Here are a few finds from this weekend for #mushroommonday
look at this guy, I thought it was a chanterelle at first but then thought it was a jackolantern mushroom.
But the caps were much too small the the stems much too thin. The color is also a bit more yellow orange than the deep orange of a jackolantern or the light yellow of a chanterelle.
The size is just in between the two so I finally figured it out. This is a false chanterelle with the Latin name Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca. As for edibility if you confuse this with a chanterelle some reports say it is toxic but not deadly others say you can eat it lol. For now I'll stick to chanterelles as the texture of these are a bit tough compared to a chanterelle and I don't want an acidic stomach ache.
I found another one in some grass later on in the day. Given the cap coloring I would say it is fairly easy to distinguish these from edible chanterelles.
This is the year of reishis. I noticed another one growing out of an old stump. It might be time to go around harvesting some of these for a tincture.
Fall brings out the puffballs in swarms.
I suspect these are pear shaped puffballs that got a bit dried out. The Latin name is now Apioperdon pyriforme and they are a great edible. You do have to soak them in saltwater then peel off the gritty outer skin then they are perfect for pan frying and have a nice texture with a hint of smokey taste to them. Great with potatoes, eggs and meat.
Here is an old mushroom that dried out in the Indian summer here.
I flipped it over and suspect it is a horse mushroom aka Agaricus arvensis. They are edible but you have to find them fresh so you can test if they stain yellow or not to distinguish if it is toxic or not (yellow stainers are toxic). Next time it rains I'll check here to see if new ones come out so I can test them. Horse mushrooms are known to last in the same area for many decades so if you do find a spot with them they tend to show up over and over again.
That's all for now thanks for looking :-)