Mushrooming Log
2006
1/3 Sent in dues to Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club. They provided help in identifying my mushroom puzzles last year. They are well worth the $15 per year just for the help in identification of mushrooms by e-mail.
1/6 Ordered 4 more books from Amazon.
Celebrating the Wild Mushroom: A Passionate Quest by Sara Ann Friedman. After borrowing a copy from Milford library I found that it is a book worth owning. It is the most open minded book available on the topic of wild mushrooms. It is too bad that she did not stay interested in wild mushrooms. From the Internet I get the impression that her interest shifted to feminism and writing children's books. No one else came forward to fill the vacuum. I would buy more books that were on her theme. I think that most beginners would also.
One Thousand American Fungi by Charles McIlvaine. Read about Charles McIlvaine and his book in volume above. She presented him as a person that contributed greatly to making Americans less mycophobic. I want to learn more about him.
Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help
Save the World by Paul Stamets
This a new book that came out in October 2005. I did not want to wait to
see if some library would purchase it. Books for the common folks are so
rare.
Morels by Michael Kuo
Also a new book that came out about the same time last year. This might
teach me how to more easily find Morel come May :o)
1/12 Read about Chaga. It was a nice Spring like day so I went into the back yard to see what I could find. The story in pictures.
1/13 Another nice day. I went to Douglas State Forest and Prescott Park. Picture report here.
1/19 Went to Grafton to look for Chaga. Found an old birch growing in someone's yard. About 15' above ground there was something. Temperature in high 30's.
1/20 Got up to 55 sunny degrees today. Went exploring Westboro Wildlife Management parcel. Said hello to a couple of hundred birch. Saw a couple of Chaga suspects but nothing definite. Kept one eye out for Oysters.
1/21 Got up to 55 sunny degrees again.
Explored the Grafton site. Found a grove of Yellow Birch. Majority of the trees, in this grove, were
infected with
Inonotus obliquus and badly damaged. After seeing many examples of
Clinker Polypore I conclude that what I saw on White birch is also damage caused
by Inonotus obliquus even though the clinker was very small or not present.
I found these Clinkers on Yellow Birch to be crumbly and easily removed.
Given time, rain, sleet and wind would dislodge the clinker and it would fall to
the ground. So missing bark and black discoloration might be a sign that the
birch is infected with Inonotus obliquus, in my opinion. I took some of
the clinkers to try as tinder.
Now to build a "firepiston" :o)
I also found Tinder Polypore growing on Yellow Birch. I picked up a Birch Polypore so that I would have 3 different tinder to try. I was surprised to again find Orange Mock Oyster growing on a fallen log. Also a fresh looking Cheese Polypore.
1/23 Today about a foot of snow came down. This will keep me out of the woods for while.
1/28 Got up to about 50 degrees today. Went to the Grafton grove of yellow birch and checked them better. I also picked some Turkey Tails to try making tea. I am going to let them dry for a few days. To see the results of the latest page of the Chaga Quest, go to this page.
2/2 Got up to 45 today. Went back to Grafton and checked the infected birch again. Got 3 more chunks of Chaga and some Turkey Tails. In one article. There are so many infected birch at this location, many already dead, that it would be a good place to look for the fertile fruiting body.
The field guides appear to be equally confused about Inonotus obliquus. They describe this "sterile conch" as the fruiting body. If it is "sterile" it can not be a fruiting body. There is no good picture of the actual fruiting body. None of the guides give the season of fruiting. This will be a good project for this season. Keep track of this grove and see if I can get a good picture of the fruiting body and record when it appears.
At least Paul Stamets does not call Chaga a fruiting body. He refers to it as a "sclerotium" of I. obliquus. He is ahead of the mushroom guides. I also read that the function of this sterile conch is not known so it should not be called a sclerotium until they know that it functions as such. I believe that it would be helpful if the guides described the real fruiting body and give the time of fruiting, and call the sterile conch a Chaga.
2/4 Went to Pisgah woods in Northboro too see what Black Birch looks like. Found white, yellow and black birch. Many of the white/gray birch were more then a foot in diameter. Many were dead or dieing but no sign of Chaga. There were many black birch that were scared similar to the way the yellow birch were in Grafton, but no sign of Chaga. Found one Beech Tree with over one foot size gall, high off the ground, and other interesting fungi.
2/5 After several days of warm weather I went to check Sawink Farm in Westboro. Beautiful sunny day with puffy white clouds. I was looking for Oysters and Chaga. Found neither. Got a glimpse of a small herd of Whitetail Deer crossing the trail and a Northern Harrier cruising above the tree tops. There is an extensive wet area at this site and I checked for birch. Found few.
Then I went to the A1 site in Westboro and looked at white, gray and yellow birch. No sign of Chaga.
2/21 The Chaga Saga came to a successful end today. Went to check the Black Birch grove in Northboro a little bit more closely. A 2.5' diameter Black Birch growing next to the trail, that I passed by last time was hiding a large Chaga on the other side. I got about 10# of Chaga. That was all that would fit into my small backpack. Take a look at the pictures.
3/3 Changed Web Hosting providers.
3/5 Explored Mt. Pisgah are, hoping to find another Chaga. No luck. I did get some more Cloud Mushrooms, for tea. I found two polypore growing on an oak that where completely dried out. One was about 6" wide the other about 4. They were too high up to knock down with my walking stick so I used a small fallen tree. They were as light as Styrofoam. I think they are dried Inonotus hispidus. I put their pictures below the live one I found on the Cape last year. What you think, Ellen?
3/6 Today I explored the low spots at the Grafton site. Found a lot of large Yellow, White and Black Birch. Some of the Yellow Birch had the lesions or pits or whatever you call them. Those I gave a closer inspection. Got some more Cloud Mushrooms.
3/30 March turned out to be cold and dry. Only 1/4" of rain all month. Hope April showers will appear in April. The only mushrooms found are dried out once. Jerry found many yellow birch in swampy areas with Chaga on them. We finally are warming up. They are predicting 65 today, but we need rain badly.
4/17 I have been going out just about every day but not finding anything worth reporting. Today I decided to check a 30" diameter Elm in Westboro. It was in the process of dieing and I have been checking around it the past two years. Maybe now that it was blown over, it will produce a crop of Morel??
