HELP!!!! Mushroomers, need help with identification, Let you tell me

[Augie]

I think I know but not to influence anyone.... Let you tell me

This is only half of it, this one bit is the size of a large beach ball.....

 

[Augie]

Bump..... Need some help here guys...

 

[Ehouse]

Chicken of the Woods, Sulpher Shelf, Laetiporus Sulphureus. Looks like an older specimen. Colors in photos can be deceiving, but I'd say 95% positive.

 

[Augie]

Good that is what I was thinking, going to look for some younger stuff nearby

 

[fbelec]

how does one know which one's are edible and which one's are not? i remember as a kid my father would go into the woods and pick wild mushrooms and said they were the best. i'm to afraid to try.

 

[Ehouse]

Be very careful when you ID any wild fungus for eating. There are other shelf polypores this resembles when it is older and faded.

If you want to collect for the table, start by reading the available literature. Field guides are very helpful but often disagree on edibility. Be sure to learn the dangerous ones and the lookalikes, as well as the edibles. Look for "mushroom walks" conducted by "qualified individuals", I am not one.

Be aware that local names and preferences can be confusing. I still have no idea what mushroom a "Perpinky" might be, as sought with relish in PA., or a "Sheep's Head".

Be careful.

 

[osagebow]

That tree will produce 'em for years - nice score!
Morels, oysters, puffballs, hen of the woods and chicken of the woods are some the safest to RESEARCH and collect. Always know toxic lookalikes as well. Gilled 'shrooms that aren't brackets on wood (like above) are best left to experts, be they scientists or woodsmen. Some of my students out by Red Oak collect a "leatherback milk-cap" I tried to research this year but could not find near me.

 

[Ehouse]

Also, stick with a few, well recognised and easily ID'd types for a while. People in different locales may eat mushrooms that are considered poisonous elsewhere and that may have lower levels of toxins than found generally. I've heard of this happening with ethnic groups used to eating a varietal of a species, or a lookalike, at home which is more toxic here. Asians and Panther fungus in the PNW comes to mind. Helvella Esculenta is eaten in Europe and in the Upper Great Lakes region, but is potentially deadly (it resembles a Morel).

 

[Ehouse]

That tree will produce 'em for years - nice score!
Morels, oysters, puffballs, hen of the woods and chicken of the woods are some the safest to RESEARCH and collect. Always know toxic lookalikes as well. Gilled 'shrooms that aren't brackets on wood (like above) are best left to experts, be they scientists or woodsmen. Some of my students out by Red Oak collect a "leatherback milk-cap" I tried to research this year but could not find near me.

Just to clarify, some fungi growing on wood are poisonous, Galerina Autumnalis (deadly) and Jack o' lantern fungus (Omphalotus Olearius) come to mind. I made the Jack o' Lantern/Chanterelle mistake once. The host stump was ground down and sodded over in a nice green lawn.....Ah, what a nice batch of Chanterelles ( not!)!

 

[Ehouse]

Googling "Chicken of the Woods" I'm seeing that now there are at least 6 species recognised in North America, and some toxic reactions have been reported.

 

[osagebow]

Just to clarify, some fungi growing on wood are poisonous, Galerina Autumnalis (deadly) and Jack o' lantern fungus (Omphalotus Olearius) come to mind. I made the Jack o' Lantern/Chanterelle mistake once. The host stump was ground down and sodded over in a nice green lawn.....Ah, what a nice batch of Chanterelles ( not!)!

Indeed! Jacks are very common, should have mentioned them in my post- thanks!

 

[Augie]

In my research everything I have found says Chicken of the woods has no poisonous look-a-likes when it is younger and bright orange, you have to be careful as it ages though because it fades and there are a few poisonous ones similar to the faded, older version. I don't think I would be after a faded one because they get woody as they age as well, No one likes a woody mushroom....LOL

Also, stick with a few, well recognized and easily ID'd types for a while. People in different locales may eat mushrooms that are considered poisonous elsewhere and that may have lower levels of toxins than found generally. I've heard of this happening with ethnic groups used to eating a varietal of a species, or a lookalike, at home which is more toxic here. Asians and Panther fungus in the PNW comes to mind. Helvella Esculenta is eaten in Europe and in the Upper Great Lakes region, but is potentially deadly (it resembles a Morel).

