beug, Daniel Stunz considered T.leucophyllum to be a variant of  T.equestre, which would lend to support for the existence of two species."

 Smith-Weber's book also refers to collections with white gills as Tricholoma leucopyllum, and since

these mushrooms caps are not particularly fibrillose or have gills with yellow flushes, seems easier to me to think of them as an specie of T. equestre.

A thing woth to mention is the multiple lamellulae (short gills), that make the gills look like they are serrated, and this has confused me in the past with other tricholomas. (Also, the picture seems as if the gills show some yellow on the left, but I can say that is just some defect on the picture itself).

Thanks, I hope this was entertaining. Happy hunting.

 

We're all at the meeting, eating LaReta's caramel corn.  Where are you?

Krista et al

Posted by Joe M

Alicia, you didn't bring me any mushrooms as you said you would in the previous comment,  but you sent me two pictures of mushrooms that you found at the Upper Payette Lake campground. Really interesting pictures.
I looks to me that the white mushroom is a bolete covered with a parasitic fungi. Probably a Boletus edulis covered with Hypomyces chrysospermus. I am guessing that because the other mushroom looks like a  Boletus edulis. It appears to me that the parasite fungus is starting to take over the reticulation and the pores of the good mushroom; can you see that too? I will discuss it with some people, and I will keep my eyes open when I collect boletes in the future. Thank you!

Early infection

Hypomyces chrysospermus

Posted by Joe M.

Last Saturday 8/2/14 I got my first russula of the season out of Sage Hen, see picture. I am still uncertain of its classification as a specie, and I only got one, so it is harder to identify. The spore deposit is pale yellow and its taste is mild, that should put it into the R. xerampelina group, with the cap colors not quite right, but the literature says is possible.The cap is large, about 14 cms, stem 4 cms wide, widens down, with a bulb 6 cms wide. The gills are white and very brittle, the edge is not striate, but tinted with a vinaceous color.  It has a strong smell, to me, shrimpy or fishy. The spores are about 9 x 7 microns, with warts about 1 micron. Color changes and bruises to brown.

I guess it could be from the R. fragantissima group, maybe the strong smell is just fetid, I don't have enough experiece to tell the difference. But overall, to me, it fits better on the R. xerempelina description.

I am aware that some of you collect R. xerempelina.  Have you found any to be yellow? Do you have any previous experience with this mushroom in Idaho? What do you think?

Today I found some ferrous sulfate pills, I dissolved them in water, and I am going to find me another russula, and look for the color changes...If it turns green, will it be enough proof?

 

Boleteless trip.

We went in a little expedition to a location close to Cascade, we being... Dario B. and Joe M.
We thought that Boletus edulis were out in the area. We have heard from some hot-shots that they already got 10, some days ago. We went to my favorite spots there, and found zero. I guess that they know of an earlier blooming location. We found some signs of a start... 2 Suillus lakei, 1 S. brevipes, several Amanita apricas in buton stage...Maybe 2 more weeks? We moved to a diffent area later, and found additional mushrooms. Here are some of our most interesting findings for the day, ( I am posting the smallest size of picture; if you double click on it, it gets larger):

This is the first time I ran into this mushroom. It has taught me the difference between Entoloma, Volvariella and Pluteus. After a while, I think it is  Pluteus cervinus. Edible. I was able to verify it by taking a sample under the microscope and looking for "horned"cystidia, see below.

This Mushroom was about 8 cm. Very heavy. Dario founded on the ground, so we didn't think that it grows on wood. It looks like a Catathelasma but without a veil. Eventually I figured that it was a
Neolentinus ponderosus, with serrated gills. I didn't eat this one, but I will the next one. I heard that are good, have you tried it?

 This one, I am still working on it. I know that it is a Cortinarius, but I can't find a key for 1 stipe with 2 pileus... ;-)

It was a good trip, good company, had fun, learned a lot. The Boletes will be there, maybe next week!

Blonde Morels

For Joe M. this year's morel hunting success has been only about 10% of last year. By now last year , after getting a good share of Morels, I was getting a decent quantity of King boletes, and I was seen all sorts of Amanitas, Ramarias, Suillus, etc. What is going on? I am a little confused, it looks like, is too early at some places, and too late at others, and I feel like I lost the bus somewhere. Somebody told me that a burned area by GardenValley was really good, but I missed that...Has anybody tried Featherville for morels yet?

Lately I had a little luck with the "Western Blond Mountain Morel" at Sage Hen, Morchella frustrata,  sin: Morchella fallax", but I think that they are done for the year. It showed after the black morel and is much firmer, doesn't crumble as M. snyderi does. M. frustrata is reported from CA and OR, but I am relatively certain of their clasification. Have you collected these before? They cook into a nicely gold color. See pictures:

 

The morels are out, and they ask me about you.

