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Fee

Mushroom Identification

Found these little fellas in the wood border outside my back door, but I haven't got a clue about mushrooms, and I'm sure somebody on here will know exactly what they are?

I've tried Rogers Mushrooms online thingy, but to no avail. They range from 1cm to 5cm-ish in diameter.





bingo

Cab would be your best bet. I don't know.
Maxwell

They kind off look like like the Velvet Foot mushroom (Flammulina velutipes.)

Should have a white/cream spore print and a velvety feel to the stems if they are.
luvgarlic

Maxwell wrote:
They kind off look like like the Velvet Foot mushroom (Flammulina velutipes.)

I have Roger Phillips' book and they don't look like Velvet Shank at all, sorry.

Had a leaf through the whole book and am none the wiser. Colouring might suggest one of the Russula varieties but I really have no idea. Don't eat them until you get a positive identification. Shocked
Maxwell

luvgarlic wrote:
Maxwell wrote:
They kind off look like like the Velvet Foot mushroom (Flammulina velutipes.)

I have Roger Phillips' book and they don't look like Velvet Shank at all, sorry.

Had a leaf through the whole book and am none the wiser. Colouring might suggest one of the Russula varieties but I really have no idea. Don't eat them until you get a positive identification. Shocked


Russula? Your having a laugh right???!!!

The images are poor but those are definately no Russulas, completely the wrong time of year for a start and they don't grow off wood! Rolling Eyes

BTW, I have Roger Phillip's book too and I also hunt Velvet Foot's (Flammulina velutipes)
cab

Ooh. Pretty.

Doesn't say russula to me (they don't grow in wood, and few look like that anyway), and ain't a velvet shank unless its a truly odd one.

Is it actually growing on the wood or do I see some soil poking through there? Which is it growing on? Whats it smell like? Whats it look like when sliced down the middle? What does the cap feel like; it looks sort of velvety, is it? And most important of all, can you do a spore print for us? It would really help.

I'll confess that it doesn't look quite right for any species that comes to mind. I look at the cap and I want to say Pluteus, but the gills are way out. I'll think about it.
luvgarlic

As I said, I really have no idea.

My edition lists Flammulina velutipes as Velvet Shank and it is bright orangey / yellow colour.
cab

luvgarlic wrote:
As I said, I really have no idea.

My edition lists Flammulina velutipes as Velvet Shank and it is bright orangey / yellow colour.


Never rely just on one characteristic. You're right to think about the colour of course, but you should also be looking at the stipe (stem) to get a clue for velvet shank.
Fee

I was thinking perhaps it's coming from the soil through the wood actually (while re-looking at my pictures, as I didn't think they were THAT bad Sad)...they were only taking with my phone.

I'll go and pick one and take some more pictures...how do I do a spore print then, cab?
Fee

No worries, I googled it Wink
cab

Fee wrote:
No worries, I googled it Wink


Your google-fu powers are strong, paduan Smile

Dunno which link you found, but if you can do the spore print half on black and half on white, it'll be much easier to see the colour.
cab

You know, looking again, they could be manky old velvet shank. Spore print will really help, let us know what colour you get Smile
Fee

'Manky old' might be a good description. The stem isn't all soft and lovely as it looks, it's actually crispy and pretty much snapped in half when I cut it off for the spore print (see pic). The smaller ones are a bit velvety I guess, but the older/bigger ones aren't really.

They have a very distinctive smell, which doesn't entice me to even want to eat them even if they were edible. At first I thought it was an almost metallic smell, on top of the mushroom smell. I've just gone back to smell again, and they seem to be smelling more mushroomy, but definately a tinge of a sort of metallic smell...though I am in slight need of a bath, so that might be me I suppose.

Anyway, I cut one in half and took a pic, and another one is being printed as we speak, half on black and half on white paper Smile






Maxwell

Fee wrote:
'The stem isn't all soft and lovely as it looks, it's actually crispy and pretty much snapped in half when I cut it off for the spore print (see pic).


As they're a bit dry they may be reluctant to drop spores. Adding a drop of water to the pileus (cap) of the mushrooms may coax them into dropping spores.
Fee

This is the result, sorry if it's a bit crap...

Maxwell

I don't think a camera phone pic is suitable for telling the true colour of mushroom prints (or the colour of mushrooms for that matter) and all our pc monitors are configured differently...

So what colour does the print actually look like to you? Cream? Yellow?
Fee

Actually, that picture shows the colour quite accurately, it's like a pale brown, not cream or yellowish at all.

Obviously I can't comment on your monitor callibration Wink
dpack

sorry not a clue .
Maxwell

Fee wrote:
Obviously I can't comment on your monitor callibration Wink


LOL Laughing

The only thing I can say in that case is it looks like some form of Collybia (Flammulina velutipes was once in that genus) but Collybia spores range from white through to cream and pink, not brown! Confused
Fee

Maybe it's a pinky brown actuaully Laughing I'll take a better pic in the daylight tomorrow, OH had my camera at work with him today.
cab

Looks pink to me, making the most likely ID Pluteus or Volvariella. Unless its WAAAY far gone, it isn't Volvariella bombycina, which would be most likely IMHO considering the habitat (although there are certainly some Volvariella species I don't know. And besides, it doesn't have a volva. And it isn't Volvariella Smile

Stem looks like a Pluteus, but its waaaaaay gone. I'd hazard a guess that it is Pluteus umbrosus.
cab

Maxwell wrote:

The only thing I can say in that case is it looks like some form of Collybia (Flammulina velutipes was once in that genus) but Collybia spores range from white through to cream and pink, not brown! Confused


Yes, I can quite see where you're coming from with that.

Its difficult to get a really good ID online sometimes. Some shrooms are posted and there could be a chorus of half a dozen people saying, with confidence, 'thats a....', and other times its more challenging Smile
Fee

Well, I like to be a challenge Wink

Forgot to take the camer out of the car this morning, so OH's taken it to work again Rolling Eyes
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