Unidentified Fungi

[sourton]

Anyone know what these are

[GerryNick2]

A couple of long shots, the first looks like Chicken of the Woods - Laetiporus sulphureus in its early stages of development. The second could be a Gymnopilus Sp. possibly G.penetrans especially if the tree trunk was a conifer.

Gerry

[Linda frost]

These Mushrooms are growing outside my garden, i am looking for an id please as my husband has threatened to eat them, i am aware some types of mushroom can be dangerous if eaten.









Thanks Linda

[Fungus Ken]

Tell your husband this:

Rule number 1. You never eat any mushroom unless and until you are 100% certain of the species. It's just not enough to say it looks OK or it looks like this one in the book.
Rule number 2. Dig up the stem carefully to see whether there is a sac-like volva at the base. The deadly Amanitas, including the Death Cap and Destroying Angel, have volval sacs at the base of the stem. To be on the safe side you should avoid all species with a volva.
Rule number 3. Be very careful with white spored species. The deadly Amanitas, and some of the poisonous Lepiotas have white spores.

Enough of the rules for now. Your husband probably assumes these are field mushrooms. Check the spore colour. To do this you should take a cap and place it on a piece of paper or glass, cover it for a while, and wait until you have enough spores to know what colour the spore print is.

Field mushrooms and other species in the genus Agaricus have chocolate brown spores. As the mushrooms ripen the gills turn from a pale colour through pink to dark brown as the spores develop.

I can't be sure from the photos what colour the gills are, but they look pale and by the stage they have reached, if they were Agaricus, they ought to be distinctly coloured - pink through to brown. I think the spores on these specimens may be white.

So your husband could have been dicing with death to eat these without even knowing what genus they are in.

White mushrooms with gills that are free from the stem, white spore print and a ring on the stem (with no volva at the base) would suggest these are Leucoagaricus leucothites, White Dapperling. Because of the potential for confusion with other very poisonous species I would not recommend eating these.

Ken

[Linda frost]

Your information Ken was very interesting, we have so many mushrooms here in Turkey, i think i shall go and investigate them more now, i have always wondered how you can tell whats poisonous and not.
Have told hubbie what you said, although i did make a joke about his life insurance money

[Fungus Ken]

In Turkey you will have some species similar to those we have in Britain but also a wide range of species that we don't see here because of the different climates and vegetation.

In the circumstances, you should be wary of relying on people only familiar with British species to tell you what you may have found in Turkey!

Ken

PS And the only way to be sure whether something is poisonous or not is to know exactly what species it is. The rules above are just a starting point.

[Linda frost]

Originally Posted by Fungus Ken

Tell your husband this:

Rule number 1. You never eat any mushroom unless and until you are 100% certain of the species. It's just not enough to say it looks OK or it looks like this one in the book.
Rule number 2. Dig up the stem carefully to see whether there is a sac-like volva at the base. The deadly Amanitas, including the Death Cap and Destroying Angel, have volval sacs at the base of the stem. To be on the safe side you should avoid all species with a volva.
Rule number 3. Be very careful with white spored species. The deadly Amanitas, and some of the poisonous Lepiotas have white spores.

Enough of the rules for now. Your husband probably assumes these are field mushrooms. Check the spore colour. To do this you should take a cap and place it on a piece of paper or glass, cover it for a while, and wait until you have enough spores to know what colour the spore print is.

Field mushrooms and other species in the genus Agaricus have chocolate brown spores. As the mushrooms ripen the gills turn from a pale colour through pink to dark brown as the spores develop.

I can't be sure from the photos what colour the gills are, but they look pale and by the stage they have reached, if they were Agaricus, they ought to be distinctly coloured - pink through to brown. I think the spores on these specimens may be white.

So your husband could have been dicing with death to eat these without even knowing what genus they are in.

White mushrooms with gills that are free from the stem, white spore print and a ring on the stem (with no volva at the base) would suggest these are Leucoagaricus leucothites, White Dapperling. Because of the potential for confusion with other very poisonous species I would not recommend eating these.

Ken

Hi Ken, i have just been out and carefully dug one up and i never saw a sac volva at the base, it was all very dry, i have taken one into my house and am going to check out the spores, i have sent a couple more hopefully better photos for you to take a look.




Wont be eating these mushrooms, just curious now to know what they are.Thanks Linda