Fun Guy

[GaryA]

Tis a cool title, but the link goes, er, elsewhere...

oops


#
This is also interesting; on Mycoremediation after the BP gulf fiasco

[For gawd sake dont show jonsey that website ]

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Well I found another " Lactarius deterrimus " growing in the grass. I broke off bits of the cap as was suggested and no latex appeared - or the red winey coloration. I'm assuming it isn't Lactarius deterrimus ................

So Thanks for the tips on IDing them tho'. I must spend the time practising.

Nice pics the claud

Oh - how does one find the spores? Does one need a microscope to look at them? I assume each species have different spore morphologhy?

 

[661-Pete]

Oh - how does one find the spores? Does one need a microscope to look at them? I assume each species have different spore morphologhy?

If all you're after is the spore colour, the thing to do is take a spore print. Cut a hole in a white card large enough for the stalk, thread the stalk through the hole, and set the card on a tumbler for a few hours. Problem is, by the time you've got a decent print and identified your mushroom, it, and the rest in your basket, will have started to go off....

There is fascinating stuff to see in those spores, if you've got a microscope, but there you leave me behind...

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

If all you're after is the spore colour, the thing to do is take a spore print. Cut a hole in a white card large enough for the stalk, thread the stalk through the hole, and set the card on a tumbler for a few hours. Problem is, by the time you've got a decent print and identified your mushroom, it, and the rest in your basket, will have started to go off....

There is fascinating stuff to see in those spores, if you've got a microscope, but there you leave me behind...

Ooh - sounds OK to me. I'm not eating any until I'm certain and then checked it with several experts first so the "going off" isn't an immediate problem.

Now with regard to those photos I posted way back in the beginning I'm beginning to wonder if the first "2 mushrooms aren't the same. I broke off bits of #1 and it had the similar orange layer. Eventually (and I may have not been patient enough before) it turned the winey red colour previously described. So apart from lack of oozing latex it might be Lactarius deterrimus. Corr it could take me donkeys' years to become a begining moderate Shroomer.

As for microscopy I have my Grandfather's microscope somewhere. It's just a beginners one. Must get it out and have a go (if I can find it first).

 

[theclaud]

Ooh - sounds OK to me. I'm not eating any until I'm certain and then checked it with several experts first so the "going off" isn't an immediate problem.

Now with regard to those photos I posted way back in the beginning I'm beginning to wonder if the first "2 mushrooms aren't the same. I broke off bits of #1 and it had the similar orange layer. Eventually (and I may have not been patient enough before) it turned the winey red colour previously described. So apart from lack of oozing latex it might be Lactarius deterrimus. Corr it could take me donkeys' years to become a begining moderate Shroomer.

As for microscopy I have my Grandfather's microscope somewhere. It's just a beginners one. Must get it out and have a go (if I can find it first).

That's possible - the texture of the gills in the first pic looks brittle and Lactarius-y, and the stem looks as though there might be a green flush to it. Good detective work, 26x25! There weren't really enough features visible to be guessing with much confidence from those shots. I'm a bit puzzled by the lack of latex, as it's a basic milk-cap thing, and as I said I'd put money on pics 3-5 being a milk-cap. I spotted a rather past-it L deterrimus yesterday, so it looks like the time is right for them...

Worth getting Philips' book if you're getting into it - there's good stuff on tinternet but there's nothing quite like having the description and pics to hand while you're looking at the mushroom where it grows - the changes in an hour or so on the basket can me quite significant for ID.

 

[661-Pete]

Corr it could take me donkeys' years to become a begining moderate Shroomer.

No it won't! You could learn in one or two seasons how to identify lots of the easier fungi. Have some help at first, but soon you'll be confident enough to pick them on your own! The ones in your photos are 'difficult' so forget those.

With Ceps, for example (the most popular wild fungus) you just can't poison yourself once you've learnt how to identify. Yes, there are other related mushrooms that look like a Cep. One or two are very bitter to taste and will spoil your dinner unless you're a masochist, but they won't harm you! A guy I knew, listened to my descriptions and tried picking some 'Ceps' on his own. He tried cooking and eating them and then came back to me with a gripe, said they were horrible and what was I thinking of leading him astray! My guess is he had the rarer Tylopilus felleus instead. But the point is, he didn't harm himself in any way.

Following advice from those like theClaud (and - dare I say it? - yours truly) you'll open up a whole new hobby!

Problem is, we don't want everyone doing it...!

