I have found a patch of what I believe to be chanterelle mushrooms . Does anyone here have the knowledge to help me ID these ? I will post photos of both the 'shrooms where they're growing and the one I picked to ID them . We love mushrooms ... I sure hope these are edible !
Here's the link to my photobucket mushrooms album
Even if a number of people who post here swear on a stack of bibles that they are safe to eat, I'd still be wary given how toxic some mushrooms can be.
I pick and eat field mushrooms but even then I'm wary given that there have been a number of deaths in near proximity to where I live form mushroom poisoning.
Do you have any higher education institutes near you where there might be a mycologist on staff?
We eat field mushrooms too. Only if two of us have no doubt about the identity, one person has any doubts - out.
D
I'll call the county extension agent , he might have or know someone . I don't know of anyone in the area that is a 'shroom hunter , have to check . My neighbor knows everything else , maybe ... -- Snag
I won't offer any opinion on the mushroom identity but, I'd recommend a cautious check on some of the other vegetation growing around them. In the photo showing the tip of your shoe, compare the plant above and to the left of the mushrooms, at about 11 o'clock, as well as the one to the right of your toe to this:
Ross. Southern Ontario, Canada
Yup , looks a lot like poison ivy . But it isn't , it'll be a tree when
You are in Arkansas, I think. There's a great mycological (mycology=study of fungi) society there. I have a friend or two in that group (I've been p icking and eating wild fungi for more than 40 years). Do a Google search fo r NAMA (North American Mycological Society). They will list affiliated grou ps, find one near you and join in. Steve
Will do , Steve , and thanks so much for your help in IDing these guys . Yes , we're in Stone County Ar. on top of the Boston Mountains . We got all kinds of wonderful stuff growing out in the woods !
:-)) We use exactly the same system. We had a bumper crop here out in the paddocks just a couple of months ago - large cane shopping baskets full of them and they were delicious.
Now that sort of post is guaranteed to get people to click on the link :-)
I've always wondered what poison ivy looks like. And now that I've done a google hunt on it I find that it is a member of the rhus family - I wonder if we have any native to this country - next google job......
Supposedly the cashew plant is related to poison ivy.
Late summer and fall are prime mushroom times at least in Western NC. I've been on forays that didn't get more than a couple hundred yards or so. Be s uper careful if you intend to eat wild fungi. There are thousands of specie s out there and while only a few are deadly, there are many that might make one think (or wish) he is dying.
First two photos look like slightly-aged Smooth Chanterelles. What you need here is a hands-on knowledgable and *experienced* shroomer to show you the diff between the edibles and any lookalikes. So join a club, if there's one anywhere around! (I can not speak for ones in the other photos, and while I don't necessarily think they are harmful I don't claim they are the same species, either.)
The other 'shrooms in my photos are identical , I picked this one in the same spot . Unfortunately the only guy I've found that is close enough to help me grows his own , said he found so few edibles here that he quit hunting . With no one near to help me learn and identify I've decided to limit my 'shroom hunting to the grocery store shelves ... Plus right now I've got a case of hives , dunno where it came from . Might be a reaction to handling that mushroom , might be from a couple of bee stings earlier this week , might be something I ate .
If he says he is growing his own chanties, then I think maybe he is a liar. And JFTR, there can most definitely be *very* similar looking species growing amongst one another. Proximity is no way to ID anything, presumption here is really not an option if you want to live long. I _personally_ don't know anyone who's had an allergy to chanties, ... OTOH when I grew up nobody heard of anyone in the world ever having allergy to peanuts, either.
No , he's not cultivating Chanterelles , here's a quote from his email to me :
"As far as edible mushrooms are concerned, I cultivate the ones we eat, pluroteus ostreatus, pluroteus eryngii, and hericium erinaceus. I have tried cultivating some others, unsuccessfully.
because i have found so few edible species in my nature walks in north central arkansas, i never go looking for them now."
And yes , I know proximity is no indicator . But when you see a cluster of mushrooms that all look identical , I believe it would be safe to assume they're the same . Moot point , because I'm not going to be eating them . I suspect I am sensitive to something in/on those shrooms , 24 hours after I picked it I'm bustin' out in hives and they are the only thing different in things I do/eat/handle .
I always feel compelled to stress the importance of judging each specimen on its own merits, is all. I've found the little orange wax caps amongst chanties many times, but they are pretty harmless. Hives? Jeepers. Guess it's a good thing you didn't try eating them. Although I don't suppose it could've been surrounding vegetation? Giant hogweed?
I don't really know what triggered it , might have been handling that mushroonm , might have been the 2 bee stings on monday . Seems to be lessening today , but then I've been taking the max dose of benadryl .
In all my years of picking and eating from the wild, I've only seen one exa mple of negative reaction to chanterelles. I group of friends and I along w ith a journalist (who was detailing our foray) were passing about a bottle of chanterelle infused vodka. The journalist had severe throat swelling and severe shortness of breath. Lucky one of the group had some benadryl. Be careful when trying something new. Only eat a small amount until you see if it affects you. It pays to use caution with new things especially with all the food allergies today.
I teach a wild edibles class once in a while and I've found that I can't ea t day lily blossoms. Everyone knows the whole plant is edible but I can't e at the blooms without severe facial itching and tingling. So, go easy on ne w things until you know.
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