-L. wrote:

Thanks for the info. My undergrad degree is in environmental biology
so I am used to field identification of different species. I'm just a
tad afraid to eat anything without an expert around to confirm my IDs,
LOL...

-L.

Around here the local arboretum offers classes in edible wild plants,
including mushrooms. Surely there is something like that in CA.
When I have a new mushroom popping up in my property I pocket it and go
to B&N where, sipping coffee, I identify it from at least two field
guides. In the process I have figured which two field guides I want to
buy (they are all good, but some fit your thought process better). I
eat only the mushrooms that I planted on my property, either in compost
piles, wood chip piles, or buried logs. I also eat the coprinus comatus
that comes out in numbers in my lawn in the Fall. No mistaking that one
either, even though this year I had a nice bloom of angel destroyer (a
deadly one) right next to the coprinus.