It was a fruitful year for mushrooms in the Nature Reserve. At 9:30am on Saturday October 15th the FYS class and some guests found a diverse range of species. Some of the species seen here include jelly fungi, cup fungi, polypores, puffballs, stinkhorns, slime moulds, and tooth fungi.
Among the poisonous specimens were deadly gallerina autumnalis, and lepiota (deadly dapperlings). Both of which are safe to handle, but if ingested could cause severe poisoning or death. Symptoms include crying, sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, and convulsions! Students are reminded never to eat wild mushrooms unless they have several years of experience in collection and identification. And books/the internet are not good enough to confirm a mushroom’s identity.
Students below are checking out the soccer ball sized, young giant puffball, Calvatia gigantea.
We foraged in grassy areas, coniferous and deciduous woods.
Digging up some large fleshy mushrooms – possibly Lepista irina? Or Entaloma? Even a spore print came back inconclusive. We did find many large fairy rings of this pale fungus with pinkish gills and a bulbous base. Jessica suggested we stay out of the rings to as not to be taken away by fairies! Though fairy rings are caused by the underground organism – a network of delicate fibres called the mycelium – growing in a circle and fruiting on the periphery.
Below are some specimens of Ganaderma tsugae or Reishi – a polypore used in Chinese medicine. Also below is a blue stain fungus – Chlorociboria aeruginascens – fruiting in this picture but showing the staining in wood.
And the show-stopper: a skirted stinkhorn – Dictyophora duplicata. Which smelled so awful no one could bear to handle it, or stand within 5 metres of it. It attracted large black flies that quickly consumed its stinky spore laden slime.
The mushrooms and field guides on the hood of the car. Along with a cicada carapace, and a wild ginger plant.
Enjoying some bread, honey from Diane’s bees, and wild apples (from Andrea) after the foray.
