#ethnomycology

[thebashfulbotanist]

I mentioned birch polypore, Fomitopsis betulinus, in a different post the other day, and I thought this species deserves a post of its own because it’s a very interesting species particularly from an ethnomycological perspective. I don’t see this species often, but I’ve noticed it more frequently in the last couple years. I think this is because birch trees locally have been very stressed and experiencing dieback lately on account of climate-change related heatwaves and subsequent bronze birch borer infestation. Birch polypore attacks weakened trees and kills them within a few years, meaning the trees in these photos are doomed. 

It’s also a very pretty fungus, in my opinion, with a soft, suede-like upper with fawn dappling and a creamy spore surface. Someone other than me pulled these ones off a tree! I’m really not sure why, because this species doesn’t have any current ethnomycological uses, so maybe they were just curious and wanted to look at it. 

This species was one of the fungi carried by “Ötzi the Iceman,” a Chalcolithic man murdered in the Ötztal Alps around 3230 BCE, whose body was found in 1991. 

Ötzi carried a bit of birch polypore on a strap, and researchers think he likely used it to combat a whipworm infection from which he was suffering. Birch polypore used to be used as a dewormer; it is a laxative itself, but would often be combined with even stronger laxative materials. He also was carrying some Fomes fomentarius, tinder fungus, which was, as its common name suggests, usually used as tinder. 

In more recent times, dried birch polypore was used to sharpen knives, giving it its other common name, razor strop fungus. Some folks still use it for this purpose today, and as tinder just like Fomes fomentarius, but right now that’s more of a novelty practice you’ll find in bushcrafting classes than anything else.

[pdf-tower]

John W. Allen - Maria Sabina - Saint Mother of The Mushrooms (1979)

PDF

[mythopoetics93]

A couple of heavy hitters I acquired today.

[thebashfulbotanist]

Fly amanitas, Amanita muscaria, growing near one of their favorite trees: oak. They frequently form mychorrhizal associations with spruce, pine, cedars, and other conifers. These mushrooms are iconic and easy to recognize! They can be yellow to dark red, and usually have white “warts”, which are remnants of the veil that covered them when they were developing. These mushrooms contain muscimol and are hallucinogenic, and have been used as entheogens by a number of groups of people, primarily in Siberia and Finland. In Siberia, they were often eaten in winter by local people (as well as reindeer!), which is part of why we associate them and their white and red coloring with Christmas! I personally wouldn’t advise eating them, as they can do anything from warm you up bit to cause really vomiting, sleeping for days, and wild delusions of grandeur (a famous story I learned in mycology class involved an older woman accidentally cooking them and thinking she was Jesus, then sleeping for a few days). Their common name of “fly amanita” stems from that they were traditionally used to kill flies in a milk solution. 

[thebashfulbotanist]

Mushroom id question!

Hello! I found what I think is a mushroom in my yard that looked really cool! I actually thought it was an egg at first, haha.

I think an animal or something broke it later before I could take a decent look, but! I’m really curious to know what kind of mushroom this is! I looked it up and I think it may be a coprinus comatus, but I’m not sure;;;

-----

@peachy-artist​ bingo! This is indeed Coprinus comatus, the shaggy mane. This species is good eating! I’ve collected and cooked it before myself. It’s best to gather it before it begins to turn pink at the edge of the cap, and be sure to cook it a few hours within when you collected it. This species disperses spores by deliquescing, meaning it digests itself and leaves only a nasty black spore-filled goo. As soon as it’s picked, it’ll start deliquescing, so the clock is ticking! 

[thebashfulbotanist]

It’s my favorite time of year: mushroom season! Here’s one of my first gathered mushies: a lobster mushroom, at left. Lobster mushrooms aren’t really a mushroom species, per se, but rather occur when the ascomycete Hypomyces lactifluorum infects a mushroom of the genera Russula or Lactarius. The mushroom on the right is an uninfected Russula, possible an unusually dark-capped Russula brevipes or Russula cascadensis. The Russula species the lobster fungus infects are boring and chalky in flavor, but when infected, they become almost crunchy and far more flavorful! The mushroom itself ends up deformed and that lovely bright orange. 

[thebashfulbotanist]

Here are all of the lobster mushrooms I gathered recently! I’m working on cutting and cleaning them, and I’ll probably freeze most to use later. I’m thinking about making the lobster mushroom latkes on the forager chef website!  https://foragerchef.com/lobster-mushroom-latkes/

[thebashfulbotanist]

While not the best looking example of a Laetiporus sulphureus, called chicken-of-the-woods or the sulphur polypore, this mushroom was delicious! Chicken-of-the-woods is saprophytic, meaning it digests wood and causes decay. I found this one busy decaying a very sad and dying cherry tree. This mushroom is a little on the old side, and younger ones tend to taste a bit better and have less dry of a texture. Younger mushrooms are usually darker orange on top, too, but still with the same rosette pattern, with yellow at the margins. Chicken-of-the-woods is fascinating in that when cooked, it really does have a texture just like that of cooked white meat chicken! 

Unfortunately, this mushroom is known for making some people have allergic reactions, causing gastrointestinal issues, so it’s best to try to collect younger ones, cook them thoroughly, and eat just a little bit to test if it makes you sick before eating a lot. Of course, always be 100% sure of your identification, too. This is a fairly easy mushroom to identify, but mistakes do happen. Laetiporus species that grow on conifers often are more likely to cause people to become sick, so be sure to only collect them from deciduous hardwoods, too. It also grows mostly in summer, so if think you’ve found one in fall, be wary!