catching up with last years finds (sept-dec 2010)

Ahh, Agaricus augustus or perhaps A. perobscurus. "the Prince"/Princess, pictured here with Rae Ann, who happily cooks em up. A large, beautiful, almond-smelling agaricus, tasting like a portabella (A. bisporus) with a hint of a marzapan cookie. Found under some fir trees in Oly. Saprophytic... we also got some button mushrooms from our garden beds, that came in with the mushroom compost soil. we keyed it out and sure enough, M.D.* said that it's bound to happen sooner or later if you buy soil that's sourced from a mushroom farm (hearty spawn, or spores I'm not sure which)






Collin with an oyster mushroom he found on a fallen alder and a Ganoderma tsugae (our local reishi).>>>>>>>>>>>
Lecciniums ("scabers") near Mt. Rainier, a variety of bolete that has a mycorrhizal relationship with douglas fir; on a hill slope in mostly coniferous forest--with some vine maples--- in the cascades near mt. rainier. Very tasty with a slight nutty flavor...watch out for maggots, though.

Destroying angel , one of the most deadly mushrooms in the world, identified by the white cap, gills, volva, lack of striation on the cap, no strong odor (particularly not like a matsutake). A mycorhizzal mushroom, growing here under d.fir & w. hemlock, in the cascade foothills.
A hedgehog mushroom, pretty similar to a chanterelle in texture and flavor.

Amanita pachycolea (Western Grisette) identified postitively as the grisette (and not a deadly aminita) by the deep, long striations on the cap margin and the huge! volva. wowza. found under Amelanchier, Alnus and Pseudotsuga on a hill in Tenino. Didn't eat it, though 99% sure, just because it's an amanita. next time, if I can get one to an expert for final verification, I'll try it.


and Matsutake, ahh... truly it smells like cinnamon with a hint of sauerkraut and its the densest meatiest mushroom I've ever eaten and perhaps the tastiest. This one was found under w. hemlock and d.fir near Mt. Rainier, emerging with volcanic dust still attached to its stem butt and dappled on the cap. The smell is unmistakable, and so is the incredibly dense, heavy fruiting body.

Shaggy Lepiotas!

a gasp of clear skies this morning, before the torrent of pouring rains. distinct and delectable caps, big and plentiful. near evergreen sprouting up from a bed of leaf litter: bigleaf maple, alder and doug-fir. they are like scaly breasts, delicate fleshy umbrellas, eyeballs with an erect optic nerve, lil shaggy drumsticks when young.
very nice cooked with a wee slab of butter: very mushroomy, pungent and a little bitter, like a very strong flavored portabella?
Lepiota rachodes i.d. details
gills: unnattached
cap a little like (edible) shag carpet, with a gorgeous brown aereola /pupil in the center.
stalk w/an annulus (ring) that is substantial but can be carefully slid up and down.
when the stalk of a young-middle aged Lep. rach. 'shroom is cut it goes through a lovely color change process: from rusty orange to blood orange to brick red to brown.
glorious white spore print!
there's a bulb at the base of the stalk (but not a volva/sac)
the common look alikes don't grow around here. one is the parasol mushroom of the eastern u.s., also edible and choice; the other is the green spored parasol of so-cal and tropics/subtropics (poisonous!)
tonight: mushroom pie??