Chicken of the Woods - Laetiporus sulphureus
Swipe to zoom in ➡️
It’s been a good year for these so far
This young tender one was growing just above head height on a veteran oak tree. When soft and fresh like this they are in the perfect stage for eating. I took a couple of brackets of this specimen to try in a Thai curry
What’s the nicest dish you’ve tried with COTW?
#laetiporussulphureus#chickenofthewoods#foraging#fungi
Poplar Fieldcaps - Cyclocybe cylindracea
These were growing amongst ivy on the end of a felled poplar tree in the local park. I had to climb in a holly hedge to get the shot 😆
Aka Pioppini mushrooms, they are edible with a slightly sweet, floral and nutty flavour profile. Great in risottos and pasta dishes
#pioppini#pioppino#poplarfieldcap#fungi#foraging
Dune Morel - Morchella dunensis
First one I’ve found in a younger state, resembling M. vulgaris at this stage, just starting to develop its characteristic brick-red hue
#dunemorel#morchelladunensis#morchella#springfungi#morel
Always nice to find one’s first morels of the year
These are Morchella importuna (‘black morels’ in the Elata clade of Morchella) and can be found in imported woodchip/bark mulch; the kind often chucked down around new build homes and supermarket carparks etc. Not the most romantic of settings to forage for delicious mushrooms, usually more of a smash and grab affair, but a must-do spring past time (for me at least 😆)
This time I got lucky and found these in a communal area so didn’t get those knock-knock-ginger vibes today, nor did I have to ask anyone present if I can pick their weird mushrooms from their garden and persuade them “they’re not magic, honest”
#morels#morelseason#morchella#gourmetmushrooms#foraging#fungi#morchellaimportuna
Cedar Cup - Geopora sumneriana
A harbinger of spring and quite a rare find, it was nice to find this today back on the same mossy bank under the cedar tree I found it last year. Not long for the morels now!
#cedarcup#geopora#mushrooms#fungi#spring
Stropharia aeruginosa
I found the biggest patch of Stropharia I’ve ever seen on Saturday (swipe to the end to see a little video)
There’s at least 3 species of these striking blue Stropharia but I did microscopy on this one and it seems to match S. aeruginosa which I don’t think I’ve spotted before.
Under the scope I saw narrowly clavate (club shaped) cheilocystidia (structures with unknown purpose on the gill edge) and mucronate (condom shaped?) pleurocystidia (mystery structures on the gill face). These microscopic features separate S. auruginosa from the other 2 blue ones
I don’t know if all the Stropharia in the patch were this one though and if you look carefully you can briefly glimpse some burgundy mushrooms which in hindsight could be Stropharia inuncta but I didn’t pick any so who knows for sure
I used Geoffrey Kibby’s Agarics Vol 3. part 2 for the info
Wrinkled Peach - Rhodotus palmatus
Sadly lacking the characteristic amber guttation (droplets) but otherwise a pristine cluster of rare, wrinkly, elm loving fungal fruits
