# Mushroom Identification



## FutureFriendly (Jun 4, 2012)

Mushrooms are hard to identify. 

A spore print is a way to help with identification. 

White, Cream, Yellow spore prints might be Amanita, Lepiota, Pleurotus, Panus, Lentineus, Armillariella, Clitocybe.

Pink, Salmon, Brownish-Pink, Redy spore print might be Pluteus, Volvariella, Phyllotopsis.

Rust, Ochre, Chocolate-Brown spore print might be Pholiota, Conocybe, Hebeloma, Galerina, Gymnopilus, Agaricus.

Purple-Brown, Purple-Black, Black spore print might be Panaeolus, Psilocybe, Coprinus.

The group, Amanita is the group the death-cap is in. 

Most mushrooms that turn blue when you bruise them are psychoactive, I'm pretty sure only one bruises red.

I bought Stephen L. Peele's book "The Mushroom Researcher". I don't recommend it. Planning on purchasing most of Paul Staments books next month.


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## Possumfam (Apr 19, 2011)

Awww, I had high hopes for this thread, but I don't understand any of it. Do you teach mushroom kindergarten?  Guess you can't just forage them from your yard, huh?


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## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

FutureFriendly said:


> Mushrooms are hard to identify.
> 
> A spore print is a way to help with identification.


My grandfather knew mushrooms and picked them in the woods all the time, I have always wanted to have that knowledge... but this post doesn't give it to me. What does that mean???


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

I have hunted mushrooms for many years and know what it is I am looking for. But you never never ever ever eat just any old mushroom out of the yard folks.

spore printing is where you take a mushroom cap and put it on a white piece of paper and a black piece and then put a bowl or glass over it over night. when you lift the mushroom it will leave a "spore" print different colors usually.
The best way to find edible mushrooms is to find a mushroom(aka mycology group) and start going with them to learn how to find them and what not to eat etc.
I know many more that are edible than I actively hunt and eat. only due to the fact that I've only been with someone a couple times that can identify them positively. 
Easiest to start with is the Morel.. there are a couple look a likes that can make you sick but are easy to spot once you pick one. False morels the cap is a cap and not hooked directly to the stem. Beefsteak morels have been eaten by many but can be really poisonous to some folks. I stay away from them. They are much bigger and a different color.
my favorite book on mushrooms is the Audobon field guide.. has color pictures and great ways to identify. but do not go by book/online/word of mouth only with mushrooms.. 
Always keep one or two raw if you do eat mushrooms you pick.. that way the ER can tell what you have ingested if you get sick.. but most mushrooms DO NOT HAVE ANTIDOTES! Even folks who know what they are doing have sometimes got it wrong.
In Michigan( a mushroom wonderland for sure) there are many that are choice edibles.
Morels
Hen of the Woods(Maitake)
Chicken of the Woods(aka Sulfur shelf)
Black or Death trumpets(horrible name but wonderful mushroom)
Giant Puffball
Lions mane also called pom pom(Hericium erinaceus)
Honey mushrooms (Armillaria mellea )
King Bolete which is also the same kind as Italian porchini mushrooms or Cep mushroom(Boletus edulis )
Oyster mushrooms (I grow these in the back yard they are the best if you want to buy a kit to try)(Pleurotus ostreatus)
I've ate all of the above but only hunt for hen/chicken/morels/honeys and the giant puffball on my own. I've seen the black trumpet in an area that will not be named and the lions mane too but have not had the luck to be there when they have been prime.. I've found them too late to pick. The lions mane gets buggie really quick and the black trumpet drys out and loses much of it's fine flavor if not picked at the right time. 
I love the king boletes and will buy the dehydrated porchini and i know they grow in my brother's yard but till I can get an old friend to come down at the right season and double check them for me I am not gonna eat a one!!
There are old mushroom hunters and bold mushroom hunters.. but you ain't gonna find an old and bold mushroom hunter.

As with any mushroom you never know if one or another will make you sick even tho they are choice and edible.. I have a few friends who are allergic to morels but not the big puffballs or even the plain store whites and browns. Also shitake mushrooms are grown all over Michigan by folks so I can see them getting loose and becoming a "new native". I have plans to grow them out back too.. but the oysters are very aggressive when they find a spot they like..
The ones listed are just my favorite ones and choice.. there are many more that are edible but usually not as tasty..


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## TopTop (Nov 11, 2011)

This reminds me of the old guy that lived down the road. He had been married 7 times & the first 6 all died from eating poison mushrooms. The last one died from a severe head injury. She refused to eat the mushrooms. 

Has anyone tried a small scale mushroom house? I had a cousin in the mushroom business & I saw how labor intensive it was back then, plus making the beds before spreading the spore seemed more like an art. I know there were only a couple people that he allowed to do that job. I have often wondered if it was feasible to build a small grow house in the basement or something & if it could be maintained if the power went down for a few months.


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