Calling shroom specialists

[Redfrog]

Found this one in my pasture when looking for puffballs.

This looks like it is on steroids. Anyone able to identify it?

[wwbirds]

Jim

with those sunglasses I am thinking black magic mushroom???

[walking buffalo]

If you tell me how it tastes, I'll let you know what it is?

Or another way, give your mushroom a rub and smell.

Rub the cap, does it stain yellow? Did your wish come true?

If your wish didn't come true, don't blame the mushroom, you must have rubbed it the wrong way.

If the cap does not change color significantly where rubbed and the mushroom smells mushroomy and pleasant, then you have Meadow Mushrooms ( Agaricus campestris ) and you have to find some butter and a pan. Young Meadow mushrooms will have pink gills. From the pics, I'm 95% certain that is what you have.

If the cap stains yellow and it smells bad, or if it just smells bad, it is one of the "lose your lunch bunch". By bad smelling, think Phenol or Buckley's cough syrup.

[Redfrog]

Originally Posted by walking buffalo

If you tell me how it tastes, I'll let you know what it is?

Or another way, give your mushroom a rub and smell.

Rub the cap, does it stain yellow? Did your wish come true?

If your wish didn't come true, don't blame the mushroom, you must have rubbed it the wrong way.

If the cap does not change color significantly where rubbed and the mushroom smells mushroomy and pleasant, then you have Meadow Mushrooms ( Agaricus campestris ) and you have to find some butter and a pan. Young Meadow mushrooms will have pink gills. From the pics, I'm 95% certain that is what you have.

If the cap stains yellow and it smells bad, or if it just smells bad, it is one of the "lose your lunch bunch". By bad smelling, think Phenol or Buckley's cough syrup.

HMMMM? Have you got pics of the ones you tried today?

I'll go back and rub and smell it. I hope no one confuses me with an NDP rep.

There were others with this one. They were half this size.

[walking buffalo]

Originally Posted by Redfrog

HMMMM? Have you got pics of the ones you tried today?

I'll go back and rub and smell it. I hope no one confuses me with an NDP rep.

There were others with this one. They were half this size.

I'm in Vegas.


This link should help put those fungi next to the steak.
Go pick those little ones, the early worm gets the mushroom.

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/agaricus_campestris.html

[Albertadiver]

This is fishnut9's house.

[walking buffalo]

Originally Posted by Albertadiver

This is fishnut9's house.

Maybe a cottage. Pretty sure this is his house. TFG, Barbie and I picked up a NO GIRLS sign and a hundred little paper umbrellas from around the tree.




Some things never grow old....

[FishingMOM]

One of these days I will get pictures of the ones growing near the condo here. Only problem is that stink likes to jump on them and crush them.

[walking buffalo]

So Red, How did they taste?

[Grizzly Adams]

I'm thinking Meadow mushroom. We've had a few in the pasture, but not that big.
Grizz

[Gust]

Here's a great pic of edibles and it may be on here.

http://www.wildmushrooms.ws/c/docume...&groupId=10128

[AB RANGER 007]

Originally Posted by Redfrog

Found this one in my pasture when looking for puffballs.

This looks like it is on steroids. Anyone able to identify it?

An over grown Field Muser. About 2-3 days out of a ball, or longer in the sun/heat.

Bruce.

[KOOZ]

I too say Field Mushroom. Very tasty!

[Redfrog]

Well they were past their 'best before' date and had turned dark underneath. I went for a walk tonight and found nothing. I'll keep looking as we are supposed to get T showers for a few days.

I did find some puffballs, but it looked like the birds or gophers had been at them.

[plinker]

Heres a question. Why can't a guy pick some of the edible mushrooms and bring them home and use them to grow even more mushrooms in a controlled environment? Is there a law against doing that? And do you think it would work if you did?

[pickrel pat]

Originally Posted by plinker

Heres a question. Why can't a guy pick some of the edible mushrooms and bring them home and use them to grow even more mushrooms in a controlled environment? Is there a law against doing that? And do you think it would work if you did?

no law, heck... you can buy magick mushrooms and grow them.... its only illegal if they are dried!

[KegRiver]

Your mushroom is called a Horse Mushroom Agaricus arvensis . It is considered to be a choice edible and it is closely related to the Meadow Mushroom, Agaricus campestris and the most common store bought mushroom which is called a Button Mushroom, Agaricus bisporus All are choice edibles.

