Here are a few October finds from a couple years ago when I was first learning how to mushroom hunt for this #mushroommonday
Here is Macrolepiota procera an edible parasol mushroom. The bump and the scales are a good start for identification.
Then look under the cap and find the skinny stem with the ring and the gills that don't touch the stem and you have a parasol. The only other thing to check is the spore print color is not green otherwise you might be harvesting a vomiter or false parasol. Also note false parasols tend to have fatter stems than the edible parasols.
Here is Calvatia gigantea aka giant puffball mushroom, another great edible.
This one was softball size but sometimes they get up to watermelon size. I tend to like these smaller ones because their texture is not as foamy as the larger ones which makes it easier to use them in meals.
Here is one of the smallest examples of giant puffball I have ever found lol.
Here are some typical mycenas. They are really common in October.
They can be found in a few different colors, some are even edible but have a gross sort of taste to them so no one really ever eats them, other than the snails and slugs.
Now for a really gross technically edible mushroom, this is the common stinkhorn aka Phallus impudicus.
They start out as an egg and then hatch into this foul smelling monstrosity. If you harvest them as eggs and cook them they are said to taste like radishes. I would only consider doing this in a survival situation lol.
Now for some strange marshmallow mushrooms under some pine trees. I have yet to identify them but they seem to grow in clumps that meld together. Sadly I didn't take a picture of the gills so that is making it tough to figure out their id and I haven't found them again.
Look at this huge mushroom. Just kidding this is a giant bald faced hornet nest in the forest hanging off of a tiny branch. This thing is about the size of two basketballs put together.
This nest was pretty quiet as it was getting rainy and cold in October so the wasps were probably dying off. In the main opening you can see some larvae still waiting to hatch, they probably won't make it through the winter and the queen will have to dig herself into a tree somewhere to hibernate with the next colonies eggs for next spring.
That's it for this #mushroommonday