A Very Wet Mushroom Hunting Day.

After all of the really long posts I have been torturing people with lately,  I figured I would just post my Pics and place an annotation below them.   Basically:   We hunted mushrooms today... in the rain.   It was kinda Depressing because Iowa City is drinking the BLM Cool-Aid and it has become rather uncomfortable being a  "normal" person there.  Luckily,  we spent most of our time in the forest, away from people.    But let's get to the Pics!  ( Small Side Note:  Upon looking at these pictures, I noticed my thumb looks unusually dirty.   This is not dirt... it is hair color!   I must have gotten some on my hands when I helped Cheryl color her hair.   The stuff does not come off!  I'm about ready to dig out my Dremel tool and start polishing. )

Pinwheel Marasimus.  Found in our lawn. 

Wonder why it is called "Pinwheel?

Spore Prints for the Netted Rhodotus. 

Cheryl Enjoys Mushroom hunting in the rain. 
Loves it!

Possible Fawn/deer mushroom. 

Crested Coral... Young. 

Another Crested Coral Mushroom.
I think these guys look beautiful. 

Crab Russula. Or Brittle Gill.  The more red and pretty
means it is "Sharp" tasting.   This one tastes of a Strong
Hot Pepper!   ( Yes, I took a chomp!  Wonderful heat on
tongue!  Cheryl thinks I'm crazy) 

Corals were out in full today.  Most corals are edible, but peppery tasting.   I eventually took home only one. 

The Field Boletes were popping out, but still fairly small.  

Possible psilocybe mushroom?  Does not bruise blue.  

Will require Sporeprint for Identification. Very pretty though. 

Saphron Milk cap. 

VERY LARGE spider web.  Cheryl almost walked into it.  It kind of freaked her out. 

A White jelly Mushroom.   (Tremella fuciformis)  Also known as the White Snow Fungus)  After reading up on these guys, we should have harvested them!   They are medicinal and highly beneficial!   Mostly I just want to eat them, but if they"happen to be healthy"  all the better!  

Chanterelles!   Small but I harvested them anyway.  We did not know when we would be back out there.  Don't want them going to waste!

Green-Laced Russula.  OR Green Cracking Russula.   An Edible Brittlegill.   I harvest these because they taste "ok" and are very large!   

This guy was average size, but I have found several last year that were about 6-7 inches across. 

Wildlife sighting.  Frog! 

Scarlet Elf Cup?   Not the usual cup shaped fungus/mushroom.   But bright red and very pretty.  I read they are edible and medicinal for something, though I doubt I would care to try them. They are very small.   

Crown Tipped Coral Fungus (Artomyces pyxidatus)  I harvested this cluster because I know exactly what it is. (And I have eaten it before and lived to tell the tale. 

See the three "crowns" on the tip of each branch.  The younger/earlier versions might eventually grow to have these, but I did not see them, so I left them behind.  Until I gain some more confidence, I will pick and choose my corals cautiously. 

Another Saffron Milk Cap.  Tastes like HOT pepper!  Someday I will blanch one and  see how it taste without that peppery flavor. 

And Earth ball!   Purple inside means it is not a puff ball and NOT edible. 

They also feel like a rubber ball and not like a Marshmallow.   Best rule:  Split it open, If it is anything other than white, leave it.   

My favorite find!   A RED Raspberry Slime mold! ( Tubifera cf ferruginosa) I actually was thinking it looked like a Red Raspberry when I first saw it.   Too bad the picture did not turn out as clearly.   It was small and next to the Snow jelly fungus on a log. 

More of the White Jelly Fungus.   This cluster looked a little older/yellow-er than the other clusters.   There was certainly a LOT of it out there this morning. 

FINALLY!  Some golden Oysters!  They were young and fresh. 

Cheryl was very excited, becuase we had been searching the entire forest for "edibles" and only found a few small samples.  (A handful of  small Boletes and Chanterelles. 

Even though these clusters were not very large, they would help fill our basket and we could end on a high note.

A very small  Black Footed Polypore..  (Not edible) Wonder where it gets that name? 

Our basket of goodies. 

Cheryl separates the species for drying. 

I choose to eat the Coral and a bare-toothed Brittlegill all by themselves. 

The Chanterelles look a little small and dirty... 

The Bare-Toothed Russula   These guys taste like almonds or Maraschino Cherries.
Note: the dull, pink top as compared to the bright red Crab Russula.  Also, the edges are  usually jagged. 

Crown Corals Trimmed and washed. 

Frying up the Russula.   It tasted good, but I have had them taste more like Almonds or the Cherries before.   Most of those Russulas are from the Coralville woods.  This one might have been a little old. Still tasty though. 

My favorite surprise.   The Crowned coral tasted like angel hair paste!  The last time I cooked  a coral mushroom up, it tasted rather peppery.   I was very happy this was a mild and had a very cool texture.   If I see this in the woods again, I will begin harvesting it more often. I think the first coral I ate was  from the "yellow- Tipped" variety.    The Crowned Coral was much more mild and  tasty.