# fall mushrooms



## hardwaterfan (Apr 6, 2004)

i was wondering what kinds of fall mushrooms you guys like to look for besides hen of the woods? id like to expand my horizons a little bit. what is the choicest mushroom to be found in the fall? is anyone looking?


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

This is the only one I have ever eaten.









This is a meadow mushroom. I always called the button mushrooms but apparently they are slightly different. I get pretty nervous when it comes to what is edible and what is toxic or lethal. I would not want to be wrong.

Here is a link to a pretty informative listing of all kinds of mushrooms, both edible and non-edible.

Introduction to fall Mushrooms


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## bronzebackyac (Apr 19, 2005)

I like puffballs sliced and fried in egg wash and butter. Add a little salt and pep and your in there. I don't know if you can consider them shrooms though. I think they are a fungus.


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## lv2fish (Jun 23, 2005)

I am with bronzeback, puffballs are the only thing I will pick and eat in the fall. Not good enough to know good from bad. Might be the last mistake I make, besides, puffballs are pretty good eatin'.


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## hardwaterfan (Apr 6, 2004)

chanterelle, false chanterelle, or something else???


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## Old Graybeard (Apr 1, 2005)

Anyone out there hunt sheephead? An old friend of mine used to and made a dynamite mushroom salad out of them. He said you normally found them on old rotten oak trees. I've never seen one in the wild but I"m qualified to say they tatse tremendous when mixed with peppers, onion, olives, and such.


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## hardwaterfan (Apr 6, 2004)

hey OG, did you see the other thread i started? 

hen of the woods = sheepshead

i found one the other day, under a really old oak tree.


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## esox (Dec 26, 2004)

and this is the time of year to find them. I usually see them on old mowed lawns /berms. Surf under shaggy manes and there will be pics. They are very distinctive, easily identified, and unlikely to be confused with any others.
Those meadow mushrooms, (Agaricus Campestris, yum), are best in the button stage, (as are most 'shrooms). That is, before the caps open and separate from the stem. Less buggy at that stage too. I usually find those in old mowed lawns around Red/pin oak, White pine, Colorado Blue spruce in particular, and conifers in general. Once the fins underneath the caps turn from pink to brownish black, the taste/texture starts to deteriorate.


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## ohiojmj (Apr 16, 2004)

Gentlemen, after losing my dear brother-in-law to a single mistake of (mushroom) identity, I'd suggest you think about the consequences of making the first and last mistake of your life for the sake of taste of the wild. My Brother-in-law was born and raised a farmer in Italy where he lived his first 20 some years before moving to western New York to continue his life long desire to farm and live off the land. He picked and ate mushrooms in the wild for decades against the better advice of the loved ones he left behind. As I pay my final respects to my best man and the best man my sister could ever have married and met, I make two suggestions from the bottom of my heart:

1. Heed the warnings of the experts, not just me and my sad story. Never pick and eat mushrooms from the wild. Ask yourself: Is it really worth it?

2. Sign the papers when you renew your licence to donate your organs. I personally watched both great joyous moments and experienced the worst during my brief stay in the transplant center of Strong Memorial hospital in Rochester.

Here's the story. Don't think your smarter than "the other guy". It could cost you and your family/friends dearly.

*I prefer this post not turn into a debate as I will not*. I just felt obligated to express my thoughts here since I recalled reading about this on OGF. God Bless. I must now tend to my sister and fatherless nieces/nephews.



Mushroom fatal to man in Northtowns


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Victim picked and ate poison fungus from yard

By SHARON LINSTEDT 
News Staff Reporter
9/21/2005 

Click to view larger picture 

Associated Press
A Northtowns man died after eating Amanita bisporigera, known as "angel of death" and "destroying angel."



A Northtowns man died Sunday in Rochester's Strong Memorial Hospital after eating an "angel of death," a deadly mushroom he picked in his back yard. 
The man, whose identity has not been released, ate the poisonous mushroom Wednesday evening and eight hours later became violently ill with vomiting and diarrhea. His family called the Western New York Poison Control Center on Thursday morning and was directed to seek immediate medical treatment. The mushroom's scientific name is Amanita bisporigera, and it is among the most deadly toxins on earth. 

The man, who had picked and eaten wild mushrooms in the past, was initially treated in Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, Amherst. 

"He received several different therapies in the hope something would modify the outcome, but nothing worked," said Dr. Prashant Joshi, medical director of the regional poison control center at Women and Children's Hospital. 

As the mushroom's deadly toxins took hold, they attacked and poisoned the man's liver, making a liver transplant his only chance of survival, Joshi said. The man, in his 50s, was transferred to Strong Memorial for the procedure, but died before a donor liver became available. 

Ernst E. Both, curator emeritus of mycology at the Buffalo Museum of Science and a longtime consultant to the poison center, was called to help identify the ingested mushroom. Both said that a description over the phone and specimens provided by the victim's family confirmed his worst fears. 

"Unfortunately, it was an Amanita bisporigera, a death sentence," Both said. "It's pure white and absolutely beautiful. It just begs you to pick it." 

Both said the all-white mushroom, whose ominous nicknames include "angel of death" and "destroying angel," starts off looking like a small egg. As it grows, a traditional mushroom cap and stem shoot up to a height of 3 or 4 inches. 

The white mushrooms sprout in wooded areas, near the base of large trees. According to Both, two species of amanitas, equally deadly if ingested, are fairly common in Erie County. Consuming less than two tablespoons of the deceptively delicate-looking mushroom will cause death due to liver and kidney failure. 

