Identifying Mushrooms
 

Howdy folks, can someone identify these front yard mushrooms and give me some pointers on how to tell if they are edible or not? Location is So Calif.

Thanks in advance.

http://imageshack.us/f/203/mushrm01.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/f/145/mushrm02.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/f/547/mushrm03.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/f/401/mushrm04.jpg/

Guv Bob

Identifying Mushrooms
 

PS - They are in various stages of development but are all the same type. Small ones are 2-3 inches and 2-inches high. Large ones are 4-inch across and 3-4 inches high.

"Guv Bob" wrote in message m...
Howdy folks, can someone identify these front yard mushrooms and give me some pointers on how to tell if they are edible or not? Location is So Calif.

Thanks in advance.

http://imageshack.us/f/203/mushrm01.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/f/145/mushrm02.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/f/547/mushrm03.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/f/401/mushrm04.jpg/

Guv Bob

Identifying Mushrooms
 

Per Guv Bob:
..front yard mushrooms ... how to tell if they are edible or not?

Google "mushroom poisoning california".

Personally, I wouldn't take the chance.

OTOH, I quit flying airplanes bc I didn't rust my competence and
the penalties for human error were too severe...
--
Pete Cresswell

Identifying Mushrooms
 

On 12/30/2012 9:13 AM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Guv Bob:
..front yard mushrooms ... how to tell if they are edible or not?

Google "mushroom poisoning california".

Personally, I wouldn't take the chance.


I agree. They look like the edible kind but experts say mistake leads
to most mushroom poisoning.

Lot of mushroom houses where I live and mushrooms are cheap.

Identifying Mushrooms
 

"Frank" wrote in message ...
On 12/30/2012 9:13 AM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Guv Bob:
..front yard mushrooms ... how to tell if they are edible or not?

Google "mushroom poisoning california".

Personally, I wouldn't take the chance.


I agree. They look like the edible kind but experts say mistake leads
to most mushroom poisoning.

Lot of mushroom houses where I live and mushrooms are cheap.

Yes, that nursing home story is very sad. This is the story I remember a few years ago. If it's risky for this fellow it's too risky for a novice.
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar...al/me-poison12.

Identifying Mushrooms
 

On Dec 31 2012, 9:42*am, Frank wrote:
On 12/30/2012 9:13 AM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:

Per Guv Bob:
..front yard mushrooms ... how to tell if they are edible or not?

Google "mushroom poisoning california".

Personally, I wouldn't take the chance.

I agree. *They look like the edible kind but experts say mistake leads
to most mushroom poisoning.

Lot of mushroom houses where I live and mushrooms are cheap.

There are groups of knowledgable people in many areas that go out and
pick
wild mushrooms. That way you learn from people who know what they are
doing. There are also excellent books available that cover the
subjest. But
I would not rely on internet or DIY approach as one mistake and you
could be
dead or seriously ill. I pick wild mushrooms. I learned from my
grandparents.
I only know two varieties and those are what I pick. Anyone that is
interested
in pursuing this, I'd find a local group to learn.

Identifying Mushrooms
 

On 1/1/2013 9:34 AM, wrote:
On Dec 31 2012, 9:42 am, Frank wrote:
On 12/30/2012 9:13 AM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:

Per Guv Bob:
..front yard mushrooms ... how to tell if they are edible or not?

Google "mushroom poisoning california".

Personally, I wouldn't take the chance.

I agree. They look like the edible kind but experts say mistake leads
to most mushroom poisoning.

Lot of mushroom houses where I live and mushrooms are cheap.

There are groups of knowledgable people in many areas that go out and
pick
wild mushrooms. That way you learn from people who know what they are
doing. There are also excellent books available that cover the
subjest. But
I would not rely on internet or DIY approach as one mistake and you
could be
dead or seriously ill. I pick wild mushrooms. I learned from my
grandparents.
I only know two varieties and those are what I pick. Anyone that is
interested
in pursuing this, I'd find a local group to learn.


I've seen a lot of you tubes on the morel which is said to be foolproof
and looked for them last year without finding any.

