Mushroom ID help please

[Shirley]

Don't worry - I fully realise that id of such things is very difficult using just pictures alone... BUT...

Does anyone have any idea what this pleasant smelling fungus is??



the underside is shown in next pic :

[Millymollymandy]

I can't help Shirlz, but it might help anyone who can if you say where you found it - habitat is important I think in IDing them. Nice photos by the way!

[Shirley]

Thanks M3... well suffice to say we didn't eat it but if it turns out to be scrummy then I'll be really upset at the waste...

It was growing on a beech tree.

Think we will have to buy that mushroom book that Andy has recommended... or at least borrow it from the library for a bit. Hoping to go on a fungal foray sometime soon too.

[Andy Hamilton]

did it have a collar up the stem?

It could be some kind of Lepiota. either the Lepotia hystrix which is not edable although looks too big for that. perhaps it is the parasol mushroom which is edable. but there are 59 differnet lepiotia mushrooms in the uk not all are adable and some are but can cause a stomach upset.

[AndyR]

That looks very much like Dryad's Saddle (polyporus squamosus) to me. This is a common fungus appearing on broadleaf trees from spring through to autumn. It especially favours beech, elm and sycamore.

Dryad's Saddle also has a pleasant smell of flour/meal. It is edible when young and considered tasty by some, but becomes too tough and woody to enjoy when it gets older - you should be able to judge this by how it feels when you remove it from the tree.

However repetitive this may seem, please get the ID verified in person by someone who is an expert on fungi (not just someone like me who knows a bit about a few species). People from local fungi interest groups are usually happy to help - check google to find one in your area - they will also most likely let you know when forays may be, which enable you to try some treats you wouldn't trust yourself to identify. Never eat it if in any doubt at all.

I know it sounds far too scary to bother eating wild fungi but it needn't be, just make sure you go out foraging with an expert until you're confident to identify a few species without fail. All this means is that until you have enough experience you won't be able to sample every single edible wild fungus, but it's likely that the most common ones are the ones you'll get to know first anyway, so there'll be a plentiful supply of the ones you know and trust.

Hope this long and dull message was of some assistance.

[Andy Hamilton]

Good anwser Andy, Nice name. I notice that it is your first post so welcome to our corner of the internet mate.

I will totally contradcit myself and agree with Andy it does look like Dryad's saddle. Dave's tried this once but it must have been an old version, he said that it was really tough and pretty inedable.

It is worth hammering that home about the id though we would not want to be cause of illness or worse death.

I would recomend a good book then double checking on the web if there is no local fungi group that you can find.

[Shirley]

Hi AndyR

Many thanks for that and welcome to the site from me too 8)

Thanks for the information - I didn't consider it dull at all.

It's good advice indeed to go out foraging with an expert - and I'm hoping to go on a fungal foray later in the year. Need to find an expert in Aberdeenshire so if anyone knows of someone please let me know.

Meantime I think I might grow my own (anyone know of any reputable suppliers?)

[AndyR]

Glad to be of assistance. I'll let you know about reputable suppliers as I have a friend who orders some edible mushroom kits online.

By the way Andy, this is Andy Rowe from the happy hometown. I like your site a lot. I got directed to it by accident when looking for info on harvesting my chilli peppers. You came very high up on Google by the way.

I only got into being a wild man of the woods last year but I now love nothing more than tramping through the countryside chomping on random weeds and hedges, and especially fungi.

Hoping to start an allotment in the garden when we move over to Duston so I'll no doubt be back to visit the site quite a lot.

[Andy Hamilton]

By the way Andy, this is Andy Rowe from the happy hometown. I like your site a lot. I got directed to it by accident when looking for info on harvesting my chilli peppers. You came very high up on Google by the way.

I only got into being a wild man of the woods last year but I now love nothing more than tramping through the countryside chomping on random weeds and hedges, and especially fungi.

Hoping to start an allotment in the garden when we move over to Duston so I'll no doubt be back to visit the site quite a lot.

Good to see you on here, I am sure I have told you about it before mate, mind you as it is normally christmas when I see you I guess that it could be easy to forget Google seem to like us, we are top search for self sufficient and a bunch of other strange things as well.

Where is there to go in Northampton for fungi and such, Dave said he found a puff ball in Brackmills when he moved back last summer. Is abbey park any good?

I guess I will see you at Christmas mate unless you are travelling down this way at any point? See you in the Racehorse at 7.30pm christmas eve

[Shirley]

Thanks again AndyR...

Psst... come down for the interforum games in Devon (see the What's Going On folder for info )