The Fungus Among Us

A blog where I dump all the photos of mushrooms I've found and photographed around the Pacific Northwest purely for my own and others enjoyment. Please don't be a dumbass and view this blog as encouragement to pick/eat any mushrooms you find. Mushroom hunting can be the ultimate game of russian roulette pretty fast if you're not being careful with identifying... Mush' love and be safe! 

[cipheramnesia]

I bet if a mushroom could lap water out of your hand with a tongue that a gently drinking mushroom tongue on your hand would be the softest and gentlest thing.

[pnwfungusamongus]

Stropharia rugosoannulata -  King Stropharia , Wine Caps     +50p

Habitat: Commonly found popping up as scattered gregarious clusters usually in mulch, wood chips, straws, lawns, gardens, and other cultivated areas covered in rich organic debris. They can be foraged from spring through autumn.

Edibility: Coveted for its edibility and fine taste. Widely cultivated throughout parts of eastern Europe and is one of the best wild edibles ready for the table.

Spore Color: Deep purple brown to black.

Gill Color: Whitish or gray, soon transitioning to tones of purple and soon black in age with white edges.

Cap Color: Color varies from cap to cap. Often described as wine-red, purple-brown, reddish-brown. Fading to tan and in some cases grey in old age.

I need to know more!

[pnwfungusamongus]

Agrocybe praecox -  The Toasted Marshmallow Mushroom     +10p

Habitat: This species variation is most commonly found within urban landscape settings growing alone, or in crowded clusters from wood chip mulch, garden beds, or even disturbed soil areas during springtime to early summer in the PNW. In the last photo you can infer that the sign post was recently put in as the soil had to be disturbed to do so, resulting in a lovely cluster of mushies. 

Edibility: Edible, but taste is described as mediocre at best. There are also other variations of this species with unknown edibility.  

Spore Color: Cigar-brown

Gill Color: Light gray-brown fading to dull ochre-brown

Cap Color: Color varies from cap to cap; ranging from creamy ochre to yellow-brown to olive. Becoming cracked and fissured in age resembling a toasted marshmallow or pretzel bun.

I need to know more!

[pnwfungusamongus]

Agaricus crocodilinus -  The Crocodile Agaric     +25p

Habitat: Found in grassy areas, sometimes under trees in woods during the fall. Widely distributed throughout much of North America.

Edibility: Considered a delicious edible*!

Spore Color: Dark brown

Gill Color: Whitish, soon morphing to dark brown in maturity

Cap Color: Whitish. Smooth becoming scaly, cracked, and fissured resembling that of crocodile skin. 

I need to know more!

*the Agarics genus is filled with fatally poisonous species that tend to resemble one another. PLEASE always identify whatever you pick, and never eat anything until you are 100% sure what it is.

[pnwfungusamongus]

Tricholoma focale -  The Booted Knight Mushroom     +10p

Habitat: Forming a symbiotic relationship with conifers and pines, this mushroom can be found alone or gregariously in fall throughout the northern montane regions of North America.

Edibility: Edible, but not very choice. Described as tasting mealy, bitter, to downright foul. 

Spore Color: White

Gill Color: Whitish, soon with an brown rusty tinge in age. 

Cap Color: Orangish-red covered in brown fibrils with a white inrolled margin

I need to know more!

[pnwfungusamongus]

Xylaria hypoxylon  - Candlesnuff Fungus     +10p

Habitat: This visually striking fungi is usually the last in a line of other mushrooms to decompose rotting wood. It can be seen year-round in the PNW, growing gregariously from rotting logs, decomposing stumps, roots, and even buried wood debris. There are dozens of similar lookalikes to this fungus that can be told apart only under microscope. It is also weakly bioluminescent! (might resemble the fading glow of a candle when snuffed out?) 

Edibility: Not considered edible for its size and toughness.

Spore Color: White asexual spores coat the tips eventually turning completely black in age. 

I need to know more!

[pnwfungusamongus]

Coprinellus micaceus  - Mica Caps     +10p

Habitat: Usually seen growing in clusters from decomposing wood, rotting stumps, roots, and even buried wood. There are many similar lookalike species. You can find these year-round in the PNW region, but most abundantly come springtime.   

Edibility: Edible! Described as watery, thin-fleshed, but otherwise tasty with medicinal qualities. Their habit of growing in clusters year-round make them an abundant option for a meal.

Spore Color: Dark brown to black

Gill Color: Gray becoming brown and soon deliquescing (liquidizing in age) into an inky black

Cap Color: Honey-brown or amber evolving to dark gray, striated partially to the center and distinguished by its coating of fine mica-like granules.