I heard one of those knowledgeable mushroom hunters on TV discussing his
hobby and he pointed to one mushroom that was safe to eat as long as you
did not eat it too often as it could destroy one of your organs, forget
which one. I'll leave this hobby to those guys ;)

Identifying Mushrooms
 

"Frank" wrote in message ...
On 1/1/2013 9:34 AM, wrote:
On Dec 31 2012, 9:42 am, Frank wrote:
On 12/30/2012 9:13 AM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:

Per Guv Bob:
..front yard mushrooms ... how to tell if they are edible or not?

Google "mushroom poisoning california".

Personally, I wouldn't take the chance.

I agree. They look like the edible kind but experts say mistake leads
to most mushroom poisoning.

Lot of mushroom houses where I live and mushrooms are cheap.

There are groups of knowledgable people in many areas that go out and
pick
wild mushrooms. That way you learn from people who know what they are
doing. There are also excellent books available that cover the
subjest. But
I would not rely on internet or DIY approach as one mistake and you
could be
dead or seriously ill. I pick wild mushrooms. I learned from my
grandparents.
I only know two varieties and those are what I pick. Anyone that is
interested
in pursuing this, I'd find a local group to learn.


I've seen a lot of you tubes on the morel which is said to be foolproof
and looked for them last year without finding any.

I heard one of those knowledgeable mushroom hunters on TV discussing his
hobby and he pointed to one mushroom that was safe to eat as long as you
did not eat it too often as it could destroy one of your organs, forget
which one. I'll leave this hobby to those guys ;)

Good idea. A feller's got to protect his organ.

Identifying Mushrooms
 

On 1/2/2013 11:27 AM, Guv Bob wrote:
"Frank" wrote in message ...
On 1/1/2013 9:34 AM, wrote:
On Dec 31 2012, 9:42 am, Frank wrote:
On 12/30/2012 9:13 AM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:

Per Guv Bob:
..front yard mushrooms ... how to tell if they are edible or not?

Google "mushroom poisoning california".

Personally, I wouldn't take the chance.

I agree. They look like the edible kind but experts say mistake leads
to most mushroom poisoning.

Lot of mushroom houses where I live and mushrooms are cheap.

There are groups of knowledgable people in many areas that go out and
pick
wild mushrooms. That way you learn from people who know what they are
doing. There are also excellent books available that cover the
subjest. But
I would not rely on internet or DIY approach as one mistake and you
could be
dead or seriously ill. I pick wild mushrooms. I learned from my
grandparents.
I only know two varieties and those are what I pick. Anyone that is
interested
in pursuing this, I'd find a local group to learn.


I've seen a lot of you tubes on the morel which is said to be foolproof
and looked for them last year without finding any.

I heard one of those knowledgeable mushroom hunters on TV discussing his
hobby and he pointed to one mushroom that was safe to eat as long as you
did not eat it too often as it could destroy one of your organs, forget
which one. I'll leave this hobby to those guys ;)

Good idea. A feller's got to protect his organ.


Probably the kidney.

Identifying Mushrooms
 

"Frank" wrote in message
...
On 1/2/2013 11:27 AM, Guv Bob wrote:
"Frank" wrote in message
...
On 1/1/2013 9:34 AM, wrote:
On Dec 31 2012, 9:42 am, Frank wrote:
On 12/30/2012 9:13 AM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:

Per Guv Bob:
..front yard mushrooms ... how to tell if they are edible or not?

Google "mushroom poisoning california".

Personally, I wouldn't take the chance.

I agree. They look like the edible kind but experts say mistake leads
to most mushroom poisoning.

Lot of mushroom houses where I live and mushrooms are cheap.

There are groups of knowledgable people in many areas that go out and
pick
wild mushrooms. That way you learn from people who know what they are
doing. There are also excellent books available that cover the
subjest. But
I would not rely on internet or DIY approach as one mistake and you
could be
dead or seriously ill. I pick wild mushrooms. I learned from my
grandparents.
I only know two varieties and those are what I pick. Anyone that is
interested
in pursuing this, I'd find a local group to learn.


I've seen a lot of you tubes on the morel which is said to be foolproof
and looked for them last year without finding any.

I heard one of those knowledgeable mushroom hunters on TV discussing his
hobby and he pointed to one mushroom that was safe to eat as long as you
did not eat it too often as it could destroy one of your organs, forget
which one. I'll leave this hobby to those guys ;)

Good idea. A feller's got to protect his organ.


