The Ultimate "What is this Fungi?" thread.

[Geoff Dann]

Geoff, that Gomphidius rutilus (the picture after the Miller) - my own id of that would have been that it is a normal Deceiver. I got the others, although I wouldn't have been sure about Miller without seeing the gills.

Purely for my education, what feature(s) did you use to make that Id?

Thanks.

I'm never sure about the Miller without using my nose. Twice.

As for the brown one...yes it could be a Laccaria. Deceivers most definitely live up to their name and regularly convince everybody, myself included, that they are something else. Gomphidius rutilus is also quite variable, which doesn't help. They can easily be distinguished by cutting the stem open. If it is the Gomphidius then there will be yellow staining at the bottom of the stem. Why did I go for Gomphidius rather than Laccaria? I'm not sure...something about the colour and the shape of the cap just looks more like the Gomphidius to me. I also know that this species is turning up at the moment. Also, the Gomphidius grows with pines. There appears to be some pine needles in the leaf litter.

Laccaria is generally a bit of a nightmare genus when it comes to IDs. Apart from L. amethystina, which is easy because of the colour, there are a handful of species which look very like each other as well as being very variable and sometimes looking like all sorts of other things.

 

[Bushwhacker]

Young puffball?

 

[Geoff Dann]

Young puffball?

Late middle-aged puffballs....

If you thought these were baby giant puffballs then definitely not. The habitat is wrong for a start. I think these are common puffballs (Lycoperdon perlatum), and well past eating.

 

[Roe Ring]

On a bit of a tangent, i have Rodger Phillips book, the River Cottage handbook and a Collins mushrooms & Toadstools pocket guide. Can anyone recommend another with good photographs to cross reference with the ones I have already? I realise there are lots of options, but some have poor photos.

Thanks

Mark


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[Geoff Dann]

On a bit of a tangent, i have Rodger Phillips book, the River Cottage handbook and a Collins mushrooms & Toadstools pocket guide. Can anyone recommend another with good photographs to cross reference with the ones I have already? I realise there are lots of options, but some have poor photos.

Thanks

Mark


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The full Collins guide is quite good.

 

[Roe Ring]

Thanks Geoff, I'll have a look at that one.


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[Elines]

Just come back from a (free) local authority session on fungi - mainly aimed at beginners and covered the main structural types. Really interesting.

The bloke running was a founder member - in 1980 - of the Leicestershire Fungi Study Group (so he has been actively loooking at fungi for over 30 years). He says he often finds fungi that he can't identify eg four on one visit to a wood last week.

I'm beginning to understand why people that the rest of us would regards as experts sometimes only eat fungi from the supermarket.

 

[Nice65]

Nice65

Amethyst Deceiver
Spotted Toughshank
Not a Destroying Angel...The Miller: edible, excellent.
Gomphidius rutilus
Chanterelle*2
Can't tell from that shot
Tawny Grisette.

Right, here's the one I forgot to post. Definitely NOT the Miller!!!

 

[Geoff Dann]

The bloke running was a founder member - in 1980 - of the Leicestershire Fungi Study Group (so he has been actively loooking at fungi for over 30 years). He says he often finds fungi that he can't identify eg four on one visit to a wood last week.

I've been searching for edible species nearly as long, and have managed to find two in the last week that I've never eaten before. I find stuff I can't identify every time I go out - including stuff that is only identifiable with a microscope, stuff that might be identifiable without a microscope but I can't figure out what it is and stuff that I have no chance of identifying because it isn't in any of my books. If I'm lucky, I'll know somebody else who can tell me what they are.

I'm beginning to understand why people that the rest of us would regards as experts sometimes only eat fungi from the supermarket.

Many people who are knowledgeable about fungi from a botanical point of view don't have much experience of eating them.

Eating wild mushrooms is perfectly safe, provided you know precisely what it is that you are eating.

 

[Geoff Dann]

Right, here's the one I forgot to post. Definitely NOT the Miller!!!

And that one is not a destroying angel either!

That's Amanita citrina, and it is supposedly edible...although absolutely not worth it due it being very easily confused with the deadly Amanitas and not smelling nice either. Those might be the white form A. citrina var. alba, which doesn't smell so bad but is even more easily confused with the deadlies.

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Found these growing under Sweet Chestnut yesterday. I'm almost sure they are Field Mushroom.

 

[Geoff Dann]

Found these growing under Sweet Chestnut yesterday. I'm almost sure they are Field Mushroom.

In woods?

Looks more like Agaricus moelleri, which is poisonous. Do they smell of antiseptic?

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Just under a solitary Chestnut... Middle of a field.

Smell wise, I'm just recovering from man flu; so not much help sorry. They smell of earth and faint fungus/mushroom. Possibly very, very faint TCP.

They where only for observation anyway, so I'll dispose of them safely now.

 

[Geoff Dann]

Possibly very, very faint TCP.

Yes...moelleri I think - "Inky Mushroom." TCP stands for trichlorophenol, and A. moelleri contains phenol.

 

[Nice65]

And that one is not a destroying angel either!

That's Amanita citrina, and it is supposedly edible...although absolutely not worth it due it being very easily confused with the deadly Amanitas and not smelling nice either. Those might be the white form A. citrina var. alba, which doesn't smell so bad but is even more easily confused with the deadlies.

Thanks, you know your stuff.

 

[The Big Lebowski]

Yes...moelleri I think - "Inky Mushroom." TCP stands for trichlorophenol, and A. moelleri contains phenol.

Thanks also Geoff.

Regards, al.

 

[Roe Ring]

This one caught my eye today, purely because of the number of them and they looked quite tasty, although I'm sure that means they're probably poisonous. They were on Heath/dune grassland and growing in elongated groups of twenty or thirty.

I've no idea on this one. Any thoughts?

Thanks

Mark


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[Geoff Dann]

I've no idea on this one. Any thoughts?

My initial thoughts are that it looks like a Lepista/Rhodocybe. Maybe R. popinalis, which grows on sand dunes?? I've never seen it. And it might be something else entirely...

Don't know.

 

[Harvestman]

Geoff, thanks for your detailed answer to my question earlier.

Much appreciated.

Now, where did I put those fieldies I was saving for a late night snack...?

 

[Roe Ring]

These are causing me a bit of a dilemma. Both growing on sandy grassland next to each other.

I think this is Macrolepiota konradii.

The ring is free to move on the stem, but this isn't mentioned in Rodger's book. It also states that the scales are large whereas the ones I have pictured are smaller and more regular.

Then there are slender parsasols growing alongside.

The ring on these is different and doesn't move. Stem is also more slender and there is a pronounced bump on top of the cap. The cap size of mature samples of both types are approx 12 - 15 cm.

The similarity in scale patterns is what is throwing me a little, particularly when other slender parasols in the area look like this

The rings and slenderness / stockiness of stems is what seems to set them apart.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks again

Mark


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