# Help in I'd?



## Hunt4shrooms (Apr 21, 2021)

Can someone tell me what type and if safe to eat?


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## shroomsearcher (Apr 7, 2018)

Those pics are nice, but you can't trust ID's of those kinds of mushrooms from pics. Pick one and get a spore print. Advertise its color here. If you don't know how to do a spore print, there are tons of on-line assets to assist you. 

To me, those look very much like _Agaricus arvensis, _or "horse mushrooms". A delicious edible species. But, I will NOT tell you that that is what they are based on photographic evidence! That is not possible, and would be irresponsible! 

Listen, when you branch out from morels, and chickens, and hens, and other that have no poisonous look-alikes, you enter the advanced class! You are now in AC Shrooming! Yes, it's work, but it is so rewarding! I love learning.


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## Hunt4shrooms (Apr 21, 2021)

Spore print?


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## shroomsearcher (Apr 7, 2018)

I take it you're pretty new to this. Yes, you get a spore print by taking the stem off the mushroom, place the cap gill side down on a piece of paper. I've heard it helps to put a drop of water on top of the cap, so I do that. You put it somewhere where the air is quiet and leave it overnight. The next day you check the paper to see if it has deposited spore, and if it has you look for the color. BTW, it's also a good idea when taking pics, to pull up a shroom and get a pic of the gills. Type of gills and color of them can also help nail down the ID.


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## Hunt4shrooms (Apr 21, 2021)

Ok, second picture is underside/ gills


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## Hunt4shrooms (Apr 21, 2021)

So I understand what you do when doing a spore print but then what are you looking for?( I'm guessing somehow it helps to decide whether it's poisonous or safe?) I've watched video but it stops at just showing how to do nothing about what it tells you...


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## shroomsearcher (Apr 7, 2018)

Hunt4shrooms said:


> Ok, second picture is underside/ gills


Boy, those look a lot like "horse mushrooms", _Agaricus arvensis._ However, I will not tell you that's what they are just with a pic as my only reference. Like I said before, that would be irresponsible. Plus, it's early for them. They're usually around later in the season. What you need is a good mushroom guide. Some guys like the Audubon guide but, to me, it's kind of information overload. I prefer Michael Kuo's "100 Edible Mushrooms with Selected Recipes." 

Every description of an edible mushroom will include the spore color, plus a general description of the mushroom and the environment it grows in. Plus, it may include descriptions and spore colors of poisonous look alikes. And yes, spore color is an important determining factor. Everything else could look right, but if the spore color is wrong, then it is not a positive ID. I found a used copy through Amazon. Well worth having. For a quicker fix go to his website mushroomexpert.com.


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## Bowguy (Apr 3, 2019)

Why don’t you learn to id mushrooms but not eat them just yet. Stay with beginner type mushrooms that are easy to identify. That might be a safer approach. You’re getting good advice btw.
Spore print is the color of spores when dropped onto paper. That’s no instantaneous FYI. Lots of ways to do this but it needs to be a calm non windy place. Covered is good. Also you need to get a black plus white paper to lie it on. If it’s a white or light spore print it could be hard to see. Same for dark.


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## shroomsearcher (Apr 7, 2018)

I've heard that some like to do spore prints on a piece of clear glass so they can hold different colors of paper under it to determine the spore color. I've seen spore prints that were dark in color done on white paper sprayed with a fixative and framed as art!

Yours is also good advice. The first shrooms I hunted for were morels, which are pretty unmistakable. However, I read up a ton and educated myself on them. Especially important for separating half frees from verpas. I found nothing my first year except some gyromitra, and I knew what those were too! 

You really have to know what you're doing out there.


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## TimG (Mar 12, 2020)

They don't look anything like Arvensis to me. The advice to eat only things that don't have any poisonous look alikes such as morels, chickens, and hens ignores that fact that over 20% of people have adverse reactions to chicken of the woods. It doesent matter what type of wood it grows on but some woods are worse than others. This per the author of a book that goes into details about whether many species of mushrooms are helpful or harmful includung the type of poison(s) present in each species.("Mushrooms-Poisons or Panaceas by Denis Benjamin"). And from the head of NAMA toxicology and many years of NAMA records. Morels also get reported to the various poison control centers and to NAMA toxicology committee every year due to adverse effects..
Do not reply on any online identification if you intend to eat it. The experts don't even bother to look at most online ID sites due to so many bad ID's. Your best bet is to join a mushroom club if at all possible. Man clubs are listed by state on the NAMA web site 'namyco.org'. NAMA = North American Mycological Association.


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## Bowguy (Apr 3, 2019)

Tim I think the difference adverse effects and totally toxic are different to an extent but you’ve brought up fantastic advice


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## Robert Hatcher (Jun 2, 2019)

welcome to the madness! in addition to what has been said, when I do spore prints, I fold a piece of white paper in half over a piece of black construction paper. then I set the shroom (gills down) so half is on the white and half is one the black because some spore are really pale and some are dark, with lots of variations in between. The light and dark paper provide contrast to cover all basses. Once you do it a few times it will make sense and you'll come up with process that works for you. 

Get some guide books and geek out on them, go down the rabbit hole and enjoy. you will find some weird stuff.

Check this guy out Learn your Land a good starting point is this video by him


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## shroomsearcher (Apr 7, 2018)

I forgot about that. Some folks can develop gastrointestinal upset after eating polypores that are fine with most people. And TimG, do you think that some of those "morels" that get reported could have been Verpas, or maybe Gyromitra? Although I never could understand how anyone could confuse a Gyromitra with a Morel. How do their eyes work? Verpa I can understand. As far as online ID's go, someone once posted a big basket of Verpa and thought they had hit the jackpot! There was white fuzz in every stem that you could see the bottom of! 

And it should be mentioned to the OP, that even if he feels he has made a positive ID, to only eat only one or two small bites the first time he tries the shroom. Then wait and check reactions. Also, try not to drink alcohol when doing this. Some mushroom don't play well with alcohol. 

There's a YouTube vid of Paul Stamets about growing and cooking Wine Caps, which he calls garden giants. I guess it's a Pacific Northwest thing. At one point in the vid he says that they should be eaten no more than 3 days in a row, because they can mess with you stomach as well.


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## TimG (Mar 12, 2020)

The NAMA toxic effect list only list positively ID'd fungi. They have lists of identifiers in each (most ) state. I know one lady who used to eat morels frequently,( season and luck dependent, but now can't eat even a bit without severe ill effects. Wine caps can be found in the east growing form wood or wood chips. They're pretty easy to grow from spawn. Latin
_*Stropharia rugosoannulat*_*a*
Not many fungi are deadly in most cases of consumption. Even among some of the so called deadly Amanitas there is less than a 50% fatality rate. Toxicity and poisonous are relative terms. Some with underlying health concerns may have deadly effects from a mushroom not normally considered deadly. To learn more aobut toxic mushrooms go the namyco.org and look under their poisoning tab.


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## Mad Huntgarian (Apr 12, 2017)

Any idea? Coral?


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