# New York City & Long Island Mushrooms & Foraging



## greg bowser nyc (Oct 2, 2016)

Hello everyone, I am relatively new to this site/board, apologies in advance if some things aren't correct (third post, hopefully pictures are up this time). I have been mushroom hunting and foraging in NYC & Long Island mainly as well as upstate and NJ for about three years. I will do my best to include as much relevant and useful information to help others because thanks to wonderful people like all of you and anyone else who has publicly shared information I have been able to progress to the tougher species. I mainly forage to eat, although I love the woods and the fun of nature and biology in general.


Pictured are photos of what I believe to be a Clitocybe which I found in Alley Pond in Queens, NYC. Trying to get a positive ID on the species. Sorry no photos with measurements but the biggest ones were 5"+, no question large enough to make me pretty sure of the genus, which with the decurrent gills and by process of elimination, then finally stumbling on a very good key, led me to Clitocybe.


Decurrent Gills
No Ring/Veil/Partial Veil
White Sporeprint
Growing in very large cluster from single point
Growing on ground, from what I believe to be woodchips (99%) but could have been buried wood, I didn't get that far due to baby with me and "drive by pick and run."
Very large caps
My strongest reason for believing it is edible is that it had pieces that were missing/eaten by animal(s) as well as insects. I witnessed two box turtles wandering around eating suillus, taking one or two bites, moving on and repeating. Since then I have noticed that only the toxic species of fauna or fungus seem to look "perfect" all the time. When is the last time anyone has seen a messed up deadly Amanita with insects inside and animal bites? The most beautiful tend to be that way for a reason, especially if mature and clearly more than a day or two old. I have yet to find a perfect large Stropharia rugosoannulata unless you go to a known spot literally while the rain is tapering off after a heavy day.
**The picture of the mushrooms in the forest was another species but looks to be the same mushrooms, just in a different location a few miles away. 


For those not familiar Clitocybe contains many very good edible species, but it is very hard to find good literature or identification for the many variations of the Genus which is why the species hasn't hit me yet. Worse, apparently DNA tests have revealed that many of the species differ significantly like many other taxonomic classifications of fungi. There are "deadly" poisonous species and identification is difficult and this is not considered a beginners mushroom. It took me three weeks to finally be "sure" of the genus, mainly because it drove me crazy that nothing that I narrowed it down to had such a large cap. The size sets it apart.

I have found this same mushroom in a many locations, throughout the year (late spring-frost) for two years now. I plan to eat it next time (probably quarter of a cap to see if any muscarine symptoms show up, then add a quarter of a cap every 30 mins for two hours until one cap has been consumed, wait 24 hours and see what happens).

Stop reading here unless you have nothing better to do, this is just some additional personal stuff. I accidentally had alcohol after eating a few fresh pounds (dried or when cooked it isn't so much but a colander full pre cooked) of Coprinopsis atramentaria (Ink Cap, the one you shouldn't drink alcohol with). The result was pretty funny. My wife said I looked drunk, crazy, and tired. Anyway my eyes looked crazy bloodshot, like I had been drinking for a week straight, and from my shoulders on up, neck/face red like a bad sunburn. Vision was a little cloudy, felt off balance, kind of funny, almost high. I am always ultra careful eating and save specimens in case of poisoning. This was from one (large) glass of wine. I tried to finish the bottle and had the same reaction though much milder over the next few days. I think three days later I drank half a bottle of wine and mainly just got bloodshot eyes and a red face. Point is I made a big mistake about drinking alcohol knowing full well it was bad (I totally forgot I couldn't, a friend came over to celebrate something and voila). I will do it again and post before, during, and after pictures just so it exists on the internet (if this post has pictures which means I finally figured out uploading). If you plan to be like me and eat any mushroom you know won't kill you, understand I have experts' cell numbers and I go foraging whenever I can with seasoned people to learn. I am 99% confident in what I am doing and I know the consequences and I have a very strong body. Even edible mushrooms if consumed consistently can be poisonous or deadly if you don't know where you are picking them from or because some toxins take time to build up. Some mushrooms can be eaten once every month or more but daily will put you in the hospital. The "tippler's bane" mistake would have been much worse if it wasn't for the fact I don't drink often nor in large amounts, and almost never liquor. The effects lasted almost a week, just like the books say (granted I ate tons of Coprinopsis atramentaria because I found so damn much two days in a row). I had a few beers around 5 days later for game one of the 2017 NBA finals (best friend is big cavs fan) and my face got more red than usual, but otherwise felt fine. If the _coprine_ in the Coprinopsis atramentaria can last up to 5 days in the body like it did for me, who knows how long other compounds will stay in the body. After that experience I plan to space my eating of certain species to a maximum of once per week just in case of toxic build up.


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## otown (May 11, 2018)

Funny because I also have seen this mushroom and got very frustrated trying to figure out what it was 2 or 3 years ago. I'm sure it was in Forest Park in Queens because I remember the pics on my phone without even looking at them now. Also on wood chips. Drove me nuts but I gave up fairly quickly. A year later, after I found honey mushrooms in New Jersey a couple times and was confident enough to eat them, I wondered whether these might have been ringless honey mushrooms but without any actual specimens (just old pics on the phone) didn't dive in too deeply to the field guide. Funny story re the alcohol, never eaten any of the ink caps myself but definitely ID'd several, including in my potted fig trees. I think that beautiful=deadly rule of thumb is a little dangerous (in the way much of the internet tries to be cautious about rules of thumb), but I've also found some great chanterelles that were pristine and beautiful in northern New Jersey.


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