Nice topic , thanks for starting it
For me there is a lot more to fungus ID than can often be seen from one or 2 pics.
If I am picking for myself to eat I have (obviously) walked through the area and have an idea of what is in the ground.
For example I have often found clearly edible fungi in places I consider a bit odd, say shaggy ink caps popping up in a border that I know the council workers mulched with wood bark earlier in the year, and because of this have walked past and left them. My reason for leaving what others may consider a perfectly good mushroom would be that I have little or no idea what the mulch really contains, it may be pure and simple bark or it may be mixed with sawdust from preservative treated wood. Fact is I just dont know but in among the geraniums in a public garden is not a place I would expect to find shaggy ink caps.
I prefer to get off the beaten track and into more natural surroundings to look for things, it is also part of the fun of it for me.
As well as the area itself , right down to soil type and surrounding plants I also like to look at the mushroom from several different angles.
The top is important it can have many distinguishing features, so is the stem and equally the underside of the cap. A field mushroom should have straight gills on the underside of the cap, they start barely fawn coloured when button may be pink ish when bigger and mature to dark brown almost black when fully open and more mature. I remember coming across a patch where the gills were the right colour and everything else was pretty much how it should have been except that the gills were not straight but wavy. Again I chose not to eat just to err on the side of caution.
As well as the above I always cut into the fungus , all the time carefull to note any smell. Cutting and smell can turn up some surprising things too, there is a mushroom very like a field mushroom that smells of carbolic soap - to be avoided - and one that stains instantly on cutting bright yellow - to be avoided - in fact i will reject all "field mushrooms" that show any signs of staining yellow.
I really think for me to make a 100% ID i would like to see all of these things in pictures, the area, fungus from above , fungus from below and cross section after 20 mins. As well as notes on smell texture soil type in fact as much info as possible.
Put simply fungi have a huge variation in shape and colour even the same kind of mushroom found in different places can look so different as to confuse most people, Take ceps the colour of the cap can be light brown to rusty red to chocolate depending on where they grow.
Having said all that, I do try and include a note on things easily confused and definitely not edible.
The risk lies with the person who picks and eats, and I try and suggest they get a local expert to help them discover the joys of eating wild food and mushrooms.
With a little care and attention to detail it is easy to avoid putting yourself in danger, but I do remain wary of ID ing 1 picture on the web.
Tant