Horse Mushrooms can grow to eight inches in diameter, have a off white to pale brown cap and usually have a veil or remnants of a veil as you specimen has. The gills are pink on freshly emerged mushrooms and darken with age to a deep chocolate brown or even black.

Meadow Mushrooms grow up to four inches in diameter. The cap is white to off white. The gills are pale pink at emergence and they darken with age to a chocolate brown. They have a veil only when very young.

All three species grow in grassy areas with a high organic content. The best place to look for them is in pastures with cows or horses or land that has been pasture for cows and horses recently.

Younger specimens are the best eating plus older specimens are almost always riddled by worms. I found it is not worth the bother to pick the older specimens.

A word of caution. Never eat a white mushroom with white gills.

All three of the species I mentioned here can have white gills when very young but because of the possibility of mistaking them for a poisonous mushroom like the Destroying Angel Mushroom, if it has white gills, even if you are quiet sure it is a Meadow Mushroom, Button Mushroom, or Horse Mushroom, discard it.

Commercial Mushrooms are grown from known stock and are safe even if the gills are still white.

[walking buffalo]

Originally Posted by Redfrog

Well they were past their 'best before' date and had turned dark underneath. I went for a walk tonight and found nothing. I'll keep looking as we are supposed to get T showers for a few days.

I did find some puffballs, but it looked like the birds or gophers had been at them.

Dark gills are fine, they will have more flavour than the young ones.

The amount of extra protien is up to you.


Keg may be right that they are Horsemushrooms. This is part of the rubbing test.

Horsemushrooms will stain yellow heavily where rubbed, Meadow/Field mushrooms do not discolor significantly.

[Redfrog]

Thanks Keg. I think you nailed it.

I went out yesterday and this morning and the ones from the other day are gone!!! and the puffballs are past their 'best before' date or picked apart by some beast.

[snortwheez]

Originally Posted by Redfrog

Thanks Keg. I think you nailed it.

I went out yesterday and this morning and the ones from the other day are gone!!! and the puffballs are past their 'best before' date or picked apart by some beast.

Just be careful, because the "Yellow Stainer" closely resembles this mushroom.
http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/yellow_stainer/

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by snortwheez

Just be careful, because the "Yellow Stainer" closely resembles this mushroom.
http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/yellow_stainer/

Walking Buffalo, I believe that you are describing a poisonous species from the same family group. It is called Yellow Staining Agaricus Agaricus Xanthoderma and it is often mistaken for the Meadow Mushroom or the Horse Mushroom neither of which stain yellow to any significant extent although Horse Mushrooms can show slight yellow staining when bruised, especially on the cap Pileus or rather the skin on the cap, also called the cuticle.


The Yellow Staining Agaricus grows to 3 inch diameter and they have a strong phenol odor. That is to say, it smells like epoxy glue. Whereas the Meadow Mushroom smells like commercial mushrooms and the Horse Mushroom has a faint Anise scent.

The Yellow Staining Agaricus is listed as poisonous since it contains type 8 toxins that can cause severe gastric upset.

My books and my experience suggests that odor is the best identifier for the Yellow Staining Agaricus.

[sinawalli]

Would love to learn about wild mushrooms! Read a article once about a guy who pick a bunch of wild mushrooms, and made a spagetti sause from them. Ended up being the wrong kind! Killed one of his kids, he and his wife were hospitalized and just about died. Other kid survived cause he didn't like mushrooms, and didn't eat any! Sad story, so I'll pick my mushrooms off the shelf at Safeway.

[Gust]

Originally Posted by sinawalli

Would love to learn about wild mushrooms! Read a article once about a guy who pick a bunch of wild mushrooms, and made a spagetti sause from them. Ended up being the wrong kind! Killed one of his kids, he and his wife were hospitalized and just about died. Other kid survived cause he didn't like mushrooms, and didn't eat any! Sad story, so I'll pick my mushrooms off the shelf at Safeway.

Join the mycology club of alberta, really interesting and you don't have to pick them, you can photograph them but if you do know a seasoned picker, i highly recommend a small meal,, you'll have a completely different idea of taste

[sinawalli]

Originally Posted by GustavMahler

Join the mycology club of alberta, really interesting and you don't have to pick them, you can photograph them but if you do know a seasoned picker, i highly recommend a small meal,, you'll have a completely different idea of taste

Good info! I tried the "comb's tooth' a couple of times, and it was very good! Looks like coral from a reef.

