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16 Oct

Mushroom mystery

Posted October 16, 2008 by Rebecca in Outdoor life.

These mushrooms were growing on a tree near the cabin. I have no idea what they are. If only I knew a  mycologist…

5 responses to this post.

  1. Posted by Chuck the Mycologist on October 16, 2008 at 9:51 am

    Did someone call for a mycologist? At your service!

    Hmmm – light brown, gilled mushrooms with a central stipe growing on wood…that narrows it down to a couple of million possibilities.

    Somethings that would really help:

    1) what kind of tree is that?
    2) is the tree live or dead
    3) spore color (cut off the stem, put the cap, gill side down on white paper, let it sit over night, take the cap off, what color is the print?)

    Then there is the big question – are they edible? The rule for beginning mycophages is to NOT eat any mushroom with gills.

    The Fungi Fun Guy

  2. Posted by smithfamilyweblog on October 17, 2008 at 9:19 am

    I can tell you that the tree is alive, but that’s about it! Gramma? Any insight?

  3. Posted by Gramma Great on October 17, 2008 at 12:02 pm

    I believe it is a basswood–I will see if we can get a mushroom down and let it sit on paper overnight and report the findings in the morning! Regardless of what they are, I believe I will pass on eating any of it!

  4. Posted by Gramma Great on October 18, 2008 at 9:33 am

    After an overnight on white paper, the spore color is brown. So to answer the questions– The tree is a basswood. It is a living tree. Spore color is brown.

  5. Posted by Chuck the Mycologist on October 21, 2008 at 10:50 am

    Good work.

    My guess is:

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

    commonly known as the elm-oyster. Check out that website, then check how the gills attach to the stem.

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