 

[theclaud]

Just found a L. deterrimus. Not in any condition to eat, but I took a few snaps to illustrate. The first four are taken immediately, and the last four fifteen minutes later, to show colour change. I might have oversold the ooziness of the milk - you can clearly see it as it's what's causing the vivid carotty colour to deepen in the cut mushroom, but it seeps through like blood on a graze rather than welling or gushing. If you handle the mushroom it stains your fingers. The change to wine-colour is quite clear here.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

A Ha - those look like mine I'll go through the full diagnosis now with Roger's as guide . I may even try the spore print.

So the latex isn't liquidy really..............

These greeny tinted ones have been appearing in my lawn grass for years. Never had the time before to do anything other than wonder.

I'll leave the russella till I've sorted the easy (Ceps) ones then Pete.

Thanks TC and Pete.

 

[summerdays]

Do you take a knife with you when you go picking .... are you supposed to slice or pull up the mushroom, and do you need to slice it to identify it.

I'm trying to find a guided walk to go on ... I might have found one but its not until late November.

 

[661-Pete]

Do you take a knife with you when you go picking .... are you supposed to slice or pull up the mushroom, and do you need to slice it to identify it.

I'm trying to find a guided walk to go on ... I might have found one but its not until late November.

Ah! You've touched on a major controversy there - amongst the mushrooming community it would be worthy of its very own P&L and generate more hot air than Campag v. Shimano or the H*lm*t debate....

I always take a knife, but I pull up the mushrooms, taking care to remove the entire stalk (and enclosing 'volva' if there is one - a sure danger-sign), but not to disturb the surrounding soil (which contains the mycelium) if I can help it. Then I cut the stalk across the base to check for worms. This is usually where the worms appear first. If it's wormy, I cut more slices off the stalk hoping to get to a non-wormy bit. But some other folks cut the mushroom straight from the ground leaving a 'stump'. I'm not sure which is 'right' in any sense.

Of course, if the flesh is supposed to change colour on cutting, like theClaud's Lactarius, the knife is essential! Many species turn blue on cutting, this is also diagnostic.

An elderly Czech immigrant, who I knew when I was a kid, we went mushrooming together, and who taught me a lot of the stuff, used to come along with a bloody great kitchen knife in his basket. Gawd knows what'd happen if he stumbled across the cops today, equipped like that, but this was in the 1950s and 60s. Be discreet: a small penknife will do!

Mushroom foray in November? Don't expect much - if there have been a succession of hard frosts you won't find any. Maybe some Blewits.

 

[theclaud]

Do you take a knife with you when you go picking .... are you supposed to slice or pull up the mushroom, and do you need to slice it to identify it.

I'm trying to find a guided walk to go on ... I might have found one but its not until late November.

Good question. I always take a penknife - partly for ID purposes and partly just to collect mushrooms cleanly and easily. Don't pull up mushrooms as a rule, because you may damage the mycelium - the mushroom itself is just the fruiting body of a less conspicuous organism. Having said that, it is sometimes a good idea carefully to unearth a whole specimen where you are looking for distinctive features around the base or lower stem - Death Caps and a few other nasty things usually have a floppy membrane enclosing the base (for Fnaar's benefit, it's called a volva):

Some people recommend gently twisting the mushroom up rather than cutting if it's a fat-stemmed thing like a Cep - there's a theory that this is better for the mycelium but I'm not convinced.

Cutting for ID is often important, but sometimes it's also just fun - there are boletes that flush from yellow to deep indigo instantly
on cutting - this really impresses kids even if they have been maintaining an air of cool detachment hitherto. Cutting a mushroom in half is also a good way to get a look at the way the gills join the stem, which is another useful ID question.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Righty Ho - That's the microscope and a pen knife I need to find

 

[theclaud]

Ah! You've touched on a major controversy there - amongst the mushrooming community it would be worthy of its very own P&L and generate more hot air than Campag v. Shimano or the H*lm*t debate....

Heh heh. I see there's a slight divergence of opinion already. Shimano, no helmet and cutting through the stem for me. Only the last of those is up for negotiation...

 

[661-Pete]

Well, I thought I'd add an old image of mine to go with that lovely Amanita phalloides above...

This is its equally deadly cousin A. virosa the Destroying Angel, snapped in France a few years ago. Not very common in UK however, but you need to watch out when picking ordinary field mushrooms. Unlike the field mushroom, it has white gills and a volva as you can see. Definitely a killer!


Minor point, everyone, when you link to a piccy that is not your own, you ought to acknowledge its source.

 

[Fnaar]

...and a few other nasty things usually have a floppy membrane enclosing the base (for Fnaar's benefit, it's called a volva):

Thanks of thinking of me!

Here's a couple of pics I took a while back... any ID? I named one as "Slippery Jack" after looking online, but I've no idea really. The other pic was taken in Finland.