wrote:
To a naive person, the fungus that grew in my garden that I
couldn't identify might have been taken for a horse or even
field mushroom. It was a suitable shape, with suitable gills,
whitish and the gills went pinkish brown as it matured. But
I think that it was a Hebeloma, all of which are poisonous
(though not lethal). I knew enough to be damn sure that it
wasn't an Agaricus, even if I couldn't tell what it was.

Blimey, they do look similar looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebeloma
I /have/ grown plain common mushrooms from a kit before (and I have one
still /trying/ to grow in the bathroom, but it's really really not having
it!!), but there isn't much risk going on there. :-}

Sacha wrote:
To be frank, I wonder, sometimes, why we bother to discuss this on here
so often. Over and over again we have people who come in asking for an
ID on fungi. I think them to be exceedingly unwise.

Oh give over. It's often me, and of those times it's almost always been
posted witha very clear "I am not planning on eating them, I'm just
curious what they are". And yet absolutely every time I have had you
and your "don't do it!!" and Christina and her multiple "I did it and I
was ill!" messages.

It's a shame really, that asking for suggestions to identity is suddenly
so frowned on, as I've found the /other/ posts in the thread quite
interesting.

wrote in message
...
Sacha wrote:

Oh give over. It's often me, and of those times it's almost always been
posted witha very clear "I am not planning on eating them, I'm just
curious what they are". And yet absolutely every time I have had you
and your "don't do it!!"

and Christina and her multiple "I did it and I
was ill!" messages.


I take objection to this. I have said it twice only because I thought you
were going to eat something that might hurt you.
F=cking well eat it then!! You have really ticked me off by saying this.
Like Sacha and I are the bad ones by advising caution.
Tina

In article , Sacha wrote:

To be frank, I wonder, sometimes, why we bother to discuss this on here
so often. Over and over again we have people who come in asking for an
ID on fungi. I think them to be exceedingly unwise. They don't know
any of us personally and they know nothing about the degree of
expertise assumed. They're warned over and over again that trying to
ID from photos or descriptions is dangerous and that risk is involved
to a greater or lesser degree. Argument then ensues as to what the risk
is, whether the colour of the gills is x, y or z or the stem is thick
or thin and so forth. Almost invariably the OP comes back with the
answer that they've seen a picture in a book, a friend has told them,
their neighbour has eaten something similar, their great aunt's
gardener used to pick them on dewy mornings etc. The simple answer is,
if in doubt, don't eat it. If you have to ask whether it's safe, you
have to accept the risk that it isn't and it isn't right or fair to
make someone here responsible for your own foolhardiness. I say this
because the general consensus of opinion from the more experienced on
urg seems to be that without actually *seeing* the mushroom, in the
flesh, it is impossible to be 100% positive of what it is.

For the ones rather like field mushrooms, yes. That is why several
of us have said that it is much safer to eat things like the boleti,
where a good verbal description (and even half a clue on behalf of
the reader) IS adequate. You don't need much experience to be able
to understand verbal descriptions, but you do need some.

Actually, asking here is one of the saner things to do, because
most of the advice has been pretty reliable (and similar), most
importantly "Just looking like a field mushroom is not, repeat
NOT, enough - and nor are pictures in books."


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , wrote:

To a naive person, the fungus that grew in my garden that I
couldn't identify might have been taken for a horse or even
field mushroom. It was a suitable shape, with suitable gills,
whitish and the gills went pinkish brown as it matured. But
I think that it was a Hebeloma, all of which are poisonous
(though not lethal). I knew enough to be damn sure that it
wasn't an Agaricus, even if I couldn't tell what it was.

Blimey, they do look similar looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebeloma
I /have/ grown plain common mushrooms from a kit before (and I have one
still /trying/ to grow in the bathroom, but it's really really not having
it!!), but there isn't much risk going on there. :-}

That is PRECISELY why those of us who know something say that it
is much safer to start with the edible and good fungi that do NOT
look like common mushrooms! I know what to look for to identify
field and horse mushrooms, and it's not the overall appearance.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

So what's the alternative? Refuse to answer questions, not give warnings about ease of confusion, leave people panicking because to the lay person every fungus is either honey fungus or deadly?

To answer noname - it still makes sense to give warnings about not eating, because urg isn't just for the people posting, it's also for the lurkers, so although the OP may have said clearly they're not planning to eat the fungus, a lurker may look at the pic and say "oh, that looks like what I've got, and someone says it's edible so I'll try it".

And it's an important message that it's the fungi which look most "familiar" - most like supermarket button mushrooms - which are most likely to be confused with deadly species.

