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Category: Mushrooms

Wild Edible: Chicken-of-the-woods

Wild Edible: Chicken-of-the-woods

One of the easiest mushrooms to identify in our forests is the chicken-of-the-woods mushroom, also known as sulphur shelf, or more simply: chicken mushroom. Although they have similar names, chicken-of-the-woods and hen-of-the-woods are two entirely different mushrooms (although both are edible). Hen-of-the-woods was so named because someone thought the ruffled brown cluster of caps (usually growing at the base of a tree) resembled the fanned out tail feathers of a portly hen. Chicken-of-the-woods, on the other hand, was given its…

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Cedar-apple rust

Cedar-apple rust

With leaves still absent from many trees, it is not hard to see evidence of galls caused by insects, such as the oak apple gall, or by fungi, such as the knobby black protrusions on black cherry trees referred to as black knot. A gall is an abnormal outgrowth of plant tissue, which can be caused by all sorts of parasites, from fungi and bacteria to insects and mites. Another fairly common gall in this area is one called cedar-apple…

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Fall Fungi

Fall Fungi

Sunday I participated in a fungi walk led by mycologist Dianna Smith at the Cadwell Memorial Park in Pelham. Despite a recent lack of rain in that part of the state, we still found over 25 different kinds of fungi. For this post, however, I will limit myself to four highlights that I found interesting or bizarre. Toothpaste slime mold (Lycogala epidendrum) Oddly enough, slime molds are not actually fungi, although they often catch the interest of mycologists anyway. These…

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Jelly Fungus (Exidia glandulosa?)

Jelly Fungus (Exidia glandulosa?)

Jelly fungi belong to several orders within the subphylum Agaricomycotina, and are identifiable by the jelly-like consistency of their fruiting bodies, although they range widely in color and shape.   This particular specimen found at a conservation area in Mashpee was rubbery and gelatinous (Think: the consistency of a gummy bear). Although many jelly fungi will shrivel and dry up if there is an extended period with no rain, when exposed to water they will return to their original form;…

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Coral Fungi and Puffballs

Coral Fungi and Puffballs

A foraging trip in Falmouth today yielded a number of edible mushrooms (in addition to the sighting of a lot of interesting non-edible ones not described here). Basket of foraged edible mushrooms – Coral Fungi, Puffballs and Boletes. The first edible we came across was a Coral Fungi, Clavulina cinerea, also known as the Gray Coral fungi. The individuals we found were approximately 3 to 4 inches tall, and had an erect, coral-like shape, with many branches forming from the…

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Witches’ Brooms and Mushroom Eating Slugs

Witches’ Brooms and Mushroom Eating Slugs

It was fitting that during my visit to the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve at Laudholm in Maine, on the weekend just before Halloween, that one of my new discoveries was a phenomenon called witches’ brooms. With many of the leaves blown down by the storm we had the day before, these clustered growths were easy to see, and were apparent on several highbush blueberry and honeysuckle shrubs. The “witches’ brooms” are abnormal growths on the branches of the shrubs,…

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Earthstar (Scleroderma polyrhizum?)

Earthstar (Scleroderma polyrhizum?)

The last couple weeks I’ve noticed a series of puffball-like mushrooms with a star-shaped opened outer casing in a sandy area just up gradient from a salt marsh near my house in Bourne. I’m still not 100% sure on the identification, but I think I may have finally identified its genus, Schleroderma, with a potential for it to be Scleroderma polyrhizum. Examples of the mushrooms I found.  The bottom picture shows the underside. Scleroderma polyrhizum, commonly called earthstars or earthballs,…

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Mushroom Walk

Mushroom Walk

This afternoon I got to explore the Coonamessett Reservation in Falmouth with a knowledgeable mushroom hunter. Although I love foraging for wild edibles, normally I’m fairly wary when it comes to mushrooms, since many species can have some nasty effects ranging from gastro-intestinal distress to death. So it was exciting to have an expert to point out which were edible, which weren’t, and fun facts about them both. (Disclaimer: If you have any doubts whatsoever about your identification of a…

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