Lightning Makes Mushrooms Multiply

nationalgeographic ^ | April 9, 2010 | Julian Ryall

[Natural Born 54]

Thanks for the link, DB.

[aruanan]

Never had the pleasure. Looked it up and found this: http://americanmushrooms.com/taxa/Gyromitra_brunnea_01.htm .

Holy crap! That isn't what I ate!

I had something that looked like a shelf fungus but was not at all woody like those. It was soft and pliable, grew underneath a dead tree across the creek, had gills underneath, and was half moon in shape, grey in color. There were three of them together. The largest was about six inches by three inches. The outside curve came to a sharp edge.

[goat granny]

Ourside of puffballs and morels I don't know enough about them to pick any, I do know some poison toad stools can look just like some mushrooms...you got to be smart enough to know the difference or your dead...I'm not smart enough.

I think mushroom hunting is something of an art...

[aruanan]

Ourside of puffballs and morels I don't know enough about them to pick any, I do know some poison toad stools can look just like some mushrooms...you got to be smart enough to know the difference or your dead...I'm not smart enough. I think mushroom hunting is something of an art...

There's a mushroom in Southeast Asia that looks exactly like one in North America. The only difference is that the ones in Asia are good eating and the ones in North America are deadly poisonous. Shortly after refugees from Southeast Asia arrived, there were a number of deaths from making the mistake of eating the North American version.

Giant puffballs are never poisonous. They can't be mistaken for anything else. However, Amanita muscara mushroom resemble small puffballs when they are first growing and are just as poisonous when they're small as when they're large. There is only one other mushroom that looks a little like a morel, but it's so disgusting that you'd never eat it.

[Natural Born 54]

Was the time of year Autumn? Do you remember whether the tree was a hardwood or softwood?

(When I first started looking for mushrooms, I found what my neighbor said was a giant rare form of chanterelle. We cooked it and both my husband and I each stabbed a fork into the frying pan and stuck a piece in our mouth. He spit his out immediately due to poor taste. I attempted to do the same but a small bit slipped down my throat. My throat began to get numb and feel like it was closing up. I ended up at the ER where I drank a pint of liquid charcoal. Turns out it was a Jack-O-Lantern mushroom which in rather small quantities will kill you. I was fine, though. Never asked an opinion again. Learned about mushrooms myself and only eat them when I am totally certain what they are.)

[Natural Born 54]

Look anything like this:

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/panellus_stipticus.html ?

[aruanan]

The panellus you referred to is not it. This was at least 5 or 6 inches in the longest dimension that grew up along the dead tree. It was a hardwood tree. There was no stalk and cap. There was just a place where it attached to the tree. It was very meaty and very nice.

Okay, I think this is it. Only it's not grey. Well, maybe my memory has faded to grey. Anyway, it's "the Oyster ( Pleurotus ostreatus) mushrooms, also known as Elephant Ears." They say that it can be found all year (well, probably not all year in Illinois...ha ha ha) but that the fall ones can get as large as a dinner plate. They can also have a varied appearance. On the same page they describe the hedgehog mushroom and say that it can't be mistaken for anything poisonous and is very delicious. Have you ever had one of these?

[Natural Born 54]

Oysters - yes. They are somewhat common so that makes sense. They are very good in soups which is how I tried them when I found a quantity of them. I can see how your memory would be of a light grey. I think I’ve seen that myself. Anyway, glad you solved that mystery.

I was off trying to sign up for photo bucket so I could post a couple of photos from my computer on here but I can’t get the sign up to work even though I allowed cookies from the site. This is the second time I’ve tried and I’m giving up. Can anybody recommend another photo site to use? I don’t want to use my own .com web site because then I’d be too easy to ID and I want to preserve the ability to say unflattering things about certain politicians like the stinker in the WH.

[aruanan]

I was off trying to sign up for photo bucket so I could post a couple of photos from my computer on here but I can’t get the sign up to work even though I allowed cookies from the site.

Have you tried www.imagechicken.com? That's what I use to post pictures like the one below ("Make a wish. I feel lucky!") They don't ask for any information at all. If you want to keep track of your upload, though, save the upload link page as a webarchive file.

[Natural Born 54]

Thanks. I’ll check it out.

[Randy Larsen]

Fotki.com

[goat granny]

I always keep a 50 pound bag of quick lime to use on dead deer that are smelling really bad, it kills the bacteria that cause the odor...I remember my dad once saying also, that quick lime can be used to sweeten the ground before planting, maybe I'll try spreading some around where I had that salt lick. It was at the edge of the thicket where the puffballs use to grow..

My grandaughter took my dog for a walk a couple of weeks ago and she went down by the stream and found a dead buck..his back end was all shattered (hit by a car) so I guess he made it back to the stream to die...big 8 pointer, but he's far enough from my house so that it doesn't smell up my yards...

[Natural Born 54]

If you get some growing late summer/early fall, I would be interested to know. Too bad about the buck and that it went to waste.

[goat granny]

All of my sons bow and arrow hunt every fall but one also gun hunts and fixes venison to die for...He came and sawed off the antlers and the deer was just starting to get ripe...all the time he was sawing he kept mumbling I wish I had shot it damn, I wish I had shot it....:O) nice size buck and he'll use the antlers during hunting.. :O)

Will let you know if any puffballs come back....>P> PS his youngest son got his first doe 2 years ago (my grandson)

[goat granny]

From what I have heard, eating the poison toadstool is a very painful way to go....ourside of morels or puffballs on my property its Krogers for mushrooms...:O)

[piasa]

morels appear around elms that have died from dutch elm disease rather thickly, when the bark is flaking off showing the rusty layer beneath. Look around the tree and they’ll be there, even quite far away. But the trees had to have died in the last five years or so, if they’re too far gone there won’t be much to find, maybe there is spore that is released when the tree dies and bark falls, or else that is the period the tree’s decomposition releases an important nutrient, but for some reason in Illinois they favor elms. This is from a guy who finds them by the truckload.