Helvella Esculenta, or False Morel isnt eaten in the Great Lakes area, or upper great lakes AFAIK (im from the Great lakes, its where I live) They look very similar to the morel, but have a solid stem unlike the morel which has a hollow stem. They taste nothing like a morel either....

I have been hunting morels for as long as I can remember with my family, but havent branched out into other fungi..... starting with this Chicken of the woods...

 

[Ehouse]

Augie I'm sure I'm giving you TMI! I wouldn't hesitate trying Chicken of the Woods if you find young fresh ones and are sure of your identification. It's one of the safest. Try small portions of any 'shroom at first; I've had the unpleasant ("some people are sensitive to it") experience!

I had read of people eating H. Esculenta, so I googled it. Wikipedia mentioned Upper Great Lakes. I knew you were up that way, that's why I mentioned it.

 

[Augie]

I assumed that, you knew I was from the GL area. From a young age I know I was told "check the stem" whenever I "found" a morel. This is the way My friends Kids learned as well. Everyone is randomly out in the woods, kids scampering up and down the hills, and when they were 2-300 foot away someone always shouts "I found one" and the closest adult always replies with "check the stem"

Im heading back this afternoon to pick a few, and get the exact GPS info for the location so that I can come back next year. Ill try a small bit first for sure.

 

[Augie]

Well, we will see how Im feeling in a couple of hrs... ate a small bit.

 

[Ehouse]

Augie, I'm not trying to be a know-it-all, but those still look like older specimens, because the outer margin isn't thick and juicy (still growing) which is the part you're supposed to eat. I suspect they didn't taste all that good, am I right?

 

[Augie]

As I have learned there are a few different types of Chicken of the Woods out there. The one I found must have been the one with the jagged edge, The 1-3 inches I trimmed off to eat were full of water and soft. I squeezed a small piece and water dripped out of my fingers. they were really soft and very tasty. Sauteed in Tallow with a bit of salt and pepper

So yea, you are being a know it all a bit

No worries, I appreciate the heads up. I harvested about 8 lbs, it was only half of what was there, I am going to go back tomorrow and get the rest, according to what I have seen you can freeze them, uncooked of course, with no issues.

What may be changing your idea, I ran the pics through Instagram so it did its magic of adjusting the picture.

 

[Ehouse]

Roger that. enjoy!

 

[gzecc]

Well, we will see how Im feeling in a couple of hrs... ate a small bit.

Unfortunately with some mushrooms they won't effect you until days later.

 

[Augie]

Unfortunately with some mushrooms they won't effect you until days later.

Still Alive.....

 

[gzecc]

Famous poisonings[edit]

• Siddhartha Gautama (known as The Buddha), by some accounts, may have died of mushroom poisoning around ~479 BCE,[33] though this claim has not been universally accepted.[34]
• Roman Emperor Claudius is said to have been murdered by being fed the death cap mushroom. However this story first appeared some two centuries after the events, and it is even debatable whether Claudius was murdered at all.[35] Pope Clement VII is also rumored to have been murdered this way. However it is similarly debated whether he died from any kind of poisoning at all.
• Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI and Tsaritsa Natalia Naryshkina are believed to have died from eating the death cap mushroom.
• According to a popular legend, the composer Johann Schobert died in Paris, along with his wife, one of his children, maidservant and four acquaintances after insisting that certain poisonous mushrooms were edible.
• The best-selling author Nicholas Evans (The Horse Whisperer) was poisoned after eating Cortinarius speciosissimus.[36][37]
• The parents of the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, who created the Fahrenheit temperature scale, died in Danzig on 14 August 1701 from accidentally eating poisonous mushrooms.

Above taken from Wikipedia. Full of information.

 

[FanMan]

I had leftover chicken-of-the-woods cacciatore for lunch today, originally cooked a few days ago from a mushroom I harvested last week. This is one of the safest wild mushrooms to eat, as there are no poisonous lookalikes. However, it should only be eaten if it's growing on an oak tree... specimens growing on hemlock or eucalyptus trees can cause stomach upset.

There was a huge maitake (hen of the woods) growing at the picnic area near my cabin a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I found it just after a large party, so every dog in the area no doubt peed on it that weekend. Last weekend, it was old and shriveled.

 

[Augie]

However, it should only be eaten if it's growing on an oak tree... specimens growing on hemlock or eucalyptus trees can cause stomach upset.

Hemlock isnt too common in MI and eucalyptus is all but unheard of. I harvested from an Oak Beech area, Im headed back out there today to see how it is growing.