Mushroom Identification ?

Question

I am trying my hand at identifying wild mushrooms. I have an awesome book "Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians" by William C. Roody.

But, in truth, the book is so huge and it's a LOT to take in.

I have many photos of mushrooms at http://www.flickr.com/photos/xyleisha/

Could you please help me identify them?

One of them is red, and feels very much like a plant and not a mushroom, but it has what looks like gills.

Another, I'm sure, isn't even a mushroom but some sort of tubber. I braved a taste and it tastes VERY faintly like a mushroom (but it could be all in my head lol)

Another thing I photoed was near some mushrooms, on very old firewood, but it was green "slime". It had no odour (and NO- I didn't venture a taste lol).

Another was a mushroom the size of my palm... unfortunately, it was so old and rotten it smelled like a dead animal.

Thanks in advance.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xyleisha/2661985529/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xyleisha/2661985989/

Answer 1

I would not be asking us to identify mushrooms. Some mushrooms can easily be mis-identified and can kill you. The only person/people I would ask are those from my county extension office who are skilled in that type of thing. There are also some mushrooms that we eat that some people would think are deadly, but they are not.  I would be very, very careful with mushrooms, they are really tricky.

Answer 2

I had a couple years of Mycology and really enjoyed going on Saturday mushroom forays with experts. Those are some nice finds!

I notice that you are identifying them without mentioning the intent of eating them, except that you tasted one, not a good idea.

There is a rule of thumb that applies to taste testing wild foods EXCEPT FOR WHITE MUSHROOMS AND RED BERRIES, which can be deadly in very tiny amounts. . You consume an amount the size of a pin head. Wait 3-5 days. wait, Eraser size, wait, wait Teaspoon. Tablespoon, working up to fist size.

Dead smelly pic is a classic Bolete, having pores instead of gills. It's spoiled though. Don't eat Boletes  with red pores. Some Boletes can cause gastrointestinal distress, but not deadly.

There are some good rules for mushrooms in Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America which is opnline at

http://books.google.com/books?id=qog-7Ij...

Look at pp 376-408

All puffballs are considered edible. I once found one the size of a basketball and cooked it in 1" slices. This is not to say that all are appetizing. Cut them open to make sure you don't find structures, like gills inside.

Slime molds are so cool. I used to culture them on Agar and watch them creep across the plate over a few days on my desk, then culture them again.

Learn to use the dichotomous key. It's a series of A B questions that guides you to the identity of an organism. The first 50 times you'll be hitting the vocabulary a lot, but after that it gets easier. The bottom line is when in doubt, DON'T eat it.

Drop me a line when you have more pics.

Answer 3

I'm not a mycologist which is the only person you should be asking about identification.  A perfectly safe mushroom may closely resemble a deadly one.  So please, not eating or even "tasting" them.  I suggest taking several mycology courses and then only collect edibles with someone who really knows what they are doing.  

The best mycologist I knew still wouldn't eat wild mushrooms.  As he said, "Even I can make a mistake."

Answer 4

no one here can help with that kind of ID.... not even with pictures.... hands-on is still iffy..... you'll need a botanist from the university, most likely....