There were lots of them.
Peace,
-Steve
UPDATE Nov 16 2010: Above identified as Daedalea quercina.
UPDATE: Above mushroom identified as Leucocoprinus cepaestipes.
UPDATE: Above mushroom cluster identified as Pleurotus ostreatus. The two brown mushrooms are not.
After two days of steady rain there was a huge bloom of mushrooms.
Here are some that we’ve pulled in so far. 🙂
Peace,
-Steve
Vacellum curtisii
Calvatia cyathiformis
Marasmius oreades
Agaricus campestris and one C. cyathiformis
Another M. oreades
C. cyathiformis
Two A. campestris
Two A. cyathiformis
Unidentified Marasmius.
Unidentified.
A. campestris
After the first downpour in a month, we hit the Heylar Woods at Rutgers Gardens and after some bushwhacking came across a number of beautiful specimens.
A large cluster of Chicken of the Woods (L. sulphureus) that was being enjoyed by a mass of insects.
Lots of polypores of various sorts, including a rather maze-gilled mushroom I have never seen before. (Still identifying it.)
And a rare find in NJ: A Beefsteak Mushroom, sometimes called “Ox Tongue” (Fistulina hepatica).
Later on in the day, we found a pristine Chicken of the Woods (another L. sulphureus) over in Johnson Park growing on a stump.
Now both the Beefsteak and the latter Chicken are awaiting their fate in our fridge. 🙂
An old Laetiporus sulphureus.
Another old Laetiporus sulphureus.
A zoomed out view of where it was growing.
UPDATE Nov 16 2010: Identified as Daedalea quercina.
UPDATE Nov 16 2010: Identified as Daedalea quercina.
UPDATE Nov 16 2010: Identified as Daedalea quercina.
Unidentified.
Fistulina hepatica
Fistulina hepatica
Fistulina hepatica
Laetiporus sulphureus
Laetiporus sulphureus
Generally corky and technically edible, Dryad’s Saddle, or Pheasant’s Back are Polyporus squamosus‘ common names, and it has one of the most interesting properties in the Mushroom kingdom: When cut open, it smells like fresh watermellon rind. Unbelieveable. They also sometimes grow to gigantic size (at one time there was one growining in my grandparents’ yard at the base of a dying maple that was nearly 2 feet across).
The specimens my wife and I found after a heavy rain were also young enough to eat, as when they are soft enough to cut with your fingernails, they’re easy enough to chew.
Unfortunately, they were also too young to obtain a sporeprint…
Since we very strictly adhere to beyond-a-doubt microscopic identification before consuming any mushrooms we find in the wild, this treat will unfortunately meet the trash, much like the first time we came across Agaricus arvensis (a rather choice edible).
When in any doubt, throw it out, and for us, that means matching microscopic criteria. No exceptions.
But hey, they were absolutely gorgeous, and now we know where they grow. More data is needed. 😉
(Note on the last picture, there are some unidentified Coprinus that were deformed due to the heat and sudden dryness after the rains.)
Alright, now to go over the mushrooms that I am not 100% certain of:
I am at 95% confidence that the above are Agaricus arvensis or the “Horse Mushroom.” However, 95% is not good enough for me to put it in my mouth, chew and swallow. I’ve picked these before and have posted previous specimens here. In fact, in those previous pictures, I believe that there was a tipoff as to its identity. If you look at the 6th one in the set, in the upper left-hand corner of the image you can see the distinctive “cogwheeling” that is present in A. arvensis‘ ring. The cogwheeling isn’t as distinct in these pictures (although I do believe it’s there), so I still hesitate.
Growing in: Lawn.
Cap: 6-7″ in diameter. Convex to flat. Younger buttons pale yellow-buff to white, older specimens white with buff to tan area towards the center. Very fine compressed shag. Flesh, for the most part not bruising to any color except a very very light brown where the cap connects to the stem.
Gills: Free from the stem and crowded. Very pale in the button stage progressing to gray (with very slight hints of pink, but completely desaturated) and finally dark chocolate brown upon maturity.
Stem: Up to an inch thick similar to any other Agaricus stem with a small bulb at the base (more prominent in buttons). Big floppy ring with some cogwheeling.
Spores: Spore print is chocolate brown. Spores smooth and elliptical. Unfortunately my microscope’s calibration is off at the moment so I cannot distinguish exact size.
Unfortunately, these photos do not show the true vivid colors of these mushrooms. They were brilliant red-orange. I’ll add in more info about them here later.
We also came across some funky, slimy yellow mushrooms, but decided against harvesting any samples, as our basket was (at the time) chock-full of edible goodness.
I was surprised to bring in so many mushrooms at this time in the season. The weather has been whacky, so I’ll blame that. Below are some pictures of the two baskets that my wife and I brought in. I only wish that there was better light to take the photographs in as most of them came out grainy.
I’ll be going through each type of mushroom we came across in separate entries.
-Steve
My wife and I took an awesome walk today all the way from Highland Park, through Johnson Park, across the Rt 18 bridge and into New Brunswick for a late brunch at the Au Bon Pain (quite a treat for our family, as we tend not to eat out) and then caught the bus back. During the walk through Johnson Park, however, we came across three amazing sites for two different kinds of whacky mushroom.
First Nayla noticed simply popping up from out of the ground (which we later found was actually from decaying roots) a large patch of Ganoderma lucidum more commonly known as Reishi or Ling Zhi, which are very prominent in traditional Chinese medicine.
Next we came across a huge old stump with a cluster of Laetiporus sulphureus, or Chicken of the Woods. If we had only thought to bring something to store anything we would have found in, we could have made three meals out of this cluster. But it might have been for the best, as it looked as if someone had grazed it (be they woodland creatures or small children). I’m going to have to remember to drop by there again and grab some to make some spawn to inoculate a cord of wood that my parents-in-law don’t know what to do with.
Lastly, we came across another set of Reishi… Only these had taken over an entire tree (which was very well dead). About a hundred caps came out of it like a spiral staircase, with one at the very very top (about 20 feet up) that was, and I kid you not, about the size of a soccer ball. Once again, if I had some way to store it, I would have found a way to climb the tree. 🙂
Actually looking closer at the picture I snapped of the one at the very top, it might not be a Reishi at all. The pores look a bit dangley and toothy and I could not see whether or not the top was “lacquered,” so this crowning piece might be a young Hericium erinaceus or Lion’s Mane. I may never know.
Peace,
-Steve