Probably the kidney.

more likely the liver.

Identifying Mushrooms
 

On 1/2/2013 1:24 PM, Pico Rico wrote:
"Frank" wrote in message
...
On 1/2/2013 11:27 AM, Guv Bob wrote:
"Frank" wrote in message
...
On 1/1/2013 9:34 AM, wrote:
On Dec 31 2012, 9:42 am, Frank wrote:
On 12/30/2012 9:13 AM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:

Per Guv Bob:
..front yard mushrooms ... how to tell if they are edible or not?

Google "mushroom poisoning california".

Personally, I wouldn't take the chance.

I agree. They look like the edible kind but experts say mistake leads
to most mushroom poisoning.

Lot of mushroom houses where I live and mushrooms are cheap.

There are groups of knowledgable people in many areas that go out and
pick
wild mushrooms. That way you learn from people who know what they are
doing. There are also excellent books available that cover the
subjest. But
I would not rely on internet or DIY approach as one mistake and you
could be
dead or seriously ill. I pick wild mushrooms. I learned from my
grandparents.
I only know two varieties and those are what I pick. Anyone that is
interested
in pursuing this, I'd find a local group to learn.


I've seen a lot of you tubes on the morel which is said to be foolproof
and looked for them last year without finding any.

I heard one of those knowledgeable mushroom hunters on TV discussing his
hobby and he pointed to one mushroom that was safe to eat as long as you
did not eat it too often as it could destroy one of your organs, forget
which one. I'll leave this hobby to those guys ;)

Good idea. A feller's got to protect his organ.


Probably the kidney.

more likely the liver.



Lot of stuff out there. Guess it depends on the toxin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushroom_poisoning

I think the one I heard was kidney. Guy said it was safe to eat but not
too often. That would scare me away.

These are very practical links....

Imageshack - mushrm01.jpg
Imageshack - mushrm02.jpg
Imageshack - mushrm03.jpg
Imageshack - mushrm04.jpg

i followed these links....the websites contain interactive images of mushrooms.

Identifying Mushrooms
 

devinnrock wrote:
i followed these links....the websites contain interactive images of
mushrooms.

Are you psychic?

They look rather old, dried up and shrivelled, which makes identification difficult. For example, gill colour is an important feature for identification, and in the pictures the gills are presenting brown. But I suspect the brown colour may be just because the mushrooms are rather old and shrivelled, rather than being their true colour.

Mushrooms with brown gills and a ring are usually Agaricus, ie, the group containing the cultivated mushroom. Most Agaricus are edible - if you are going to eat wild-collected Agaricus you need to learn about the few that aren't. You also need to be absolutely sure it isn't one of the deadly poisonous mushrooms that can be mistaken for Agaricus. One doesn't eat this kind of mushroom without being absolutely sure what they are. A key feature of identifying Agaricus is that that the ring is loose, it isn't attached to the stem. And that doesn't appear to be the case here. So I'm suspecting that this is not actually Agaricus.

Other features of the mushroom, apart from gill colour, suggest Lepiota/Macrolepiota (only recently divided into two), which includes (in Macrolepiota) the delicious and easily identified parasol mushrooms. Lepiota also includes poisonous mushrooms, so is not a group to wander outside the easily identified parasols. Well I eat parasols because they are obvious to me; others who are less sure should beware. (Macro)Lepiota should have white gills, so that feature looks wrong, but I'm wondering whether they might age brown. Old (Macro)lepiota are often riddled with grubs, so that's a reason not to eat the old ones.

The other group that Agaricus is too frequently mistaken for is Amanita, a group containing some especially deadly funguses, as well as a few of good edible ones. Amanita usually (but not all) has white gills, but gain I'm wondering how they age. One has to be very sure about this as mistakes can be fatal. My relatives eat Amanita rubescens in very large quantities, because they are used to it that they can reliably distinguish it from deadly poisonous Amanita pantherina. I'm less sure, so I won't eat it when they aren't there to check for me.

In sum, it is probably a waste of time trying to identify these as they are already long past prime eating condition. And this mushroom is bang in the middle of an area of identification where mistakes can be fatal, which would be another reason for me not to eat it at all unless you were completely sure exactly what it is. I would say you shouldn't even consider eating this unless you are already completely sure what it is, because you eat it frequently.