Mushrooms! {Late Spring through Late Summer}

Of course identifying plants is an ongoing pleasure in our lifestyle of learning, but I have now started identifying mushrooms and other fungi.  So many are so beautiful (and so deadly); I've always enjoyed spying them.  There's also the benefit of the important knowledge of identification, though, in a survival situation.  Some are edible; some are not.

There are varying fungi that grow year-round, and this will add enjoyment for seasons and years to come.

Here are some specimens that I identified from late spring to the very end of summer.  I will print out the photo list and information and add it to our plant project binder so that the kids and I can use it for reference.

Yes, I believe all three of the preceding specimens are Russula emetica.  While I've gone about my fungi identification research, I've come to learn that mushrooms look different in the various stages of its cycle.  And an animal (probably an insect) has eaten on the last picture.  It took a long time to identify all the mushrooms pictured here, and the ones about which I was not positive enough, I have not labeled.

As the name implies, an emetic russula will cause vomiting.  It's a poisonous mushroom that should not be eaten!  It's in the family Russulaceae, in which there are some edible species that look alike.  One example is the Russula paludosa.  There's a small possibility that the russulas I photographed are not toxic, but in order to get a positive identification on any mushroom with such close lookalikes, you must not only look at the cap, but also examine the stalk, gills, and use a microscope to look at the spores. For my purposes, if I was stuck in a forest and saw any russula that looked that way, I'd assume it was a Russula emetica and not eat it.  In most biological cases such a bright color signals danger.

This mushroom is suspected of being toxic, as it contains muscarine.  It should not be eaten.  White mold is surrounding the mushroom.  It thrives in moist places, usually infecting a host plant.  "The fungus can survive in the soil mainly on the previous year’s plant debris," according to Wikipedia's entry on the same.  It appears as if that is what was occurring here.

This beautifully-colored slime mold is in the family Reticulariaceae.  I did not attempt to identify the various other fungi pictured.

 In the family Boletaceae.  Edible.  But always make a positive identification.  With many mushrooms, there are poisonous lookalikes.  This can't be stated often enough.  But just as it's easy for me now to tell the difference between some edible plants and their lookalikes, I intend to be able to do the same for mushrooms.  So the same thing goes for plants, if you're not certain of their identity.

In the family Psathyrellaceae.  Edible when young and fresh, before it liquefies into an inky-like mess.

I love these!  In the family Sarcoschyphaceae.  It was used medicinally by the Oneida Indians to help heal non-healing umbilical wound and other wounds underneath a deerskin bandage, according to Wikipedia.  Some classify it as edible. Can be confused with Sarcoscypha dudleyi (Crimson Cup or Scarlet Cup), in the family Sarcoschyphaceae.  The two species so closely resemble.

Easily identified and edible.  In the family Pleurotaceae.  They grow in overlapping clusters on trees, logs, and stumps. The similar Pleurotus ostreatus is also edible.

This was one of the mushrooms that took me quite a while to positively identify, due to changes in the way a mushroom looks during various stages in its life cycle.  Most pictures show a trumpet-shape, but that is just one stage.  These are edible, in the family Cantharellaceae, as is the closely-related and similar-looking golden chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius). Be careful not to confuse with jack o'lantern (Omphalotus olearius), which is toxic but not fatal, or the bitter and perhaps toxic false chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca).

In the family Polyporaceae.  They vary in colors, but a true turkey tail's margin is always the lightest in color. Edible.  Don't confuse with false lookalikes.

This is an edible species in the family Boletaceae.  I love the way it looks!

This is yet another species in the family Boleteaceae.  It is edible, but as always, make certain you are positively identifying.  There are field guides and websites run by experts that detail the descriptions of all the parts of the mushroom and include pictures, as well as warn against lookalikes and how to tell them apart.

I took pictures of this species in the family Agaricaceae on two separate days.  I wish I'd have been there during a better part of the day the first time, in order to get a better picture.  This was fascinating to behold.  I knew it was a fungus, but beyond that I had no idea, and so it took some doing in order to identify it.  I was so thrilled when my research finally turned up an answer.  This is extremely similar to Lycoperdon echinatum.  The latter is found in the eastern United States, and they overlap in Kansas.  They are both edible.

Now for the ones I have not yet positively identified.  Just too difficult without all the parts and no spores.  There are three species of which I sent to Missouri Department of Conservation.  A gentleman got back with me and gave me a website of an organization to which nearly all the Missouri experts belong, so I will contact them.

I believe the two above are the same species, and I have my suspicions, but I need help to positively identify. 

This is some sort of coral species.  I had another picture that showed many more branches, but it was blurry.  What a shame. These were fascinating.  I do not believe they are the edible crown-tipped coral Artomyces pyxidatus.  I'm simply not certain as to which species it is.

Again, I've got my suspicions, though it remains, for the most part, mysterious.

I am torn between thinking this is a toxic mushroom (I forget which species, and I apparently didn't save notes) or some species among the inkies.  I think the latter is unlikely, because although it appears to resemble them, I know that that means very little in reality.

I was wondering the same thing about this one as the preceding one.  I thought perhaps they were even the same species.  The stalk on this one is white.  This may not mean a lot, though, because there are differences in the stalk on the Russula emetica species I posted, although in the case of the latter they were in different stages.  

Sorry for the blurriness of this photo.  I think this is probably some puffball species, but I hesitate to guess, an in any case, I certainly will not label it in any way, for it's impossible to be sure with a picture like this.

We also had a morel, which is a popular edible mushroom in these parts.  It's in pieces in the freezer, though.  William pulled it up out of the ground and ran excitedly to show Nathan.  How I'd have loved to photograph it in the ground!  Nathan talked about eating it (gross, it looked so nasty), but instead he put it in the freezer, where it is now getting freezer burnt after all this time.  I was going to thaw it and photograph it, thinking it was still whole.  Oh well, in time.

I look forward to photographing many more specimens throughout the changing seasons.

Until next time...