Edible Mushrooms and their Poisonous (or Inedible) Look-alikes

-- Cape Cod Area --

Hannah Nadel

Presented to the Cape Cod Mushroom Club

August 14, 2013

Top Keepers and Discards

• Yellow Morel....................

• King Boletus.....................

• Golden Chanterelle..........

• American Matsutake........

• Lobster Mushroom..........

• Shellfish-scented Mushroom.......................

• The Gypsy.........................

• Blewit...............................

• False Morel

• Bitter Bolete

• False Chanterelle

• Amanitas

• Lobster Mushroom on some brittle caps, milk caps

• Red brittle caps

• Gymnopilus, Poison Pie

• Viscid Violet Cort

Keepers Discards

Cont’d

• Alcohol inky.................

• Meadow Mushroom & relatives.........................

• Honey Mushroom.........

• Puffballs.........................

• Chicken of the Woods....

• Alcohol inky + booze

• Iodine-scented Agaricus species, Poison Pie

• Poison Pie, Deadly Galerina

• Earthballs, Amanita eggs

• When on conifers

Plus Miscellaneous cautionary notes

Note on photo credits: • Unless otherwise noted, credited photos are from

Wikimedia Commons (free use). • No credits: my photos.

Note on abbreviations: • SP = Spore print color • Species abundance in New England:

• C = Common • FC = Fairly common • O = Occasional

• Name or notes in yellow: warning. • Note in pink: edible species.

Photo: Severine Meißner

Morels Morchella esculenta & elata Cap pitted.

Photo: Bernd Haynold

C

CHOICE EDIBLES

FC

Yellow Morel Black Morel

C

False Morel, Brain Mushroom Gyromitra esculenta UNPREDICTABLY DEADLY! MMHydrazine toxins.

Grows under conifers.

All

spri

ng

fru

iter

s.

Grow in mixed woods, burned areas, orchards.

Photo: User:Strobilomyces Photo: Dezidor

King Boletus, Cep, Porcini Boletus edulis SP olive-brown CHOICE EDIBLE

Grows in woods, especially conifers.

FC

White reticulation (netting) at least at the top of the stalk.

Photo: bernd gliwa

Bitter bolete Tylopilus felleus Pores pinkish in age

Bitter-tasting boletes Ornate-stalked Boletus B. ornatipes, sometimes bitter Stalk, pores stain orange

Mycoweb.com

B. sensibilis (button) Photo: Kira (Kiradee) at Mushroom Observer

Photo: Hugh Urban at www.morelmushroomhunting.com

1. Boletus sensibilis SP olive-brown.

Two poisonous boletes: Gastrointestinal upset Both have red parts; all parts stain bright blue when cut or bruised

O to FC

Grows under hardwoods.

2. Red-mouth Bolete Boletus subvelutipes SP dark olive-brown.

Photo: the3foragers

Photos: Dave W.

Red pores when young.

Grows under hardwoods, esp. oaks.

FC

Golden Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius)

Photo: Игорь Лебединский

CHOICE EDIBLE

Grows on ground in woods. SP pinkish cream to pale buff. Gill-like ridges, blunt. Odor mild to fragrant, apricot.

FC

False chanterelle Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca SP white.

Grows on conifer debris. Reported hallucinations possibly due to confusion with Gymnopilus spp.; flavor blah.

Jack-o-Lantern Omphalotus olearius SP whitish cream.

Photo: Antonio Abbatiello

Grows on hardwood trees, stumps.

Stong gastrointestinal upset.

Photo: W.J.Pilsak

True gills

FC FC

Photo: Gordon Zhang

SP ochre; burgundy blush on stalk

Two wine-colored, edible brittle caps Blackish-red Russula R. vinacea SP white; stalk white. common

Good edible.

Shellfish-scented Russula Russula xerampelina

Photo: www.mtsn.tn.it Russulales news

Edible

C

On ground in woods.

Several red brittle caps of unknown edibility or... worse Brighter red cap Taste acrid, bitter, or bland

& other variations on the theme of red-capped russulas

Emetic Russula Russula emetica SP creamy, pale yellow. Stalk white. Taste ACRID. Causes vomiting.

R. rubescens SP ochre uncommon

R. pseudolepida SP yellow-cream uncommon

Unidentified Russula

Just avoid the red ones...

Photo: Joseph O'Brien, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org

Short-stalked White Russula Russula brevipes Edible SP white to pale cream. Taste not distinctive. Grows under hardwoods/conifers.

1) R. brevipes has an acrid-tasting variety! Bluish-green tinted gills & stalk apex.

2) Russula vesicatoria 3) Russula piperatus & Others SP dark cream

Taste acrid, bitter.

