Sony Nex vg-10, 50mm f/1.4
Introduction
The mushroom season is on here and I can sense it from all sides. It's as if everyone opened up to a mycological awakening? Or maybe this only seems so contemporary to just me? In the wake of it all, I am already preparing for another hunt during a day in a work week, where some are attending a group excursion prior to their work shifts.
One of the mushrooms I am identifying was brought to an older very kind man for assessing it. The joy he had when I came to him, what he probably knew along with his charming character moved me deeply. Apparently these older guys you can bring your mushrooms to for identification say there is still too little offspring in this field. Around my area, this seems to be quite the opposite.
Today I have the pleasure to reveal another lucky find with everyone.
In my previous post Mushroom Protocol 03 We went over 3 mushrooms.
Namely:
- The Hericium Erinaceus, Lion's Mane
- The Gyroporus castaneus, chestnut bolete
- The Stabilomyces Stabilaceus, old man of the woods
- The Hydnum repandum, hedgehog mushroom
So far we covered:
- The Scleroderma citrinum or earthball
- The Craterellus cornucopioides or horn of plenty
- The lycoperdon or puffball
- The Boletus calopus, bitter beech bolete or scarlet-stemmed bolete
- The Hygrocybe punicea, Crimson or waxycap
- The Hypholoma fasciculare, sulphur tuft
- The Hericium Erinaceus, Lion's Mane
- The Gyroporus castaneus, chestnut bolete
- The Stabilomyces Stabilaceus, old man of the woods
- The Hydnum repandum, hedgehog mushroom
Mushrooms
First, I'd like to start with a find that I made in my local forest, where I rarely find spectacular edible mushrooms.
Coprinopsis atramentaria, ink cap
Class | Agaricomycetes |
Division | Basidiomycota |
Family | Psathyrellaceae |
Order | Agaricales |
Scientific Name | Coprinopsis atramentaria |
Common Name | inky cap |
Appearence | At first egg-shaped and mostly smooth with just a small central area covered in small flattened scales; without veil fragments, the cap of Coprinus atramentaria later expands to become bell-shaped with a slight umbo.Saprobic; on or beside stumps (usually hardwood); also beside woodland footpaths and at the base or trees in parks and gardens. Also fairly common on tree-lined grassy roadside verges or in parkland where fallen timber has become buried under dead grass. |
Type | Mycorrhizal |
Odeur | no typical smell |
Culinary | edible but Warning: poisonous if consumed either with or a day or two before/after alcohol. |
Taste | Mild tasting, can cause slight hallucinations |
Medicinal properties | Anti-tumor Polysaccharides extracted from the mycelial culture of C. atramentaria and administered intraperitoneally into white mice at a dosage of 300 mg/kg inhibited the growth of Sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich solid cancers by 100% (Ohtsuka et al., 1973). Anti-fungal The aqueous extract of Tippler’s bane was shown to reduce the mycelial growth and inhibit sporulation of Penicillium expansum, a pathogenic mold (Florianowicz, 2000). Source |
Hericium cirrhatum, tiered tooth fungus
Very rare, @tandava came across this in summer and already harvested a bit earlier. I think it's an important lesson to look up, specially what one might find growing on dead birch trees.
We took a stick to get it off the tree as it was time to harvest the specimen.
I'd say that this was an extremely lucky find because it's so rare.
Classification : Phylogenetic DNA analysis confirmed that the Tiered Tooth belongs to the order Russulales.
Class | Agaricomycetes |
Family | Hericiaceae |
Order | Russulales |
Division | Basidiomycota |
Scientific Name | Hericium cirrhatum |
Common Name | tiered tooth fungus |
Appearence | icicle-like spines. Hericium cirrhatum produces irregular cream fruitbodies with little or no real stem.The typical thickness is 2 or 3cm. Spines are pointed and usually little more than 1 to 1.5cm long. |
Habitat | Found on old dead Birch trees |
Type | Mycorrhizal |
Odeur | Not distinctive |
Culinary | edible. |
Taste | Very tasty and fleshy, similar to fish or tender meat |
Medicinal properties | This species is firmly established as an important medicinal mushroom and has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat a host of ailments. Research has shown that it contains compounds that are effective against memory loss, depression, anxiety, dementia, neurological disorders within the peripheral nervous system and cancer. Source |
Clitocybe nuda, wood blewit
Class | Agaricomycetes |
Division | Basidiomycota |
Order | Agaricales |
Family | Tricholomataceae |
Scientific Name | Clitocybe nuda |
Common Name | wood blewit |
Appearence | The violet-tinged cap and gills of the young wood blewit, together with its stocky build, distinguish it from other purple or lilac coloured fungi. |
Habitat | These are Ectomycorrhizal; they form rings among floors with moisture and leaf litter and are usually found on mossy forest floors. Saprobic, on leaf litter in mixed woodland, the Wood Blewit is also found occasionally under hedgerows and even on garden compost heaps. These attractive mushrooms can also appear in dune slacks containing dwarf willow and other low-growing shrubs.Source |
Odeur | Faint aniseed odour and a pleasant taste. |
Culinary | edible |
Taste | Really nice tasting. Fresh |
Medicinal properties | Animal studies suggest that extracts from blewit may be useful as part of immunotherapy treatments for certain cancers[iv]. Extracts of the mushroom also protected mice who had been experimentally fed high-fat diets from changes associated with Type II diabetes[v]. Fungal extracts are also effective against certain microorganisms, including several kinds of bacteria[vi] and have antioxidant potential[vii]. But the clearest benefit of blewits is simply that they are an extremely healthy food, having zero cholesterol and being low in fat and calories and high in certain micronutrients, notably thiamine. Source |
Conclusions
Didn't really think I'd find 3 edible mushrooms for the protocol this week. It taught me a few valuable lessons. Firstly, walking in the forest, no matter what weather really enlivens the spirits and can acclimate ones mood to changing weather. Specially surprising moments when some unexpected mushrooms appear not far from your path really make it worth your journey. I also thought I wanted some mushrooms for dinner and basically went straight for them while picking them. I think we all have that sense in our gut. Literally in the gut brain axis.
Previous Posts on Mushrooms:
Posts of Wild Herbs:
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Graffiti of vanishing
Dong Chang 东厂
aka Rane
'When turbulence congests, surrender to your self. Once you are one, challenge the universe by becoming it' - @yangyanje
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