The Smooth Chanterelle Finally Makes An Appearance!

Orange Gems hidden on the ground. 

Also Means: Great
Mushroom Hunting Day! 

It is July!  And we have finally harvested our first round of Smooth Chanterelles.  (Cantharellus lateritius)  These are the guys we Bonanza-ed out last year.  (Bonanza...  Meaning: a huge harvest.. or the Old Western TV show with Loren Greene...  Spell Check does not like me making up words for my blog.)

Another treasure in the leaves.

The few Smooth Chanterelles we found were FRESH!   And they  were either just coming up or of moderate size...  So their true peak has yet to be reached.  We also managed to find a few of the Normal "Golden" Chanterelles. ( just Cantharellus.  I guess)

Smooth Chanterelles VS
Golden Chanterelles.  

Deer are eyeing us with suspicion. 

 I found that our version of the Smooth Chanterelle seems to be a lot more on the "Orange" side of yellow than the pictures online.   Tho, Wiki and Mushroom Expert confirm that they range from yellow to shades of orange. Definately NOT as orange as a Lobster or  Jack-O-Lantern, though.    Plus,  this is the spot where we found them last year.  It is easy to ID a mushroom you have already Found, ID'ed, and EATEN  in the past,

More "Orangy" than the Golden
Chanterelles. 

Easy to spot...  Mostly. 

Looks like the Golden Chanerelles might be on their way out. ( purely subjective observation.)   They are smaller, fragile, and do not seem to last very long anymore.   We have been gathering them up for over a month now, so it is possible they may be reaching the end of their season.  Or preparing for a break.  However,  they have been popping up in our yard, finally,   so that Theory might be totally wrong.

Smooth underside.  No gills,
Hardly any ridges.  

A Rather crinkly top side. 

But the Smooth Chanterelles are just beginning!  I have it documented that they were sprouting up in Late August AND late September last year.  We harvested so many of them, they are one of the reasons we splurged for the Dehydrator!  So, basically,  I'm very excited that we are on the starting edge of the season for these guys.

Two King Boletes..Both Old and
Bad. 

Bolete Eater Fungus. 

A few other finds today.   We missed the King Boletes in their area.   Finding the King Boletes in Corallville is always a lottery ticket!   With about the same odds of being successful.  Often times, we discover a HUGE Penny Bun Bolete only to find that it is too old to salvage.  Today was no exception.   I should also mention that we found two King Boletes on the Kewash Trail last night.. but they were past their prime as well.   King Boletes are so hard to nail down with the Bolete Destroyer Fungus,  Deer, squirrels, bugs, and just missing them.  They just do not last very long after they pop up.   So it makes it that much sweeter to find ones that are harvest able.

Check out how quickly the Bay
 turns blue!

What was yellow is now Indigo! 

We did find  a BAY BOLETE, though.  (Imleria badia)   And one Field Bolete. (Boletus campestris)  I would be happy to find the Bay Bolete any day of the week simply to watch it turn blue we slice it up for the dehydrator.

Field Bolete Turning Blue. 

Side by Side, Field vs Bay Bolete
Bluing contest... Bay WINS!

It is such a fast reaction compared to the Field Bolete.   Cheryl says the Field boletes sometimes take a really long time to turn "slightly" blue...   I was always impressed that they would turn blue in my hand after carrying them around.  But the Bay Bolete has that beat by a mile.

Looks like the bugs had their
share on the underside.  Black Pores!

Shaggy black top and stem. 

Another major find ( for me, anyway.) was the "Old Man Of The Woods."   The only Black Bolete.  Ok,  The nerds at Mushroom expert and Wiki have two possible candidates:  Strobilomyces strobilaceus OR  Strobilomyces confusus.   You can't tell the difference without a microscope looking at the spores.   I really don't care.  It is Edible.  It is OBVIOUSLY a Bolete.  And I brought it home.   This is the first time I have actually found one in the field.  And it looks a little too old to sample/eat.

I Don't have a Microscope.  But close
enough for me. 

So I will gather a spore print,  take a bunch of pictures, and mark it down on the blog for Future Ethan and Cheryl to look up.   Also,  it smells of Earth or smelly leather.   I would think that would make it in the description, but the often label smells as "non-distinct."  Possibly because they do not want to waste the time trying to figure out the smell that matches.

Easy to Identify... they say. 

Would have loved watching it
turn red when bruised or sliced. 

I wish we would have found a fresher version... because this mushroom stains red. As I gather the Spore Print on this one.  The staining process is slow.  In fact,  mine is not staining much at all.  The red eventually turns black... and maybe I missed it already.  Still, it would have been cool to capture a photo of the process.

Does it look similar to these? 

A possible Meadow Mushroom? 

My other mushrooms are waiting for a spore print to allow me to Key them out.   I think the one with the Chocolate Gills is a Meadow Mushroom.   They are not easily ID-ed, so it will be a fun process.   The dark gills should mean it is non lethal,  but there is still a chance it may make you sick.  SO...  I doubt I will be eating this one any time soon until I gain more Experience with it.  ( Porta Bella Mushrooms are members of this family... I think) When or If I ever figure out how to properly ID it,  I will be adding it to the Deer Mushroom and other "hard to ID" mushrooms list of Edibles.  ( It will be like a graduation from little league to the Minors!)  Safety Note: Amanitas do not have chocolate brown gills. 

Successful Day Mushroom Hunting.

Today's Haul of Chanterelles.

Well,  that is all for this episode of "Cheryl and Ethan's Great Mushroom Adventures"    We were successful in finding new mushrooms!  And finding enough to fill up the dehydrator.   Sure, it was not a huge amount, but any amount that uses all of our dehydrator trays is a good day in my book.

Cheryl does not like Poison Ivy. 

Or Logs!

 Thanks for reading this far... and hopefully  you had a little fun finding something new about the hidden world of Mushrooms, Fungus, Wood Nettle, Bugs, and Poison Ivy.  ( We hate Poison Ivy!)   Also,  Cheryl does not  like climbing over logs.