Things are drying out so I went for a GPS exploratory walk on trails in Berlin, MA. On the way over there I saw a large bird land in a field, not far from road. I pulled over and shot him/her It turned out to be a Turkey Vulture.
In Berlin, I eventually wound up at a brook that I already explored upstream. As I walked downstream, I spotted a Yellow Birch that branched into a "V" about 3 feet off the ground. Inside the "V" was an impressive looking Chaga! After photographing it then harvesting I proceeded downstream. I found about 10 other Yellow Birch with one to several Chaga on them. All I had on me was a couple of plastic bags (always 2 in the back pocket) and a sturdy hunting knife. I used a rock to pound in the knife and pry off the Chaga. I estimate I got about 10 pounds. It was a good day. Take a look at the pictures.
4/18 Went to Rutland to check out the cleared cut area. No sign of any kind of mushroom. Decided to check a seasonal brook that runs across the Mid State Trail. There were a lot of fallen oak with healthy looking moss growing on them so I checked them for Devil's Urn. No luck. I did find 4 Yellow Birch that had good sized Chaga on them. I came back with about what I got yesterday.
4/28 Today Jerry and I explored an old apple orchard in Grafton. The soil looks moist enough. The temperature appears to be high enough, but still no sign of Morel. Jerry was able to locate the tree where he found a Morel about 10" high last May 27 but there are no Morel coming up yet. Jerry did find a dried out mushroom growing out of a trunk of a rotten apple tree that I guessed to be Dead Man's Fingers, even though I never saw it before. Take a look at my pictures and see if you agree.
Then I went to Westboro and
checked on the fallen 30" Elm. It no longer was there. The tree
people cut it up and carted it away. In its place they left a lot of
mulch.
Then I went to the Westboro Wildlife Management land to check on a small grove
of dead and dieing Elm. Here I found my first edible mushroom of the
season. On a 24" dead Elm there were about 5 bunches of Dryad's Saddle.
The largest had a cap of about 6". Looked like deer were munching on some
of them. I left them for the deer. I am sure they like the taste
much better then I. Also it was a bribe so that they would leave the Morel
alone :o)
Pictures.
5/4 After 3 days of cold rain and drizzle, things are starting to happen in my neck of the woods. Today it got up to 75 degrees. We got a total of about an inch of rain out this last storm, in Shrewsbury.
Today I checked out the place in Grafton. I found some water logged Wood Ear and my first Oyster of the year. This place has a lot of aspen. I plan to go back in a few days to harvest this bunch. I am sure that I will find other trees with Oysters on them.
5/5 Sawink Farm in Northboro. Found a clump of Oysters about 4' above the ground. Again, on a dead aspen.
5/6 Went to the apple tree that produced about 40 morel per year in the past two years. Nothing. Was surprised since I was picking them on May 1 last year. Either this apple tree is played out or they are really, really late. Then I stopped in Bolton Lime Quarry. Found trillium but not in bloom. A Dryad's Saddle that is in the bud stage. Maybe it is too early for Morel?
Then I went to the Grafton site. I photographed and harvested the Oyster clump that I found last time I was there. Could not find any more. No sign of Morel but did find one False Morel. Well, it is a start. Last couple of years I first find False Morel then I start finding the edible kind. Here is the picture story.
5/15 Found my first Morel in the Harvard apple orchard where I took the BMC group for a Morel hunt last year. It was 5" tall and pretty well chewed up by slugs. At least I will not be skunked this year :o) Looks like someone harvested about a dozen before I got there. My bet is that it was Herb.
5/17 First sunny day after about 4 days of rain. Shrewsbury wound up with about 3.86" of rain. Beverly, MA got about 14" of rain. Today I even saw a few LBMs. Got about 3# of Oysters. A few Veined Cups. Found a patch of Common Brown Cup. Picked about 24 where the largest was 4" in diameter and had a half a cup of water in it :o) I never found this mushroom in quantity and size, before. I plan to cook it separately and try eating it for the first time. Picture story.
5/18 Today I found 6 large, old, Morel in Grafton. The largest was 6.5" tall. The stem was yellow and they were chewed up some by slugs. Found more Oysters. I gave both to a Russian friend because I already have cooked mushrooms in the refrigerator :o) Picture story.
5/27 Today I learned that Morel will grow by dead apple trees. In one case it was growing where an apple tree used to be and now there was only rotten residue. Next year I have to check this spot earlier.
Ran into a 3" diameter cap mushroom growing on a rotten stump. Took a spore print and it came out what could be called salmon pink. So I make it a Fawn Mushroom, Pluteus cervinus. If you disagree, please let me know what you think it is.
5/29 In Grafton I found an interesting fungus growing on what I think is Pink Azalea. It looks like a green colored gall. It's size varies from 1 to 2 inches. I sliced one in half and it looked juicy and pale lime green in color. It looked good enough to eat :o) I put my tongue on the cut portion and it was tasteless. When I came home I put a couple of the galls down meaning to look at them later and forgot about them. Four days later I noticed them and they had shrunk to half size and released a nice white spore print. I looked it up on the Internet and make it Exobasidum vaccinii, aka Azalea leaf gall.
5/30 Went to Westboro to take more pictures of what I call Common Brown Cup. Found quite a few but in old condition. In the still of early morning I saw a cloud of spores rise every time I touched one. The spores appear to be off white in color. Some had stalks below ground and color varied from young to old. I made two pages up of pictures and data here. Please take a look and see if you recognize it. I also found some young Platterful Mushroom growing on an old birch log in the process of disintegrating. I cut these up and fried them up in olive oil, onions and scallops. It tasted good to me.
I made up another page with pictures of what I identify as Veined Cup but have now decided it is Recurved Cup aka Peziza repanda. Please take look at these and let me know if you think you are sure as to what it is.
6/1 Found some Oysters, and Dryad's Saddle in Westboro. Most were too old to eat but a few were young enough.
6/5 Nice rain for several days. Shrewsbury has 2.55" so far this month. Found the first bolete of the season. Quite a few old water logged Platterful Mushrooms. Quite a few new once popping up. No one picked the Dryad's Saddle so it is no longer young but there are new buds coming out. Still at the coordinates given before. Crown Coral is also up.
