Of Dogs And Mushrooms!

Lady Bird in her Bed.

 Kind of a dud day today.  Given that the weekend with Cheryl was so extraordinary, it was bound to be lacking in comparison.  But here I am... Alone in the house with Christina's Pooch,  Ladybird.  

Ladybird is a good dog, by the way.  She is quiet and well behaved.   Unlike cats... who can be anything at any given time.  It has been a while since I have spent quality time with a dog, and I kind of miss it.   I also don't know what to do with her.   She doesn't seem to want to play or anything.  Mostly she just cuddles....  Which isn't so bad. 

Chocolate Gills! On wood chips?

Other than that,  I am relaxing and catching up on things.   I wanted to post the pictures from last week that I didn't have time to blog about.  Namely...  Gilled Mushroom!

Last Friday, I discovered several mushrooms popping up around Parkside, but I was not going to harvest them because we already have a bunch of Chicken of the Woods in the fridge already.  More mushrooms would just clog up the fridge.  And I did not really have time to look any of them up properly anyway. 

A Perfect Destroying Angel!

But then I discovered the Destroying Angel!   An Amanita Mushroom!  Yes... As the name suggests, THIS is the mushroom people talk about when they are trying to scare you.  

Pretty Colored Gills!

At the same time, I found several other gilled mushrooms and wanted to show a few comparisons.   Because, being informed is always a good thing, right?  

Note the Volva!

First:  The Destroying Angel is an Amanita and I believe all Amanitas come from a small egg sac called a Volva. There is only one other mushroom that comes from such a sac and that would be the Stink horn species.   ( Some of those are edible, but look nothing like an Amanita fully grown.) The standard rule is NEVER EAT AN AMANITA MUSHROOM!

But then there are these other mushrooms with gills.   Are they bad?   Well,  probably not deadly.  Some may make you sick.   Some are actually choice edibles!   So learn the key identifying features...

Chocolate gills.   Some of these are edible.  Meadow mushrooms are a choice edible, with gills starting off pink and turning to chocolate brown.   There is no Volva, but some do have  a veil around the stem.   Chocolate gills are a good starting point. but it is always a good idea to get a spore print and check for yellow bruising.  

Pink gills.   The Fawn mushroom falls under pink gills, with a pink spore print.   Fawn mushrooms grow on wood though.   They also have gills that DO NOT touch the stem.  (Like a little race track around the stem base.) Another choice edible.  Sometimes fawn mushrooms grow on the ground around a dead stump or dead roots, so it looks like they are growing from the ground.   Always get a spore print though.  

White gills.    You might think this is an easy one to avoid, but many Russulas have white gills and are choice edibles.  but they can be confused with Amanitas at a young age.  One thing that is easy to distinguish is that volva.  Russulas do not have the Volva... Nor a veil.  ( Usually,  from the ones I have learned about.)  

The Amanita is very easy to ID to the basic "DO NOT EAT" category.   A long stem, a veil around the stem, a broad umbrella-like cap,  close white gills that go to the stem, and most importantly... they come from a Volva egg-like sac from the ground!   Never eat an Amanita!

I have eaten the pink gilled (fawn mushrooms)  and the chocolate gilled (meadow mushrooms) before.   And I have lived to tell the tale.   I luckily have not ever gotten sick ( because there are a few that could give you a tummy ache.) so...  Do some research,  and when you feel confident,  try a little.  (You should NEVER eat an Amanita in any amount..  They destroy your kidneys and liver...just throwing that out there.) Once you see enough mushrooms, you will gain the knowledge and be able to tell them apart.   But ultimately it is YOU who has to take that first bite.   And you had better know your mushrooms by then.  ( Sounds fun and exciting, doesn't it?)

That sounds a little scary, but it was not meant to be.  Aminitas are OBVIOUS in my book.  Every "look-a-like" to me has looked Nothing like an honest to goodness fully blown Amanita. I have seen several versions of Amanita, even the Blusher ( which they "say" is edible, but recommend against...) Look for a veil, long stem, broad cap, white gills and volva.  They like to grow with other mushrooms that are edible, like Boletes and Russulas.  So it is good practice to pick each one and figure out the differences.

Did I mention that I think Amanitas are actually quite beautiful.   It figures that something so pretty would also be deadly.  It is also funny that slugs and bugs do tend to eat them.  They must be very good at defusing the toxins... but Humans are not.   

Ok,  another long boring post about mushrooms.   I must be bored today.  But... what else am I going to do?   I could pet the dog I guess.   And I probably will later on.   She is currently sleeping on the couch next to me.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful relaxing day  today.    It is a beautiful day in Wisconsin.  A great day to be outside before Summer is over.  Thanks for stopping in.