And to diverge completely - I've been in mushroom heaven over the last few weeks - chanterelle, blewitt, horse mushroom, velvet shank, various different oyster types, as well as various chinese/japanese ones. Our supermarket has been upgraded :-)

It's a shame really that people wont eat a fungi on principle, for there are some that are superb to eat and not easily confused with poisonous ones.

Boleti, (avoid any with an orangy-red underside) although some are inedible such as the peppery bolitus. and the Hedgehog fungus, Hydnum repandum are easily identifiable and are delicious.

Have a look for courses on mushroom identification, our local college ran an 8 week evening class done by the local recorder of fungi which covered everything including using microscopes to identify using spore shapes, it finished with a full day field walk.

Granity wrote:
Have a look for courses on mushroom identification, our local college
ran an 8 week evening class done by the local recorder of fungi which
covered everything including using microscopes to identify using spore
shapes, it finished with a full day field walk.

That sounds really interesting, I'd love to do something like that.
If you ever see a similar course being run could you point me at the
info for it if it's online - chances are there would be contact details
to investigate other locations for similar.

On 06/16/2012 12:06 AM, Sacha wrote:
To be frank, I wonder, sometimes, why we bother to discuss this on here
so often.

We just like to talk about mushrooms...

In article ,
Granity wrote:

It's a shame really that people wont eat a fungi on principle, for there
are some that are superb to eat and not easily confused with poisonous
ones.

Boleti, (avoid any with an orangy-red underside) although some are
inedible such as the peppery bolitus. and the Hedgehog fungus, Hydnum
repandum are easily identifiable and are delicious.

I tried the latter once, and found it as bitter as gall. I don't
like bitter foods ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 06/16/2012 08:59 PM, wrote:
In article ,
Granity wrote:

It's a shame really that people wont eat a fungi on principle, for there
are some that are superb to eat and not easily confused with poisonous
ones.

Boleti, (avoid any with an orangy-red underside) although some are
inedible such as the peppery bolitus. and the Hedgehog fungus, Hydnum
repandum are easily identifiable and are delicious.

I tried the latter once, and found it as bitter as gall. I don't
like bitter foods ....

If they're older, the water from the first cooking should be thrown out.
Another 20 minutes or so in the pan, and they're not bitter. Not a
problem with younger examples.

Granity, your advice rules out one of the best of the boletes, Boletus
erythropus. Absolutely crunchy after cooking, it has the further
advantage of being one the worms don't like, so that it's usually clean
inside even if the slugs have been at the outside. It turns a lovely
yellow when cooked, and has a fabulous flavour. (Careful, it is toxic
uncooked though. Word has it that it can be confused with satanas,
although I find them very distinct.)

In article ,
Emery Davis wrote:

Boleti, (avoid any with an orangy-red underside) although some are
inedible such as the peppery bolitus. and the Hedgehog fungus, Hydnum
repandum are easily identifiable and are delicious.

I tried the latter once, and found it as bitter as gall. I don't
like bitter foods ....

If they're older, the water from the first cooking should be thrown out.
Another 20 minutes or so in the pan, and they're not bitter. Not a
problem with younger examples.

It was fairly young, and I did that. It wasn't as bad as cardoons
(repulsant snozzcombers), but wasn't nice.

But there are large numbers of others I find delicious.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 16 Jun 2012 15:34:52 GMT, wrote:

Have a look for courses on mushroom identification, our local
college
ran an 8 week evening class done by the local recorder of fungi
....

That sounds really interesting, I'd love to do something like that.
If you ever see a similar course being run could you point me at the
info for it if it's online - chances are there would be contact details
to investigate other locations for similar.

Don't you get an Adult Education leaflet through the door every year
from the local council? We do and it lists all the courses that the
various centres are running that year. Fungi identfication is
normally in there, alongside Flamenco Dancing and Drystone Walling.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Dave Liquorice wrote:
Don't you get an Adult Education leaflet through the door every year
from the local council? We do and it lists all the courses that the
various centres are running that year.

Nope. Used to at my mum's,. not something I've seen here. Tbh, I'd
be more likely to find something like that via work.

Fungi identfication is
normally in there, alongside Flamenco Dancing and Drystone Walling.

By slightly odd coincidence, I just (within 10 mins or so ago) finished
watching a vid of my friend doing a flamenco demonstration!

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On 16 Jun 2012 15:34:52 GMT, wrote:

Have a look for courses on mushroom identification, our local
college
ran an 8 week evening class done by the local recorder of fungi
...

That sounds really interesting, I'd love to do something like that.
If you ever see a similar course being run could you point me at the
info for it if it's online - chances are there would be contact details
to investigate other locations for similar.

Don't you get an Adult Education leaflet through the door every year
from the local council? We do and it lists all the courses that the
various centres are running that year. Fungi identfication is
normally in there, alongside Flamenco Dancing and Drystone Walling.

Which did you choose ...

--
--

http://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/