Thursday, September 2, 2010

Mystery Mushrooms

Mistery Mushrooms
I noticed the other day that we had wild mushrooms growing all over our lawn. I was hoping that someone out there could help me identify them (not that I would consider eating them).

Mistery Mushrooms 2
Here's what the underside looked like.

Mistery Mushrooms 3
And here's a side profile. Any ideas on what they might be???

11 comments:

  1. It could be a common field mushroom (Agaricus sp.), but the presence of an universal veil (that frilly thing around the stalk, under the cap) is also found on Amanita sp. - the most deadly of all the mushrooms. If they have a "cup" in/on the ground they are growing from, they are almost definitely Amanitas. here are things you can do, like spore prints on both white and black paper to determine spore colour, and "bruising" the cap to see what colour it turns, to help further identify it, but in my book, white + veil = never eat :)

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  2. I am a real chicken when it comes to the wild funguses. Even if someone identified for me, I would be scared silly to eat it.

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  3. Looks like small versions of what was growing in the side yard at the farm.
    I'm not sure what it is, but maybe this website will help you. :)
    http://americanmushrooms.com/id.htm

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  4. K - thanks for the advice. There's definitely not a cup in or on the ground. I'm guessing it's just a common field mushroom. I think one of our dogs may have eaten one the other day (to my horror) and he's still alive and kicking.

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  5. kitsapFG me too, although I've always wanted to join a mushroom hunting club.

    LindaG - Thanks for the link! I'm heading over now.

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  6. I haven't a clue, but I'm I'm with K. It looks close enough to a Death Cap mushroom that I wouldn't touch it. I used to get ones that looked like that too and my dog and the neighboring squirrels loved to eat them. I had so many fungi in my last garden. I really wish I knew what it all was. My mom has gone mushrooming with a friend of hers that knows the local mushrooms where they live. I don't know anyone with knowledge around here. And frankly I might be too chicken to eat them even if I studied on them.

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  7. My son has been finding mushrooms all over my mom's yard. We've had to be very stern with him about not eating them because he loves raw mushrooms.

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  8. My son has been finding mushrooms all over my mom's yard. We've had to be very stern with him about not eating them because he loves raw mushrooms.

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  9. You can try the agricultural department at your nearest university or college. There are a few edible mushrooms that grow in urban settings... and wouldn't it be fun to grow your own? I've always wondered about the ones in my compost heap, but they never seem to survive long enough to be identitfied (the heat seems to kill them off).

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  10. It is most definitely an Agaricus, field mushroom. I've been collecting mushrooms from the fields and forests ever since I can remember. Amanita phalloides, the one that gets confused to this one, has a more greenish white color, and the underside is all white, not pink. If it's pink, it can only be Agaricus, and you can eat it. It's the same mushroom that you can buy canned or in the markets, only the ones cultivated are picked at an early stage and don't get to grow this big.

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  11. That is really good information. Thanks, Fata Verde. :o)

    We picked some mushrooms once that we were pretty sure were edible, but so many bugs came out of them, that we tossed them all back outside, haha!
    Hope you're doing well, Thomas! :o)

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