6/6 Up in Dennis Port for a week. Checked my spots on the upper Cape and I found very few fungi. Found only two "Reds" as the Russians call them at Marconi Station area. I believe that they are Red-capped Scaber Stalk aka Leccinum aurantiacum. Also found my first Amanita of the season.
6/11 This was the first sunny day after 5 days of heavy rain. The area got about 5" of rain. Went to the same spots as on 6/6. This time I found 2 young "Reds" at the Race Point area. Found two other that must have come up before the rain. Rain appears to accelerate the decomposition. The pores turned into a dark colored ooze.
6/13 Visited Sawink Farm in Westboro. The Dryad's Saddle tree now has 3 clumps of Saddles. All are mature. The largest about 14" across. Found a few more Dotted-stalked Suillus. Brought home 6 for a mushroom fry. Quite a few LBMs under foot. Found a few waxy cap like mushrooms. Found a dark brown mushroom. Also a funnel caped mushroom.
Also visited a site where I find Suillus in the Fall. Found nothing under the pine. There were plenty of Platterful at both places.
6/19 It is 10:42 am and the temperature is a steamy 84. It is predicted it will go to 93. I went for a quick walk in the back yard before returning to the air conditioned apartment. I found a fine specimen of a golden coral, of some sort, growing in leaf litter instead on wood. It came free of the ground as if it was not attached to wood below the surface. Included is a picture of Mrs. Duck with 10 young.
6/26 It looks like the fungi shrugged off the 10" of rain we have had the past two months, but all hell broke loose after the 3/4" of rain that fell during the last 3 days. There was a fungal riot, out there! Amanitas everywhere. All kinds of bolete at the Grafton site. Saw more Scaly Tooth, ever. Driving along the road I had to stop several times to look at interesting mushrooms in people's yards.
At he Grafton site I checked a pine grove. Found only the Bitter Bolete. I tasted one and did not find it bitter. I threw it away anyway. I can afford to be fussy now :o)
Here are the pages I prepared
for this day.
I stopped at the Spruce grove in Grafton and saw a group of Amanitas.
http://www.mushroomhunter.net/blusher.htm
At the same place I found a funnel shaped Clitocybe of some kind.
At the Grafton site I first found a twin Xanthoconium purpureum then many more.
On the way home I spotted a stump near the road that something interesting growing on it. I noticed a neighbors yard that had all kinds of interesting mushrooms growing there.
6/29 Revisited the Grafton sites. In the Spruce grove I saw a new crop of ballerinas popping up. At the bolete site there was a new crop of boletes. Within 50 feet of my car I filled half my plastic bag with Xanthoconium purpureum. As I returned to the car to empty the bag into my basket, I spotted 5 Bicolor Boletes almost at the point I started. There were many LBMs and tiny yellow colored Amanita. These I gave only a passing glance and kept my eyes open for edibles. I found a few more Bicolor and a lot more purpureum. I also found Dotted-stalk Suillus, Painted Suilius, Spotted Bollete and another variety of rusty red pored bolete. And finally a Chicken Cincinnatus.
7/3 Visited Grafton and found half a dozen Boletus separans, and a few faded Xanthoconium purpureum.
7/5 Today I visited Manfred Binder at the mycology lab at Clark University. Brought him the separans to use in class he will hold. I then visited a site in Rutland. Found a couple of Bicolor, a couple of Voluminous Milky, and whole bunch of Bitter Bolete. One was impressive. It was growing from underneath a clump of soil near two stumps. At first I thought it was something else since the stem markings were red rather then brown and the pores were pure white. After handling the pores developed brown spots and the red changed to brown reticulation by the time I got it home. I sent a picture to Manfred and he agreed that it is Tylopilus felleus. What impressed me was the massive size. The cap was 3.5” and the thickest part of the stem about the same. Take a look at it under Photos / Yahoo! Photo album.
7/6 On the way to get gas for the car I pulled over by the neighbor that has a lot of mushrooms on his lawn. There is a new crop of Hygrophorus Milky but I do not know what he uses on the lawn and beside that he was not home so that I could ask permission to pick them. What attracted my attention this time was a pot bellied little brown mushroom about 3" high. It looked to me just what a small King Bolete should look like. I picked it up and saw white reticulation on the top of the stem. No staining of any kind even when I cut it in half. White flesh and the cap was a bit sticky when I put some spit on the finger. I put the cap down to see if it will produce a spore print. There were half a dozen more there but they were under attack by a white mold.
There was another Red Mouth Bolete there. I took a couple of pictures of that so that Jerry can see see what a "Chocolate Bolete" looks like before it turns all black.
7/7 My Cannon Power Shot S2IS has so
many buttons it is hard to pick up without depressing one or two of them.
In doing so you wind up turning on a feature that you really do not want.
Last time this happened it made it impossible to take pictures. It
produced black, blank images. I could not figure out how to turn this
feature off so I switched to my Sony camera for a while. Today I had the
idea of removing the batteries and maybe the lack of power would reset it to the
default settings. I put in newly charged batteries and went looking for a
subject on which to test the camera. I was looking for a bug, or anything
on which to test the macro. I spotted what looked like mushrooms growing
on the apartment's lawn. As I got closer I saw a whole bunch of
orange colored mushrooms growing in fused clumps.
When I turned them over one group had released so many spores, it colored the
grass a rusty color. The older mushrooms smell like a sea marsh.
I also found one more bolete that looks like it might be another
Boletus
variipes but a little older and larger.
Went also to Westboro to check
on the Smooth Chanterelle. No sign of it yet. Found a couple of
dozen Bicolor Bolete but less then half were worm free enough to use.
Found seven Wine-stain Bolete. Found a single Red Chanterelle.
Saw, what appeared to be, a Painted Suillus growing out of rotten birch log.
It turns out that the log was completely rotted away and only the bark remained.
The mushroom found a hole in the bark and came through.
7/8 While in Lexington I had to make a U turn in the entrance to an Industrial Park. I decided to drive a bit further in this time and see what the place looked like. Of course, I was on the look out for mushrooms. I came to a place by one firm where they had a small area set aside for employees to eat lunch on a wooden table with benches, under Oaks. Looking over the area I spotted something by one oak that Reminded me of David and his Berkeley's Polypore. There were a few Hygrophorus Milkies there also.