Hello this is Joe again. A couple of months have passed since my last post, and I still have not found any oyster mushrooms. The ones I posted were from last year, apparently they survived the winter. I thought that oysters would appear before the morels, but I was mistaken. I have not found any new trace of them, but the morels are here. I found some by the Boise river today.
 

Morel (yellow or white?)

 



Last week I have seen some mushrooms for the first time. Can you help me identify these ones below? Are these mushrooms well known and common for you? I specially want to know more about the clitocybe nuda, if that is what they are.

They both have notched gills, and strong micelia threads, early spring...Clitocybes?

                                                                 



 

Clitocybe albirhiza o similar?



                   Above:      White spore print. Cap flat, buff.

                                     Funnel shape, fleshy, stem widends down. Smells ok.



Clitocybe nuda
(can't appreciate the color but is lilac on the gills and stem)
The cap is tan)

.

Below:  Spore print buff-pinkish.Margin incurved. Smells ok.

Do you know this mushroom?

 

 

Are any fresh Oysters around?

Hello, this is Joe M. trying a new post, as we learned last week. Today I went to the Boise river looking for Oysters (I am trying for 3 weeks now), and I found just a few. So far I only have found brownish ones. I think they are Pleorotus ostreatus, due to their mussel shape, clustered, margin incurved, mild taste, decurring gills... So far I haven't being able to find any light grey, with white gills. So I don't know if I am early or late.The other ones I believe they are "Velvet foot". Here are the pictures.


Pleorotus ostreatus

Flammulina velutipes

 

Password changed. Hello this is Kevin. I had to change the password. If you knew the old password you will know the new one with a little help. Using the old password remove the last 2 letters and add SIMA to the password and you should have the new one.

Kevin posting an update. Wendy and I found some morels this weekend. The seem to be just starting at the 5200 feet level and doing pretty well at 4200 feet. We were in the Mann Creek area and by Cabin Creek. Everything is very dry so you need to look where there are seeps and water is running. Get you personal use permit so you can go to the Featherville area. If you are over 18 you must have a permit you can't ride on someone elses permit.

Anything?

Is anyone finding anything? It's so dry! I'm not even finding shaggies...

Krista

Krista, Genny Steiner here.  The little gems you have are indeed Verpa.  Look closely at the attachment of the cap to the stem.  The ridges and pits top that looks like a morel attaches at the top of the stem and hangs down tight next to the stem.  The stem is hollow but it is not join the bottom edge of the cap.  The pith inside the stipe may go away with age.  These are great pictures.  And as far as I know you have the prize for the first morel type mushroom even though it is a false morel.  Don't eat these.  But keep watching for the real deal.  With this weeks rain and the warmer temperatures, morels should be popping out.  You all did good on your mushroom hunt.  Great success!

Well, after a GREAT deal of walking today I found these two "MLOs" (morel-like objects.) From the outside and from the odor, I would have sworn they were morels, but after cutting them open I'm not so sure due to the partially attached cap. In the past, I have found really big ones in this spot that looked similar but had more definitely attached caps. They rolled under a bit at the bottom of the cap and looked like an ace of spades when you cut them in half. We ate those with no issues.

There was no pith inside of these two from today. Not too fresh however, so I'm not truly tempted to eat them. I included a picture of a receipt from today just in case an impartial third party decides these are the first morels of the season and not a couple of very pitted Verpas. =) If they last and would be of any value to the ID class, you are welcome to them Genille.

Found several clumps of aging Coprinus micaceus, and what I think is a Clitocybe. It has a very distinctive odor, but unfortunately I can't place it to describe it. Something food or nut-like. Will do a little more research.

Good night all, and happy hunting! Hopefully this little bit of rain will be enough to get things started. I probably walked 6+ miles through all of "my" spots to find these two MLOs...exercise is great, but a few more finds along the way would be nice.

Cheers,
Krista

Peeking out of the leaf mold...the one in the foreground had a  Siamese-twin-like stipe under a single cap.

A view of the insides next to the outsides.

With a receipt from today, just in case I get to claim the first morel find. =)

Watch out!

Hi folks,

Just a reminder to watch out for ticks as you are out trying to find the first morel of the season. I went looking yesterday and forgot to check before getting in the car, or in the house, or into bed.... Woke suddenly from a doze to feel a hideous creepy-crawly on my back. Rather large tick, but thankfully, still flat, so I don't think he'd had a meal recently. Peeled myself off the ceiling to have hubby check me over and then felt my skin crawl all night! Ugh!

Since I was awake I did a little light bedtime reading on ticks and found that the behaviors likeliest to pick up ticks (in an infested area, of course) are sitting on a stump, leaning on a tree, or carrying wood. I didn't do those, but I did pull some rotted bark off here and there while looking, so I definitely spent time in proximity to stumps. Guess I won't be picking up any walking sticks this year!

A link to the press release that references the study:
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=31952

Happy hunting,

Krista