Funnel-shaped, large, white brittle caps

C

Bad-tasting:

Photo: Joe Mabel

Lobster Mushroom Hypomyces lactifluorum parasitizing brittle caps or milk caps (the “host”)

Caution: • Know the host mushroom. • Check unparasitized specimens

in the vicinity to confirm host. • May grow on a mildly upsetting

milk cap or on Emetic Russula?

Usually masks acrid flavor of host.

CHOICE EDIBLE

Gypsy Mushroom Cortinarius (Rozites) caperatus Grows on ground SP rusty brown Ring is membranous

Photo: Strobilomyces

1) Yellow Gymnopilus- Psychoactive Gymnopilus luteus Grows on tree stumps, logs SP yellow-orange Ring is webby

Photo: Dan Moltor

Good edible C

2) Laughing Gym (Jim) Gymnopilus junonius (spectabilis) Psychoactive (psilocybin) SP rusty brown. Ring is webby.

Grows on tree stumps, logs. Both Gymnopilus may appear to grow on the ground if on buried wood.

Photo: Tony Wills Gypsy

Photo: Ryane Snow at Mushroom Observer

Pine mushroom, American Matsutake Tricholoma magnivelare Grows on ground, conifers/hardwoods

SP white. Odor “dirty gym socks”, sweet-spicy, fruity. Thick white cottony veil/ring. Gills attached to notched.

CHOICE EDIBLE

FC

Pine mushroom

White Amanitas, like Destroying Angel Amanita virosa Deadly! Amanitin toxin kills liver cells. Under oaks. SP white. Odor not distinctive.

Gills free of stem or very finely attached. Veil not cottony, higher on stalk, often disappears.

95% of mushroom fatalities in US are due to white amanitas!

Volva present.

Photo: Hagen Graebner

Tree volvariella Volvariella bombycina SP pinkish. Free gills, no ring. Volva.

Edible

Grows on live or dead hardwood trees, logs.

Pinkish gills, spores, and lack of ring separate Volvariella from Amanita.

O

FC

Blewit Clitocybe nuda SP pinkish tan Gills notched to sinuate.

Edible Viscid Violet Cort Cortinarius iodes CAUTION: May be poisonous (long-term consumption?) SP rusty brown. Gills attached, lilac/violet when young.

FC

Grows on ground under hardwoods.

Grows on ground in woods, meadows, lawns, plant residues.

Photo: Stu Phillips

Honey Mushroom Armillaria melea SP pale cream. Gills attached to subdecurrent.

Edible when thoroughly cooked.

Grows in clusters at base of trees or stumps.

C

Photo: at Mykoweb

Deadly Galerina Galerina marginata (autumnalis) Deadly! Amanita toxins. Causes liver and kidney damage.

SP rusty brown. Grows on decaying wood. Gills attached to subdecurrent. Cap small (to 2.5”). Stalk with ring.

FC Photo: Lebrac

Photo: rain at Mushroom Oberver

Photo: www.stridval.se

Grows on ground in woods. Gills edged with white; finely notched; with brown droplets when fresh.

FC

Poison Pie Hebeloma crustuliniforme Causes gastrointentinal distress. SP yellow-brown, brown. Gills notched.

Several Agaricus species

Good edibles Cauthion: GI upset from Agaricus species that smell like phenol (ink, iodine, medicinal, unpleasant)

Photo: Nathan Wilson

Meadow Mushroom A. campestris

Horse Mushroom A. arvensis

Agaricus placomyces

Sulphur Shelf, Chicken Mushroom Laetiporus sulphureus Annual. Grows on dead trees, logs. Pores yellow.

CHOICE EDIBLE Caution: may

cause GI upset when grows on conifer wood.

FC

Puffballs Lycoperdon Calvatia

Pear-shaped puffball Lycoperdon pyriforme and other species.

Giant Puffball, Calvatia gigantea, and other species.

C

FC

Good Edibles when young

When older -- soft like a marshmallow or no longer white inside -- taste and texture are no longer desireable.

Amanita “egg” Deadly, if deadly species! Outline of mushroom visible when cut.

Earthballs Scleroderma - Poisonous. Spore mass grayish, turning black or purple-black. Root-like structures.

Alcohol Inky Coprinus atramentarius SP black. Gills free, crowded.

Edible but avoid alcohol within 48 hours! Alcohol consumption causes flushing; swelling and numbness of hands and feet; rapid heartbeat; vomiting.

VC

Grows in clusters on grass, wood chips, tree bases.

Photo: Matthias Renner

Man-on-Horseback Tricholoma equestre (was flavovirens) SP white. Gills notched. On ground in conifers/mixed woods Traditionally a choice edible, now with caution!

Photo: Ann F. Berger

Quiz: What is this edible mushroom growing on wood chips?

FC Answer on next slide

SP Purple-brown

(Answer to quiz on previous slide: Wine-Cap Stropharia Stropharia rugosoannulata)

The End