A Mushroom Bonanza! Chicken Of The Woods, Hen Of The Woods, And Chanterelles Galore!

Kitchen Table Covered with
Mushrooms!

Cheryl ready to run

As promised.. ( did I really make a promise?)  "Here Thar Be Mushrooms!"  It was actually a fluke.   Cheryl and I had planned on going back out to Muscatine,  but Cheryl thought her legs felt a little stiff and going all that way seemed like a waste.   Better to stay "near" home ( Iowa city is only about 10 minutes closer...) And do our run/bike there.   I asked if we could look for a few Mushrooms and Cheryl agreed. 

"little" bit of flooding. 

After an evening or rain and
humidity. 

It rained again last night,  so the ground was plenty moist for any new fruitings to pop up.  Aside from the Puffball a couple days ago,  I was not expecting much since many of the other mushrooms seemed to be finished.  ( Oysters, Boletes, Milk caps... Even the Brittlegills.) But was I in for a surprise!

First, we barely got in the woods when Cheryl discovered some Shaggy caps.   We picked them and as Cheryl reached down,  she saw something bright orange....

The Chicken Of the Woods! 

Both fresh and tender

Behold!  The Sulphur Polypore! (Laetiporus sulphureus), Also known as the "Chicken Of The Woods!"   Why?  Because they apparently taste like chicken strips when fried up.  I can hardly contain my eagerness to find out.

Easy to Identify.

The best thing is that they are so distinct.   I could tell exactly what they were the moment I saw them.   Even Cheryl knew what they were, and that is a testament on how distinct they are from other shelf mushrooms.  First..  BRIGHT ORANGE!   Cheryl seems to have an eye for the oranges in the forest.   Lobsters..Orange.   Sulphur Polypore..Orange. Jack-O-Lanterns....  Bright Orange.   Even the   Pale Chanterelles...  Orange!   I seem to find the yellows and reds, myself.   But between the two of us,  most of the spectrum is covered.

Hen of the Woods.  Maitaki.

And it is HUGE!

But the surprises were not done there..   Right next to the Chicken of the Woods was the Hen Of The Woods. Otherwise known as the "Maitaki" mushroom. (Grifola frondosa)  And it was HUGE! 

I had to carry it in my jacket.

And it  barely fit! 

Team Allenbrite with Our Prizes!

Another easy to distinguish mushroom.   I have heard, read and witnessed ( on YouTube...) that the Maitaki mushrooms often fruit near or under the same tree of the Chicken of the Woods. Having seen it in real life was very satisfying.

This puffball looks like a skull. 

Both of these mushrooms are new finds for us.   We have read about them for several years now and finally we have found both of them in the same day.  How great is that!  Both are edible and highly prized.  The Maitaki mushrooms are highly medicinal as well,  helping  your immunity, lower blood sugar, and possibly cure cancer! ( Ok,  I'm not sure about that last one.  But they blood sugar is a proven study.) I definately know I will be reducing my risk of shark attacks by eating this mushroom.

Possibly could have eaten the
top part.  (There is a sciency name,
but it don't remember it off hand.) 

Small Yellow Gilled mushrooms. 

We left them and continued on our run/bike.   A short three miles today after yesterday's 10 miler.   Besides,  much of the trail was flooded and there was no real desire to get wet and muddy beyond what we had to.   Besides,  I was itching to get back and harvest those mushrooms.

Possibly old Milkcap. 

Very distinct,  but I have not ID-ed
them yet. 

Cheryl agreed to climb the hill on the other side of the road and check out where I discovered that Puffball a few days ago.  Nothing really revealed itself immediately, but I was still super excited from the Chicken and Hen discovery, I was just happy to be out there.

Bright Yellow on Dead Wood. 

Underside of the Yellow Mushrooms. 

We managed to find a few other mushrooms that are not the regular summer versions.   I new Bolete.   Another Skull/pear Puffball.  ( More like a skull this time.)  An Angel Wing Oyster mushroom.

Small Russula ( brittle gill.) 

A smooth Chanterelle appears!

And a few other mushrooms that were very pretty and colorful.








And then we began to find the Chanterelles.

And then some more...

and more... and MORE!

I thought the Chanterelles would be over this late in the summer.  However,  they have just started to appear in our yard.  ( much later than normal.)  and as we inched off the trail and into the trees,  we just kept finding more and more.

The "cauliflower" texture
helps identify this one. 

Very pretty and fresh! 

Eventually, we filled all of the bags I had brought.   I could barely carry all of them without losing mushrooms out of the openings.  We now have so many mushrooms, they cover the kitchen table!

Bags and jackets filled with
mushrooms!

Smooth,  No ridges or gills. 

Luckily,  the Chanerelles and Maitaki can be dried.  In fact,  I believe the Chanterelles taste better dried.   We have so much of the Maitaki that I was rather fussy on what to keep.  There were( still are) lots of bugs and mites snacking on the mushroom.

Time to clean them up 

...and set utp the drying racks. 

  I rinsed off the big ones, but many smaller ( microscopic) ones still exist.   I don't mind eating a few bugs ( I know I have already before.. and still survived.)  but I think drying them will either kill or drive most of the rest of them away.

Chicken possitive ID. 

Angel wing Oyster Myshroom. 

As for now, I am trying to figure out how to dry all these mushrooms and planning on which ones I want to sample first.  ( probably the Chicken of the woods...  )  I have to ID the other mushrooms we have in the shop with Spore prints and a little research. 

Hmm,  Bolete...  velvet?

This Bolete is old.  Might not be
possible to possitively ID it. 

Easy to see why it is called
"Angel Wing."

Looks like the Bolete is going to be a challenge, but the Angelwing Oyster seems to be much easier.   I also have to sore through the pics to figure out what other mushrooms we have in those woods.

Overall,  my day is already mostly over!  And there is still so much to do.   Good thing I did not have much else planned for the day.  And so much for relaxing on my last day off!    Ah well,  the Project will be over next week and we will find that we have all of our days off soon enough.   Then again,  Between Chery's racing and the Christmas Stockings.... When will I find time to hunt and ID more mushrooms?  I guess I will have to squeeze it in where I can.   And perhaps I will drag Cheryl along for the Ride.

Thanks for stopping in.