On the way home I stopped in Westboro to check the spot where I found my first King, two years ago. No king but I found a mess of Bicolor Bolete. Also a few Xanthoconium affine var reticulatus. Xanthoconium are all over the place this year!
At another place in Westboro I found a mess of Hygrophorus Milkies and a disgusting looking mess growing on the grass.
7/9 Found one more King in the front yard under oak not too far from where I found one on 7/7.
7/10 In Lexington, in a yard across the way, I noticed a clump of mushrooms growing on the lawn, not near any tree. Silvery, shinny top. Smooth. No distinctive smell. The largest about 3". Pictures.
7/12 Grafton bolete spot is taking a rest in this hot rain free weather. I found only a couple of Bicolor Bolete. I then visited the Purgatory in Sutton. The Hygrophorus Milky are by the road as usual. I did not stop for them. In my Bicolor Bolete spot I found a few more prime Bicolor. The Berkeley Polypore is up and growing beyond the "bun" stage. The mushroom kicker left it alone so far.
On the way over to Grafton I stopped by a few yards and found 3 variipes/King. I brought the whole bunch to Victor.
7/14 Checked a couple of Smooth Chanterelle spots in Westboro. No sign of them coming up yet. On the trail I did find one spot where there were about two dozen coming up. The largest two were about 1.75" tall. I found that these Chanterelle grow slowly. It will take at least a week for them to grow to full maturity.
I picked several bunches of the False Coral to try. It was tough and hard to cut. After boiling it, I ate a sprig. I found it tasteless. But contrary to what Roger says, it is edible. I do not plan to eat the rest.
There were Lactarius everywhere. I found hygrophoroides, volemus, corrugis and gerardii.
Found 3 large bolete with caps up to 6.5". Two had tan colored caps that were viscid. There was momentary hope but then I noticed pinkish colored pores. They all bruised brown, though slowly. They all produced pinkish colored spore print. They did not have reticulation on the stem but they definitely were not King.
7/16 Sunday. Went out to see what the half inch of rain wrought with the bolete site in Grafton. First thing I found was a few young Bicolor Bolete. Then I found an old Bicolor that had an unusual cap cracking. Soon I found a beautiful Xanthoconium separans of an unusual color, and another. Also found Xanthoconium affine and Xanthoconium purpureum. Of course I did not know which is which until I got home and did the ammonia test.
I went out at 7:30 am and it was 80 degrees already. It was hot and humid. I spent about 2 hours in the woods sweating :o) The Deer Flies were dive bombing my Deet saturated straw hat. Once in a while one got inside through rather large vent holes in the weave of the hat. I had a fly in my bonnet :o) I had to take off my hat to let them out.
7/18 Went to Grafton
bolete site to see if I could get a few Xanthoconium purpureum for Manfred to
work with. Found three near each other, first thing, then only old rotten
once. When I got home I used ammonia to test one that was wormy. A
hello of blue-green around the ammonia drop! That is it!
There were others that were interesting. The bolete of the day was the
Pale Bolete. I got a few young Bicolor. I stumbled on a small patch
of Black Trumpets. I picked enough to have
another taste test. Give them another chance to impress me :o)
Then there were a few mushrooms that fall into the "interesting" category.
First there were a few slender, hollow stemmed, delicate mushrooms, that looked
like some sort of Grisette. And two colorful
polypore of unknown specie.
7/19 I found something unusual in Rutland today. I think that the pictures tell the story better.
I found two small Lobster Mushrooms in Westboro this afternoon, so I went to check my Lobster spot in Northboro and found four more. The largest, had a 6” cap an a 2” stem, was starting to spoil. I got so involved with boletes that I forgot to check for one of my favorite mushrooms. I would guess that it was in prime shape about 5 days ago. I did get several in prime shape. Lobster omelet coming up :o)
Also found an oak that had the biggest crop of Black-staining Polypore growing around it, that I ever saw. I counted 10 different mushrooms, from a 1.5’ to just popping out. Later I found a stump around which 3 Black-staining Polypore were growing. If only they were Maitake… :o)
7/21 Went to Pisgah woods today to check on the Black Birch from which I harvested the 10# Chaga. It is still alive. The top is covered with leaves. Checked another where I harvested, last winter, the largest Chaga but left the rest. It too is nicely leafed out and the remaining Chaga do not appear to be any larger. So the information that I got from the Internet, that the tree dies when you remove the Chaga, appears to be not true. I will check them next year, Allah willing :o)
Things are getting dry. Very few new mushrooms but still quite a few old once. Saw one interesting young mushroom that appeared to be some sort of Grisette.
7/22 Yesterday evening we got some good thunder showers with a half inch of rain. Today rain continued off and on till Sunday morning. Over an inch of rain total. Good mushrooming ahead.
7/23 Went to Chanterelle Hill in Westboro to check on how the patches are doing. The small patch on the trail had matured and I picked about a quart of Smooth Chanterelle. The Poisson Ivy patch is just sprouting with a couple large enough to pick. The main large patch is just starting to sprout also. In a weeks time there should be some Chanterelle ready to pick. Found a few Bicolor.
In the afternoon went to check on the Grafton site. Got some X. separans, some X. affine and some Bicolor Bolete. The place was soaked. Should be a mess of bolete there in a few days. Found two False Caesar's Mushrooms. Also took pictures of the mystery polypore I have been keeping track of.
7/25 Took the 4th picture, in the series, of Fomitopsis spraguei. Mushrooms must be taking a rest. Just found 2 usable X. separans and a couple of X. purpureum for Manfred.
7/26 Went to Rutland hoping to find oddball's brother so I could ship it to John P III to puzzle over. No luck. Picked a few Lactarius volemus for my Russian friend. Found a couple of small Lobster Mushrooms but they were beyond use. I did find my first of the year Gilled Bolete. Also found one purpureum for Manfred.
7/27 Went to Edmund Hill Woods in Northboro. No Lobsters or much of anything else. Found a few L. corrugis and L. volemus. Found something that I have not seen before. On a rotten log lying on the ground was blotches of cinnabar red stuff. I thought it might be some slime. I touched it with a finger. It felt soft and dry. I was able to pick up the biggest and peal it off the log. The underside was what looked like mycelium and nothing else. Anyone see anything like this before?
