There's fungus and then there's fungus

By adamg on Fri, 09/21/2018 - 10:49pm

Large fungus on a tree stump on the path around Jamaica Pond

Along the path around Jamaica Pond, near where Parkman Drive and the Arborway meet in that rotary is a tree stump. There are several clumps of toadstools, the largest of which had dozens and dozens of them, all tightly clustered as if trying to huddle for warmth. And then there is this large, almost flowering, single fungus.

The teeming fungus masses:

Neighborhoods:

Jamaica Plain

Free tagging:

Jamaica Pond

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Comments

Are these edibles? They look

By Jackson
Fri, 09/21/2018 - 11:29pm

Are these edibles? They look yum.

edibles?

By George Stergios
Sat, 09/22/2018 - 9:29am

They might be honey mushrooms, and thus edible and very tasty (and so many), but you should take someone who knows about mushrooms to identify them before you try them.

Hmm

By Perry D
Sat, 09/22/2018 - 2:57pm

I'm thinking not a honey mushroom (Armillaria) due the lack of rings on the stalks that are visible, but that's not a certainty. Generally speaking, if you are not an experienced mushroom hunter, avoid those that have gills. There are several types of mushrooms that grow around our area that have small pores on the underside of the cap rather than gills, and they are unmistakable (and delicious). Examples are sulphur shelf (chicken of the woods), maitake (hen of the woods), fistulina ( beefsteak mushroom), boletes, of course, and puffballs.

With a little care you can safely eat various types of chanterelles (black trumpets, for example), which do have gills, but don't have look-alike that are poisonous.

When in doubt, find a babushka and ask her. I used to see swarms of babushka with their little knives hauling shrooms off the trails around Walden Pond that I would never touch (the shrooms, not the grandmas).