Mushroom, poisonpie?

[Suffolkrafter]

It has taken me three days to identify this, with only moderate certainty. No particular odour, no colour change on bruising. Faint tinge of blue to stalk. Brown droplets / stains to gills. Not a russula.
Very slimy cap.

I think it's a poisonpie, Hebeloma crustuliniforme.

Ive spent three days working through identification keys for this. I got to the back end of one key and it asked me if I had any friends. Do I need a new hobby?

 

[oldtimer]

No, you're obviously a fun guy to be with.

 

[Suffolkrafter]

No, you're obviously a fun guy to be with.

 

[Toddy]

I wish we were more like the French; I'm told that there you can take fungi into the Chemist's and they'll figure out what it is for you.

 

[slowworm]

I think it's a poisonpie, Hebeloma crustuliniforme.

Ive spent three days working through identification keys for this.

Are you sure.....?

 

[Suffolkrafter]

Are you sure.....?

No

 

[Broch]

One of the many things I have learnt about fungi over the last few years is that it is impossible to identify most fungi from a photograph. In fact many cannot be distinguished without microscopic examination.

I was with a county recorder mycologist last weekend and he could not identify about 20 to 25% of the fungi we found without taking them home for very detailed examination!

Take the Knights - there are any number that look very very similar, they smell almost identical, but many are toxic and a few are edible.

 

[Broch]

Oh, forgot, the brown spotted gills suggest Birch Knight - but the cap looks too 'wet' or 'slimy'

 

[Mesquite]

I wish we were more like the French; I'm told that there you can take fungi into the Chemist's and they'll figure out what it is for you.

In Germany you can be a legally qualified mycologist and have your name on a public register. Folks can then use the register to contact a local expert for assistance with id'ing fungi.

The kicker for getting qualified is you have to score 100% in all the tests and be able to successfully identify at least 2,000 different species. My BiL has been studying for it for over 20 years and apparently still has a long way to go.

 

[Suffolkrafter]

Oh, forgot, the brown spotted gills suggest Birch Knight - but the cap looks too 'wet' or 'slimy'

Ah yes I came across birch knight in my search, but I agree it doesn't quite fit the bill.

It doesn't really matter whether I identify the thing or not (apart from the inevitable mental torture). Going through the excerise is worthwhile in itself. For example, I had never considered spotted gills as a fungus feature before this, and also I get to practice using the keys.

This cap was really very slimy though, almost dripping slime. I have some doubts about poisonpie but it's my best candidate so far and I quite like the name.

 

[oldtimer]

Sign in a shop:-

Mushrooms - £2.50 a kilo
Mushrooms? - 25p a kilo

 

[demented dale]

wild food uk are often very helpful if you send them a photos

 

[Broch]

wild food uk are often very helpful if you send them a photos

I say again, it is not possible to identify fungi with any accuracy (for some species) from a photograph!

 

[demented dale]

I say again, it is not possible to identify fungi with any accuracy (for some species) from a photograph!

I get that but asking someone with more knowledge than me is a good option . Not everyone has a microscope and the necessary skills. My friend is an expert and has correctly identified many photos I have sent him. And yes he tells me it can sometimes be a minefield which I get to learn too. Wild food UK have also been helpful when I have asked them. There has been a couple of times when I've not been able to find out but most times it it has been worthwhile in my experience to ask. What else can you do?

 

[Broch]

I get your point but, and I agree, seek all wisdom, but if you really want to learn, you need to spend dirt time with mycologists. If it's learning for casual observation then, yes, good text books, on line resources, and even apps like 'Picture Mushroom' will get you a long way; just don't eat anything that you're not 100% sure about obviously. The mycologist I spend time with won't eat fungi at all!

As Suffolkrafter said, the exercise of going through a key is a good discipline, if not very frustrating at times.

​

 

[demented dale]

I get your point but, and I agree, seek all wisdom, but if you really want to learn, you need to spend dirt time with mycologists. If it's learning for casual observation then, yes, good text books, on line resources, and even apps like 'Picture Mushroom' will get you a long way; just don't eat anything that you're not 100% sure about obviously. The mycologist I spend time with won't eat fungi at all!

As Suffolkrafter said, the exercise of going through a key is a good discipline, if not very frustrating at times.

​

 

[demented dale]

you are right but my only means of learning from others are long range, a few books and the net. I do like mushrooms but when I discovered that they were of limited value in a survival situation I lost a bit of interest. I just checked my journal and noticed that I have found logged and photographed 49 inedible or poisonous fungi and 32 of edible or dubious edibility. Of those I don't eat any. I just leave em where they are. I do have the occasional nibble if I find one Ive not tasted before. All that said I found a destroying angel 2 weeks ago and a false death cap today both for the first time. I got such a buzz as i always do when I find some new species.
ps I didnt have a nibble of either lol x

 

[demented dale]

Just as point of interest is the mycologist you spend time with called dave fungal punk?

 

[Broch]

Just as point of interest is the mycologist you spend time with called dave fungal punk?

Err..no

 

[matarius777]

I wish we were more like the French; I'm told that there you can take fungi into the Chemist's and they'll figure out what it is for you.

I’ve heard that said of UK chemist’s shops back in the 70s, when I was a child. My parents went through a phase of foraging, including mushrooms (just been clearing my late mother’s house and found some of their foraging books including Collin’s Guide to Mushrooms, which of course, will be added to my collection of bushcraft books). I really couldn’t imagine going into Boots nowadays to ask, I might have a look in the old books to see if it does indeed advise you to do that, then march into Boots or better still, Superdrug with a handful of mushrooms and my trusty old guide for a laugh! “Well, it says in this book that any chemist can identify them for me”.
Apart from gormless assistants, there’s the health and safety aspect and the risk of them being sued.