7/28 Went out on one of the rare forays with Jerry. Since I wanted to take the last picture in the series of Fomitopsis spraguei, we went to Grafton. It looks like a banner year for slime :o) We saw Fuligo septica in several places. Also Stemonitis axifera. The fronds were waving in the wind. The auto focus on the camera had trouble focusing and I did not get a good picture. Then Jerry spotted a log with Reticularia splendens on it. It was a brilliant orange color. Before I could get the camera out Jerry was yelling, "come look at this", again. These young fellows are so excitable :o) He found a thick patch of Black Trumpets, his favorite mushroom! It was a nice patch of large specimens. They were growing in what one could describe as a wash. We found two X. separans for him to try. Also found many small Pale Bolete. I took these home for a mushroom fry. Found a few suspected Boletus sensibilis and Boletus bicolor. On a stump we found 4 fruiting bodies of Fomitopsis spraguei. I will go back tomorrow and get those slime pictures I missed :o)
This morning I found another X. purpureum on the lawn, another on the way to meet Jerry. I cut these up and dry them for Manfred Binder. I have processed about 6 so far.
7/29 Last evening a strong thunderstorm went through. Dumped about 0.3" of rain. Today I went back to Grafton to get some of the pictures I missed. The Black Trumpets were knocked flat by the thunderstorm. The orange colored Reticularia splendens, being able to move, probably learned to run when the thunder and lightning came and ran away :o) There was no sign of it in the area. I was so shocked to see that Reticularia splendens gone, I forgot all about Stemonitis axifera. The Chaga was still there though. I got a good picture, though I had to use a flash.
7/30 A choice day for edibles. Found the largest amount of Bicolor Bolete, ever at one time. One of the smaller patches of Smooth Chanterelle had quite a few mature mushrooms so I got about a gallon. The main patch still has not started producing. Found a few Red Chanterelle, some unknown bolete, one prime X. purpureum for Manfred, a couple of Chicken Cincinnatus. Got some exercise bending over :o) See the pictures.
8/3 After a lot of heat, we had a violent thunderstorm go through, yesterday, so I went out to Grafton this morning. There was no sign of much rain in Grafton but the old dependable still had mushrooms to offer. Found X. affine, X. separans and X. purpureum. Found a few Pale Bolete and a few Bicolor. Found a young bolete that I now think of being a pseudo sensibilis if not Boletus pseudosensibilis. Take look at the picture story.
In the interesting department, I noticed a couple of polypores growing on top of a stump. They had interesting concentric arc design plus a pretty good imitation of gills. Also managed to get a bit better pictures of the Stemonitis axifera.
8/4 Went to Sawink Farm and A1. At the Farm saw a Turkeytail in a form of a funnel. New Turkeytails coming up all over. A neighbor has an oak stump with about 50# of Black staining polypore growing around it. At A1 there were quite a few Frost's Boletes. I found the largest Earthball I ever saw, about 4". Also a few Bicolor.
8/5 Went another way to get to Chanterelle Hill. Saw quite a few over ripe Bicolor. The main Chanterelle patch still is not in full swing. It did find a few large mushrooms hidden in the chest high fern. I followed the wash up the hill and found a couple of small patches of large (4" cap) mushrooms. Got about a gallon.
Before that I stopped at MDC land and walked an area that I check occasionally. Found some Oysters growing on an old dead Black Birch. I was looking for Chaga :o)
And in the interesting department I found two slender, delicate mushrooms that stood about 6" tall. The stem looked about 1/8" in diameter. There is a ring on the stem. It had white gills. The larger of the two had a cap of about 1.25". In the center there was a yellow spot. My image stabilization, on the camera, went on the fritz so the pictures came out fuzzy. I got new rechargeable batteries today so that I should miss less pictures, after this. After a while, the rechargeable batteries do not hold much charge. After a couple of pictures with the flash on, the Canon starts turning off things like the LCD display, IS and so on.
8/6 Things are getting dry. Even the wet spots at the Grafton site are drying out. The only thing of interest at the Grafton site is that a new Ganoderma curtisii, in the exact same spot where I picked a first one. This still has an all white cap. I will track its growth and development.
Went back to MDC land with the hope of photographing the second Gossamer Mushroom but it was gone with the wind. These things do not wait for you to fix your camera. The first one that I picked and put down on a boulder to take pictures of the gill, was still there. The 1/8" stem had dried to something like a thread thickness. The cap was wilted and yellow center turned brown. It did not make a good picture.
Here is a page I made up to show the pores of the brown Turkey-tail Polypore.
8/8 Went to Rutland today. Things are dry there too. Found one X. purpureum, 2 tiny Lobsters, a few Common Chanterelle and a bolete that bugs and molds really like. Also a couple of polypore. We need a 3 day rain.
8/9 Went to Grafton mainly to check on the mushrooms I am tracking: Ganoderma curtisii, Fomitopsis spraguei and Lenzites betulina.
Found one large and one small
X.
purpureum.
And last years Ganoderma lucidum or tsugae?
8/11 Last year they put down bark mulch around about the apartment building where I live. This spring I checked for Morel, of course. None, of course. But lately I noticed some of that disgusting looking stuff Fuligo septica popping up here and there on the bark mulch. Yesterday I noticed two new blobs growing just outside my bedroom window. This morning I decided to photograph them from the bedroom window. When I opened the window and removed the screen I saw two new blobs!
This morning I went to Douglas State Forest after my encounter with the Slime Mold at my bedroom window :o) First I wanted to revisit the Atlantic White Cedar Swamp and see how it has changed since last January 13. It looks like they closed it down. The sign was removed from the area where you enter the swamp. The way was overgrown with brush. That did not stop me. I went through anyway. Really not much different. The sphagnum moss was greener and I saw a few LBMs, that's it. I looked around the area and found very few new mushrooms. There were signs that they got some rain last night. I then explored the part of the forest that is north of Rt.16. I located brooks and washes hoping to find birch with Chaga on them. Not many birch by the brooks. There was mostly Hemlock. On the way home I stopped by Purgatory Park in Sutton and checked the oak that produces several Berkeley Polypore every year. A new one was there again. Then I noticed a couple of Black Birch in back and checked those. I found one small Chaga. I left it to grow up. Maybe next year, I will harvest it. See the pictures.