I need to know more!

[pnwfungusamongus]

Amanita gemmata - The Gemmed Amanita     +25p

Habitat: Fruits alone or in scattered groups usually preferring the rich duff of a mixed conifer forest, sometimes near the side of a wooded trail/road. In the PNW*, it is common to find throughout spring, summer, and fall following the intermittent periods of rain in the drier seasons. 

Edibility: Unknown! A lot of people shy away from ingesting this mushroom because it is rumored to contain a varying amount of the same toxins found in Panther Caps and Fly Agarics.

Skirt Color (”Annulus”): White

Spore Color: White

Gill Color: White

Cap Color: Creamy to golden yellow

Universal Veil (”Volva”): White, free-rim collar which some shagginess above

I need to know more!

*A Note; The presence of this mushroom in PNW forests is somewhat contested as there are some who claim this is only a similar species to the true A. gemmata originally documented in Europe. This may very well be a different hybridized species as the characteristics among gemmatas can vary due to this uncertainty in the taxonomy of this genus. Only time will tell if these North American coast species will be organized into their own subspecies group.

[pnwfungusamongus]

Clitocybe nuda - The Blewit     +40p

Habitat: Grows scattered to gregarious, often noted in rings or arcs, from organic debris rich duff in forests to gardens. Although it favors cold weather, you can see it throughout the mushroom blooming season. It is reported to send up multiple crops of fruiting bodies and can even thrive from shredded newspapers and compost. 

Edibility: A cherished edible and fan-favorite within the mushroom foraging community. Popular for its taste, distinctiveness, and abundance as a wild edible. Described as having not only a unique fragrant scent, but also a pleasant taste with a somewhat bitter aftertaste.

Spore Color: Dull pink

Gill Color: Vibrantly lilac when fresh fading to a buff pink, sometimes brown, in age.

Cap Color: Similar to the gills, it resembles lilac shaded with brown fresh and then fades to a buff tan-brown in age.

I need to know more!

[pnwfungusamongus]

Clitocybe dilatata - Earth Oyster Clitocybe     +10p

Habitat: Usually seen growing terrestrially in tightly packed clusters along sandy-gravely roadsides or trails. Common in the Pacific Northwest during the fall.

Edibility: Uncertain. Some report it as tasting sour and bitter claiming it to be poisonous. It is said to have infamous toxin muscarine. 

Spore Color: White

Gill Color: White

Cap Color: Buff white with an incurved margin

[pnwfungusamongus]

Polyporus badius  - The Black Legged Polypore     +5p

Habitat: Either alone or in groups growing from rotting hardwood debris, preferring Aspen, occasionally coniferous. 

Edibility: Too tough to be palatable. Those who have though reported a very mealy taste

Spore Color: White

Pore Color: White when fresh, fading to brown, and then completely black in age.

Cap Color: Tan chestnut to reddish brown, with a paler margin. Turning completely black in full maturity.

I need to know more!

[pnwfungusamongus]

Pluteus cervinus - The Deer Mushroom     +12p

Habitat: Growing usually from rotting wood. If seen growing from the ground, assume it is growing from buried rotting wood. Grouped or solitary and can be found throughout the picking season  

Edibility: Edible! Smell and taste resembles raw radishes. Eat raw or cooked.

Spore Color: Pink, or flesh-colored

Gill Color: Starting white and maturing to pink, or flesh-colored

Cap Color: Dark brown and tan, resembling the fur of a deer.

I need to know more!

[pnwfungusamongus]

Pluteus cervinus - The Deer Mushroom     +12p

Habitat: Growing usually from rotting wood. If seen growing from the ground, assume it is growing from buried rotting wood. Grouped or solitary and can be found throughout the picking season  

Edibility: Edible! Smell and taste resembles raw radishes. Eat raw or cooked.

Spore Color: Pink, or flesh-colored

Gill Color: Starting white and maturing to pink, or flesh-colored

Cap Color: Dark brown and tan, resembling the fur of a deer. 

I need to know more!

[pnwfungusamongus]

Stropharia ambigua  - Questionable Stropharia     +5p

Habitat: Growing terrestrially from rich soils such as wood chips. Common throughout the U.S West Coast favoring niches that are cold, dark, and damp.  

Edibility: Tastes like dirt

Spore Color: Dark purple brown to black

Gill Color: Purplish-gray to black

Cap Color: Buff yellow to yellow-brown

I need to know more!