[KegRiver]

Here are just a few of the local edible Mushrooms. These are the ones I am familiar with and thus they are the ones I pick and eat. I don't have photos of every mushroom species I pick, the Northern Rough stem Bolite is one such mushroom.


This first one is the Fairy Comb Mushroom.



These are Shaggy Mane Mushrooms, good, plentiful, easy to identify, but they spoil very quickly. One has a couple of hours, seldom more, to get this mushroom from field to the pan. Note the dark lower portions of the mushrooms in the lower photo. Those two are starting to spoil and aren't worth picking.



Here are some Horse Mushrooms we picked last fall.




A basket of Meadow Mushrooms.


Puffballs

[Gust]

Bolettes are going really good right now around Ghost Lake, probably going pickin on Thursday. Yum!!!

[walking buffalo]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

Walking Buffalo, I believe that you are describing a poisonous species from the same family group. It is called Yellow Staining Agaricus Agaricus Xanthoderma and it is often mistaken for the Meadow Mushroom or the Horse Mushroom neither of which stain yellow to any significant extent although Horse Mushrooms can show slight yellow staining when bruised, especially on the cap Pileus or rather the skin on the cap, also called the cuticle.


The Yellow Staining Agaricus grows to 3 inch diameter and they have a strong phenol odor. That is to say, it smells like epoxy glue. Whereas the Meadow Mushroom smells like commercial mushrooms and the Horse Mushroom has a faint Anise scent.

The Yellow Staining Agaricus is listed as poisonous since it contains type 8 toxins that can cause severe gastric upset.

My books and my experience suggests that odor is the best identifier for the Yellow Staining Agaricus.

This is not for arguments sake, but for learning and helping others gain the confidence to pick and eat wild food including mushrooms.

Keg, I'm definately not describing the Yellow stainer, I mentioned earlier to do the smell test. Redfrog's mushroom certainly could be a Horsemushroom, which will often have an Anise or Almond odour, while the Meadow mushroom usually smells just "mushroomy" and pleasant.

Based on just pictures, it is really tough to distinguish some mushroom species. Like Keg mentions, Odor is an important part of field ID. Traits such as size, color, staining, can be variable between individual specimens. Anatomical features and location give great clues to narrowing down the ID.

Regarding white gilled mushrooms, some of the BEST edible mushrooms have white gills. Parasol (Lepiota procera), Shaggy Parasol (Lepiota rachodes), Fried Chicken (Lyophyllum decastes), young Prince (Agaricus augustus), White Matsutaki (Tricholoma magnivelare), and many more. I pick these ones every year around Calgary.

Originally Posted by sinawalli

Would love to learn about wild mushrooms! Read a article once about a guy who pick a bunch of wild mushrooms, and made a spagetti sause from them. Ended up being the wrong kind! Killed one of his kids, he and his wife were hospitalized and just about died. Other kid survived cause he didn't like mushrooms, and didn't eat any! Sad story, so I'll pick my mushrooms off the shelf at Safeway.

Originally Posted by GustavMahler

Join the mycology club of alberta, really interesting and you don't have to pick them, you can photograph them but if you do know a seasoned picker, i highly recommend a small meal,, you'll have a completely different idea of taste

Sinawalli and others interested in learning to pick wild mushrooms,

The Alberta Mycological Society is a great group to join for a foray. Check out their website for dates and locations. You will learn and have a great day or two with these people. I have met hundreds of people during these forays, and I have yet to meet an A Hole. Wild mushrooms seem to attract a certain type of person, *****s just don't fit in. Or maybe I'm one and don't know it.... Since I'm usually the one carrying lethal bear protection for the group, maybe that's why everyone is really nice to me.

Pick up several Mushroom guide books and read them often. I like to take home mushrooms that I don't know, and then research them at home. Over time, you will build up confidence in what you are picking. To start, I'll suggest "Mushrooms of Western Canada" and "All That the Rain Promises, and more..." as great guidebooks.

At the start, there are several edible wild mushrooms in Alberta that are easy to ID, with little chance of confusion. Keg started with good choices, Fairy Comb or Bear's Head, Shaggy Manes ( which will be out in profusion during the first fall frosts), and I'll add Aspen (Red top) and Birch Boletes, Morels (finished for the year).

Picking wild mushrooms with some knowledge is a safe venture and a great way to connect with nature.

[KegRiver]

Good information WB.

I agree, the goal is to promote a love of mushrooms.

And I think I misread your post. I thought you were saying the if the mushroom stained Yellow it was a Horse Mushroom.