8/13 Things are really dry! All small brooks are dried up. Swampy areas are drying out and soil cracking. Went to Grafton site to mainly check on the Ganoderma curtisii that I am tracking. I stopped by the Quinsigamond River and filled a 3 liter bottle as a thirst quencher for the curtisii. The cap has grown 3/8" since the last time I was there. The height remains the same, 2". I watered the soil around the mushroom. It looks like it is growing off an oak root. Three feet from it is a 2.5' diameter oak stump with sprouts growing from it. These sprouts provide shade for the mushroom.
Walking through what used to be a swampy area I spotted 2 small mushrooms growing side by side. I picked the larger of the two and saw that it was about a 2" cap bolete with yellow pores. I tossed it away and picked up the second mushroom which turned out to be an Earthball. I then realized that the small bolete was a Parasitic Bolete so I took some pictures. It has an interesting pore layer right next to the stem.
Then I went to Bolton and checked out the oak where I found my first Hen in 2003. Nothing. I checked many oak at both sites. Also I checked all birch I saw for Chaga. Found none. I wonder what the Hen looks like when it first comes out of the ground? Anyone have baby Hen pictures? The youngest I saw was one that measured about 6" on October 27, 2004. From that I got the impression that the Hen pops out as a lump and then starts growing tinny caps that eventually grow into larger caps if there is time before the frost kills it. Mine had tinny caps.
8/21 We finally got some good
rain, almost an inch, and I went out to see what I could find. Five days
earlier we got a half an inch but that did not produce a crop of mushrooms.
At Edmund Hill Woods I first noticed a large fallen branch loaded with what
looked like Turkey-tails. I picked a bunch for tea and dried them at home.
Next day I found out I picked False Turkey-tails, Stereum ostrea. I also
found one Lobster that someone stepped on and flattened. A couple of
Dotted-stalk Suillus. A few Painted Bolete and some interesting
polypores.
I then went to Grafton took pictures and measurements of the
G. curtisii.
I found a few Bicolor and one young X. separans. Enough for a mushroom
fry.
8/23 Grafton again. Photographed the curtisii again. It has grown some. Found a Bicolor first but it was wormy. Found the first Sweetbread Mushroom of the year. Found a Chicken that was not a Cincinnatus, for a change. Some fresh Turkey-tail Mushroom, I think. Photographed the surface mycelium that I saw in many places on the trail. Found another Parasitic Bolete pair. Will track their development. Saw many Straight-stalk Entoloma, I think. Found a baby Beefsteak Mushroom. One inch cap with a one inch stem. First page of four of photos .
8/25 This morning there was the
sound of thunder and rain, but Jerry had a couple of hours free and he wanted to
show me the location, near Purgatory, that he plans to show to a BMC group
foray. He wanted to explore a part he was not familiar with. It is
hard to refuse an invitation to a mushroom hunt :o) We found quite a few
old mushrooms and a few new ones that were just coming out. Jerry found 4
logs with Chicken of the Woods on it. All were just buds or very young.
He got enough for several meals. There was a coral that looked different.
Also found one birch with Chaga chunks around a lesion.
Take a look at the pictures.
On the way back I stopped by the Grafton site and took pictures of the
curtisii and the
Parasitic Bolete.
It was getting darker and starting to rain, again, so time to go home.
8/26 Checked some oak that produced Maitake in the past. Nothing yet. On Chanterelle Hill I found a few interesting mushrooms and a couple of quarts of Smooth Chanterelle. Found my first of the year Parasol Mushroom in the woods instead on the lawn, where I usually find them. Also found the first Sweet Tooth. Take a look at the picture story.
8/28 Driving on a dirt road on Sunday I spotted some mushrooms growing high up on a sugar Maple. My first thought was that I found my first Pleurotus ostreatus. Taking a closer look, I saw that the caps were not the right shape for Oyster. Monday I came back with my Oyster picker and got some of the mushroom down. It turned out to be my first Northern Tooth. The woods were alive with orange. Jack O'lantern and Chicken of the Woods. Found a double cap Amanita of some sort. In Grafton I spotted some mushrooms on a lawn and stopped, hoping it was the Meadow Mushroom.
8/31 Visited the Grafton site.
Found enough Bicolor, Pale Bolete and Sweetbread for a mushroom fry.
Picked a 2" cap Parasitic Bolete to try. In that same area where I found
the Parasitic Bolete to track the growth,
I found 3 other Earthball that were supporting parasites. On one of these
2 died after reaching a cap diameter of about 2". That appears to be
the maximum size in this location. The
G. Curtisii appears to be at its limit of growth at
a cap diameter of 4 1/8".
Saw a new looking coral, a Baby Jelly and a bug that was having a bad hair day.
9/1 Checked the part of Mid State
Trail, in Sutton, that Jerry recommended. Plenty Jack O'lantern and
Black Staining Polypore. Found what looks
like a Pale Bolete but the stem appears too stout.
Also found a few Smooth Chanterelle and Sweet Tooth. The Sweet Tooth I
found in two different spots. They appear to be two different varieties.
The first was smaller, more colorful cap and had
free pores. The second was larger, more
irregular cap, lighter colored cap, massive stalk, and decurrent pores. It
stained a light orange as I trimmed away the dirty parts. According to the
guide, this should be the Dentinum repandum. The guide mentions only one
look alike and that is Dentinum umbilicatum. I believe I missed with the
scientific name on this page
http://mushroomhunter.net/sweettooth.htm
That should be re tagged as Dentinum umbilicatum? The
first one I found is Dentinum umbilicatum?
I read that people that prefer the altered state of mind pick their mushrooms
off cow patties. At the entrance to the trail, a farmer had a large pile
of cow leftovers. Part of it had hundreds of these
mushrooms growing on it.
While in that area I also checked Orchard Hill in Oxford. Went there
purposely to check the oak since Bill Neill reports that a farmer found some
Hens not far from my area. No Hens, yet. I found this colorful
polypore that encircled a small birch.
Also found a rotting White Oak lying on the ground with a mess of
oysters growing on it. They were more off
white than those I find on Aspen in the spring. Also there was no odor of
anis. They were also tough.
9/2 Today it looked like it would start raining any minute so I stayed home. In the afternoon I checked some large oak in the back yard and the area where Giant Puffballs come up every year. There were 3 Puffballs up. The largest, came up under wood trash so I left it be.
