While chatting on the phone to my Dad over the autumn months, he mentioned several times how amazing the fungi around where they live have been this year, so it was exciting to look at his photos when we visited over Christmas.
There were some really fascinating species, including some that I have never seen before, so I thought I would share a selection of his pictures along with a few tidbits of information that I gleaned along the way.
I must warn you that I am far from an expert in mushroom id and I may well have wrongly identified some of these, so if anyone out there knows better please let me know. And of course don’t pick or eat anything without being 100% sure of the species.
First up we have this little beauty, Russula emetica, better known as The Sickener, it won’t take much imagination to work out why!
Also lots of common puffballs which can grow singly or in large groups and are edible when young.
These amazing fellows are Laccaria spp., I think Laccaria laccata which is the most ubiquitous, though as their common name is The Deciever and cap colours are variable, I could have got it wrong!
They start off flatish, then curl up into themselves looking like some kind of exotic sea creature and most species are edible.
There were plenty of Fly agaric, Amanita muscaria, a mushroom which never fails to bring me joy. It’s no wonder they have worked their way so firmly into folklore and the popular imagination, looking as magical as they do.
These unusual looking visitors are actually the fairly common Yellow Club but the white version below, sometimes called Fairy Fingers, is quite rare.
Here are some Common Inkcaps which, though edible, cause nausea, palpitations and other unpleasant effects when taken with alcohol. According to Roger Phillips they were once used to cure alcoholics in an ingenious form of aversion therapy!
I was very excited to see this Earthstar, Geastrum triplex, which I had read about in Christopher Hobbs’ book on Medicinal Mushrooms. Apparently it has been used in Chinese Medicine as a tonic for the lungs and throat. According to my guide books it is not considered edible but Hobbs says it is decocted into tea and drunk to reduce inflammation in the respiratory tract.
Here’s some beautiful Parasols, before and after opening.
I thought this one was a Shaggy Parasol but my Dad thought it was another common one , what do you think?
I think this is a Butter Waxcap because of the faint striations at the margin of the cap.
I’m not too sure about any of these though… ideas are most welcome!
Lots of honey fungus grows on the roots of an old cherry tree.
And last but not least and somewhat more easily identifiable, here is the man himself, in full Yule regalia. Doesn’t he look grand?
Learning more about local mushrooms and which ones can be used medicinally is high on my agenda for 2012 so hopefully by the end of the year I’ll have some more interesting information to share with you.
Super photos! Very interesting read – my husband is into mushrooms so I may test him later. x
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Hi Jodi,
That would be great, let me know if he can identify any of my mystery mushrooms! 🙂
xx
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Aren’t they fabulous Lucinda, I love fungi, they always fascinate me. Sadly I am not very good at identifying them, so tend to leave well alone.
Lovely post, so enjoyed it.
Looks like you have a lovely Dad too 🙂
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Yes Cheryl, me too. Some of them are so tricky to identify with 100% surety aren’t they and there are so many stories about people who have been doing it for years getting it wrong! I must admit I’m a bit paranoid about picking them for eating. Hopefully someday I’ll have enough experience to be confident though.
Yes he is a lovely Dad, a gardener and nature lover so I have learnt a lot from him!
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Beautiful pics! In Western Washington State we call the Shaggy Parasol a Shaggy Mane. And one or two of the lower pics look like what we call Honey Mushrooms.
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Hi Sabrina, Thank you for this. Me and my Dad thought honey mushrooms too but they don’t have the telltale ring around the stalk underneath which left us stumped. I’m not sure if you can get different types without the ring though. Hmm…..
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Love the photos! Learning more about mushrooms has long been on my list but sadly way too many things keep popping up ahead of it.
Still they are incredibly fascinating!
Michael
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Yes it’s been that way with me too I’m afraid. This year is definitely the year of the mushroom though! One of my herbal teachers said to me, ‘if you ever get bored as a herbalist your doing something wrong.’ So true I thought, there will always be more for us to learn and explore. 🙂
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What beautiful photos, Lucinda, and what an abunndance of gorgeous mushrooms. Your dad is very lucky to have them growing near him. Where does he live?
xxx
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I know aren’t they wonderful!
He lives in Berkshire, near Reading. I certainly haven’t seen quite such a large variety near here.
xxxx
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Don’t know much about Mushrooms but when we were kids there was a field near our home which always had lots of Puffballs. We used to kick them to see the spores come out in a big cloud. There were always horses in that field so we called the Mushrooms “horses farts”!
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Horses farts, that’s so funny. They are fun to ‘poof’ aren’t they, though I try to restrain myself these days. I love the giant ones too, like huge alien marshmallows in the middle of the field!
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Mushrooms have a sort of alien beauty which is all their own, don’t they? I have always loved the amanitas too, with their fairy tale looks. There was a little patch that would come up each year outside of an apartment building I lived in, and watching their progress was always a thing of amazement. I also love the mushrooms that come up in fairy rings – such a strange phenomenon.
Have you ever heard of Paul Stamets? I don’t think I fully comprehended just how amazing mushrooms were till I read Mycellium Running. He did a speech at TED that sort of summarizes his points in the book which I bet you’d love if you haven’t seen it already (http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world.html).
So fun to see all these lovely photos, and did I mention that you must have the most adorable Dad in the world? He is certainly his daughter’s father 🙂
Lovely post as always.
XOXO
D
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Hey Danielle,
I have just watched the talk which was fascinating! I must admit I didn’t understand a few of the things he said so I will have to get the book too. It’s been on my Amazon wishlist for a while now but I haven’t bought it yet so it’s great to have a recommendation from someone whose opinion I trust.
Fairy rings are so exciting aren’t they, I haven’t seen one for years though.
I’ll pass your compliment on to my Dad! I also think he looks very lovely in his Christmas crown- we have a tradition now where we all wear these ivy wreaths instead of paper hats. 🙂
Thanks again for the link, the more I know about fungi, the more fascinated I become.
xxxx
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I really like your blog so I have awarded you a Versatile Blogger Award. Check out my blog for details of the award.
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Wow, the photography is absolutely amazing! I know very little about mushrooms – only crimini and your basic white ones sold in grocery stores. I was enthralled with your story behind them. Lucinda, this article could be submitted to some magazine! (smile) Thanks for sharing this with us.
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Thank you so much Irma! Your words are very kind. x
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Your dad looks so wonderful in his nature crown! I think fungi are fascinating also, and have been trying to learn more about them also! Fabulous photos, Lucinda! xxx
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