9/3 Steady rain today. Went out anyway to check on the Parasitic Bolete and G. curtisii.
9/4 With the news that Bill Neill found several Maitake in eastern MA (I assume) I went out today to check on the known infected oak and others. Visited 4 locations, in Westboro, Northboro, Bolton and Stow. No sign of the Hen. Found quite a variety of mushrooms though. In Westboro I found a mature puffball that was about 3.5" size. Also in Westboro was an unknown polypore growing on brush right next to a White Oak. In Stow I checked for Aborted Entoloma in their athletic field. None this year. Found a couple of colorful Varnished Conks growing next to a dead pine sapling. A nice looking Beefsteak Polypore in Northboro. Puff balls, Pained Suillus and LBMs were everywhere.
9/6 Found one old King today. Found a different kind of puffball. The best I can do is Tough Puffball as described in Lincoff. Do you know this mushroom? Also found a few Bicolor. The Hen are avoiding me. Looks like you have to be in Maine or know of oak that produce early version of the Hen :o)
9/7 While walking by the Centrum
in Worcester in Worcester I saw what looked like a very short
Parasol Mushroom.
Later in the day I went to get some gas and stopped by the spruce grove in
Grafton. Found an unusual agaric and another
more pleasing. Also a couple of good sized
puffballs under a spruce.
9/8 Today Jerry and I explored an
area in Sutton. He found a couple of Hedgehogs. It is the first for
him. He spotted a handful of Aborted Entoloma for me. He does not
want to try it yet :o) He also found a couple of
corals that looked different from anything he is familiar with. Then
he had to go check on his employees and I went to hunt more mushrooms.
I stopped by Purgatory. The oak by the road produced yet another
Berkeley's Polypore. I found an odd looking
white Bolete. It stained a blue green color, fast, wherever it was
touched. It has an unusual 2 part stem. Anyone recognize this one?
After that I stopped at the Grafton site and took a picture of the
Parasitic Bolete for growth study.
The bolete are pretty rotten looking and this will be the last picture in that
series. The cap of the largest was a bit over 2". I also found what
I would call baby Honeys on two different
stumps. Please look at the pictures and tell me if I am right or wrong.
Don't hold back, I can take it :o)
9/9 Good day in Westboro. First I found several bunches of young Honey Mushrooms. Then I went to another spot and found my first Hen of the season under a known infected Red Oak. At the same place I saw Aborted Entoloma forming. Also I got a picture of the underside of the fungus growing on live plants. Found another interesting polypore that looks like a fight between two or three of them.
9/10 Today I went to my primary
spot for Maitake. I know of at lest 25 oaks that are infected there.
My champion oak that produced 6 Hen in 2003 had 4 under it today. I picked
2 and left 2 to grow up. I found 3 Hen under two other oak. So I
have found 8 Hen
so far this year. That more then all of last year. The Hen stampede
has started in central MA.
To make it a perfect day I also found a mess of Honey Mushrooms and Aborted
Entoloma.
I have been passing by a polypore on a rotting birch log on the forest floor,
last few times I have been at this location, thinking that it was just another
Birch Polypore. Today it dawned on me that it was brown in color instead
of off white that most of them are. I picked it and found it fresh.
When I looked on the underside it really looked different. It had sort of
pseudo gills :o)
9/12 Went back to Walkup and found 3 more Hens. The ones at Chanterelle Hill were still too small too small to harvest.
9/13 Went right up to Truro and checked the Matsutake spots. It was very dry. No sign of any mushrooms. At Marconi Station area, on the way down to the Atlantic White Cedar Swamp, I found a few young Boletus projectellus.
9/17 The second time at the Swamp trail I noticed a small path, to the left, leaving the main trail and followed that. Following that for quite a while then taking a right at a Y, I wound up on a park road. This is the park road that the regular 2 trails cross just before getting to the swamp. On the side of this park road I found what I suspect is my first Gypsy ever but they were too old except for one. I took that to get a spore print. Also on this road I think I found Boletus griseus var. fuscus.
9/19 Went to the Cedar Swamp the third time. This time I remembered the GPS so that I was able to explore more of the surrounding area. Found several patches of young Gypsy. Cut them up and dried them.
9/21 I went to 3 different Hen spots today and more then doubled my harvest for the season. First Jerry and I went to Northboro where I showed him my Hen trees. I harvested 8 Hen. He got about the same amount plus a young Chicken. Then he had to go to work and I went to my prime Hen location. I was surprised to find only two oak that had Hens. My champion oak had 7 Hens around it and the other oak had 3. So I harvested a total of 10 at this location. The champion oak produced 6 Hen in 2003 and 10 Hen so far this season. Looks like it might produce more.
At the last location I found 5 Hen. These were all by my known infected oak. So 23 Hen for the day. I got 11 before so that makes it a total of 34 Hen for the season, so far.
9/24 Went to Truro on Sunday to check on Matsutake spots. No sign of them. It looks like a bad year for mushrooms on the Cape this year, so far. I saw more Russians than Scaber Stalk Bolete. At Marconi Station area things are a bit better. There were many large, white Russula, with depressed center. Many humps had to be checked just to find a Russula instead of Matsutake. I did find 3 Scaber Stalk and 5 Boletus projectellus and enough Gypsy for a few meals. I ate them for the first time and would rate them as good, not choice.
9/31 This time the
best mushrooming was in Provincetown. First thing that happened was that a
Russian woman spoke to me, in Russian, and said to not bother looking for
mushrooms as she and her husband have checked the place out and there is no more
left. I told her that I will just check to see if they missed any. I
found 5 Reds total, without looking for them.
There were quite a few Slippery Jill and whole
lot of Russula and Lactarius. Most
covered with needles and very unappetizing looking. Since I was looking
for Matsutake, Russula brevipes and Russula ventricosipes kept getting in the
way of the search. I still have not found my first Matsutake, but I am not
finished yet :o)
There were several kinds of Cort. I think this one is called
Red-gilled Cort. Here is
some other kind of Cort. Then there was the
yellow version of Amanita formosa.
I found another Boletus griseus var.
fuscus. It was in good enough shape to save. I am air drying it.
Can't see running a dryer for one mushroom :o)
10/2 Checked 2 spots for Maitake. Found one in Westboro and 5 in Northboro. They were older once. Between the worm damage and actual rot, I salvaged very little. Forty Hen for the season so far. The Champion Oak had no new Hens. I think it is done for the season.
10/3 Checked the 3rd Hen spot in Northboro. Found 4 where only 2 were usable. On the way home I noticed a White Oak about 10' from the road that had two Hen growing by it. Found two more on the other side of the oak. Also found a couple of Blewits and a couple of Lobsters.
In the afternoon I checked the oaks in my back yard and found two more Maitake. So far this season I found 50 Hen.
10/6 Mushrooming on the Cape. Let the pictures tell the story.
10/10 Went to Marconi Station area. Found Scaber Stalk, of course. Found a handsome looking Gipsy but the worms got to him first. Found a few Sweet Tooth growing under pine. They are paler in color then those I find in Worcester. Found an interesting puffball that had a massive underground stem. Then there was the display of bones.
10/13 Marconi
Station area again. Explored at the end of the first right paved road, and
did the loop to the Cedar Swamp. Near the cedar swamp I found an
interesting Suillus. Mostly what I see on the Cape is Slippery Jill ( S.
salmonicolor). I get the impression that Slippery Jill divorced Slippery
Jack and he was forced to leave the Cape:o) So I am always on the lookout
for Jack. This mushroom looks like a Suillus to me but the cap color does
not fit the description.
Here is a page with some of the different faces of the
"Red" mushroom.
Page 3 shows the "picked" Matsutake I found.
Page 4 shows how they normally hide. There
are 6 more pages of photos that follow.
10/15 Went out and checked my spots around Shrewsbury. Nothing.
10/23 Went out again and checked my spots. Nothing. I tried evergreen groves, like some suggest for fall mushrooming. Nothing. It looks like the season is over around here. Everything came early this year including the end.
10/26 I am back on the Cape. Things are slowing down here also but at least there are still mushrooms around. Slippery Jack and Laccaria are still plentiful. I found 8 "Reds" that were relatively small and faded in color. A few more that were too old to use. I did wind up with enough edibles for a couple of mushroom fries. Let the pictures tell the story.
11/2 Stopped by for a walk at Boynton Park, Worcester before going to see a doctor. Spotted a scarred birch a way off the trail. At the base of the Black Birch I found a large Chaga laying on the fallen leaves. It was heavy from the recent rain. I estimate it at about 2#. I managed to dislodge several more pieces with my walking stick. Went back two days later, with a painting pole and a chisel taped on the end to get the rest. The Chaga pieces were from 10 to 13 feet up the tree. I wanted to weigh the Chaga. I was tired of guessing. At Wal Mart I purchased a Rapala digital fish scale. I weighed the Chaga from this tree and it came to 8.8 pounds! That is the advantage of using plastic bags, you do not have to subtract the weight of the basket :o) See the pictures.
11/11
On the
http://www.mushroomhunter.net/marconi_111106_1.htm
My guess is that it is a Trich of some sort. Then I realize
that I do not know what a Trich is :o) My approach is that if it grows in the
late fall and it fails the Russula test, it must be a Trich. I like simple
rules :o) I looked in the
I found two Reds. The first was a bit unusual. The cap was closer to
the ground and there was ragged pieces of cap skin stuck to the pores.
Also the scabers were smaller and lighten then usual. The staining was
very slow where cut but eventually turned blue / green.
Pictures.
I believe that I found and identified a
Hygrophorus
hypothejus. This one might be a Canary
Trich. Next to Trich this was the most common mushroom seen, mostly
near the shore. I make this polypore to be
Thelephora terrestris.
11/19 Went to
Marconi one more time, before going home. It was supposed to be sunny with a
high of 50, according to the weatherman. Instead it rained all the way to
Wellfleet. Too kill time till the rain stopped I took a trip up to Great Island
parking lot and checked around it, using an umbrella. Then I stopped by a golf
club and got a link to the Internet to check the weather map. Radar showed rain
passing over the upper Cape and not anywhere else in MA. Eventually the rain
passed and I went and walked Marconi. Found one mature Matsutake and another
where someone picked it and discarded. Also found a couple of fresh Short
Stalked Suillus. There was still some Laccaria and Trich around but they were
covered with sand even after all that rain.
It was cold, raw and windy. I could have used a hat for my nose :o) I tried
smelling the Trich but my nose went on strike and refused to smell in such
weather :o)
Also, in the interesting department, I found two Pitch Pine in Dennisport that
had brackets growing on them. On the first, there was only
one polypore that was growing at the base of of the
tree. On the second, only about 100 feet away there was a
stack of them.
11/30 Went to Pisgah woods to check out some of the birch from which I removed Chaga last winter. The trees appear to be still alive. On the one that I removed about 10# of Chaga there is new growth at the point where the original was removed. Also the small pieces I left were noticeably larger. I would estimate that the Chaga grew an inch in the past spring and summer. On a second tree, the same thing. Chaga that I left because it was too small is now about an inch larger. So this preliminary, unscientific finding is that Chaga grows about one inch a year.
12/14 On 12/7 I found a bunch, more like several bunches, of mushrooms growing on a dead white birch. They were freeze dried by several nights of 15 degree frost. Things were slow on my Yahoo forum so I sent a photo to members. It attracted some interest and posts. Today I went back to see if some fruiting has occurred since we had mild weather for a while. No new fruiting but I got a few more photos that show detail not shown in the first that I posted. I found an interesting black polypore growing on a dead oak sapling. It is possible it was a dead maple but I saw only oak in that area. Found a large size rosette of Violet Tooth Polypore. I picked some of the cleaner once to try making a tea.
12/26 Explored a parcel that Jerry showed me in Sutton. I noticed a wild cherry tree that looked like it has something similar to Chaga growing on it. Found a few Late Fall Oysters and some large oysters growing on a fallen black birch. Also some colorful polypore with thin gills.
12/31 Went to Sutton to explore the WW site some more. There were 7 vehicles in the small parking lot. There was no place to park. So I went to the Grafton site. These woods are thin in spots and some gray birch grows there. I found one small grove of gays.
Mushrooming Log 2005
Mushrooming Log
2004