While several varieties of poisonous wild mushroom can be found throughout the United States, deaths from eating them are rare. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, there were five mushroom-related fatalities in 2002, and only two in 2003, the most recent year for which fatality statistics are available. 

Locally, authorities recall only one death from mushroom poisoning. In November 1999, an Akron woman died after eating Lepiota josserandii mushrooms, or "death parasols," which she used to make soup. The Filipino immigrant mistook the poisonous fungi for a mushroom from her native land. 

"Picking mushrooms for eating is not safe unless you're really an expert," Joshi said. "When I give talks about poisons, I tell people the only safe place to pick mushrooms is the supermarket." 

Both said that he hopes the local man's death alerts area residents that there are poisonous mushrooms in Western New York, and that they put themselves at risk by harvesting them. 

"It is unfortunate that people who insist on eating them don't try to educate themselves better," Both said. "There are many poisonous varieties of wild mushrooms that resemble harmless ones. As this man found out, you don't get a second chance when you eat the wrong one."


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

Wow OhioJMJ that is terrible news! I always said that I was afraid to try it myself for fear of messing up. Your story may help drive home the seriousness of the warnings. Thanks for taking the time to share this.

My heart goes out to your family.


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## hardwaterfan (Apr 6, 2004)

im sorry to hear about your loss.


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## esox (Dec 26, 2004)

That's a dern shame particularly because it didn't have to happen. 
Most mushrooms are inedible simply because they don't taste all that good by themselves as opposed to being mixed in an omelet for example, not because they are poisonous and it's possible he had eaten other similar looking mushrooms in the past and had no ill effects. 
One thing about the more virulent poisonous mushrooms, I've yet to see the members of the Amanita family, bisporigera and virosa, that have been eaten by insects.
I know a guy who collected mushrooms for years, still does, even though he poisoned all the family members at a spaghetti/family reunion dinner. The 'shrooms were mixed in the spaghetti. Fortunately, it was not a deadly variety. Most poisonous mushrooms are not generally fatal. Notice I said most, not all. Although survivable, virosa and bisporigera poisoning will leave life long liver and nerve damage. A number of years ago, an Ohio Amish family were poisoned by this same 'shroom. They survived but the kids suffered serious and permanent liver damage. In the case of my buddy, the whole family, from the grandparents on down to the grandkids, "tripped" for several hours before getting medical attention, except for the dog, which was never quite the same. 
Very sorry to hear about your brother-in-law.


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## Master Angler (May 26, 2004)

Esox...LOL...that sounds like that was intentional...that must be some cool dog


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## esox (Dec 26, 2004)

MA, sometimes I wonder the same thing, especially knowing my buddy. He seemed to think the whole thing was pretty funny. His dad, who taught him all about mushrooms and was in his early 60's when this happened, realised first what was happening. He just said, "Uh-oh, uh-oh" when he first started to see the traces.
The dog curled up behind the tv for a couple of days and never ate spaghetti again.


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## shroomhunter (Aug 6, 2004)

The Amish family was saved because the driver that picked up their milk knew something was amiss when the milk was not set out for pick-up. He went to the door and the wife was the only one able to get to the door. He said that when she let him in they all had a yellowish color to their skin. When he got to the dairy he called his wife,a nurse, and she sent an ambulance to the house. The children were in the hospital for weeks. They did all recover but only because they got medical attention in time, although even immediate treatment may not save a life, as indicated in the article.

The Audubon Society puts out a descriptive field guide for mushroom identification which is filled with color pictures. They are strong proponents of having the mushrooms identified by using a spore print. They also suggest/insist upon taking the mushrooms to a mycologist for positive identification. 

I eat only what I know are absolutely safe and never push them upon anyone else. Even with the field guide there are no guarantees because some varieties have look alikes which are poisonous.

Ohiomj, very sorry to hear about your loss. God bless you for being there for the family.


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## ss minnow (Aug 11, 2005)

What the heck is this? I have two in the back yard. They make a thump like a mellon when i hit them with a stick. I am hoping the pic comes through.


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## esox (Dec 26, 2004)

Puffball! Nice one too. A bit bug eaten, but still a good one. Very edible but imo, not one of the better edibles.
Btw, it's hard to tell from the pic, but does it look like a skull? If so, it's a skull puffball. Looks like the bunnies may have been chewin' on it too.


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## lunder (Aug 23, 2005)

Don't trust bugs or mushrooms that have been nibbled on. Box turtles and some insects have no trouble consuming poisonous mushrooms. This also make eating box turtles dangerous, as well as illegal.


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## esox (Dec 26, 2004)

Just curious lunder, which insects eat poisonous mushrooms? I'll have to make sure they are on my 'do not eat' list along with the box turtles.


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## lunder (Aug 23, 2005)

I've seen slugs on some of the less poisonous type. Not insects I know but point is just because something else nibbles doesn't mean it is safe. Some caterpillars can also eat poison laden foliage. Bon Appetite


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## esox (Dec 26, 2004)

Hahahahaha, those caterpillars don't microwave well anyway.


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## lunder (Aug 23, 2005)

Yeah and the hairy ones really stink up the grill!


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## husky hooker (Apr 6, 2004)

BKR those mushrooms make my mouth water.i always take tons of them from the cemetarys around here.fried in butter with eggs......what a meal.but those are the only ones i trust to eat.they come up in europe around this time and dad always picked them to eat.just make sure they are white on top and brown to dark brown under. leave the pink ones alone guys.


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## Fish-N-Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

I eat the meadow mushrooms and puffballs. In fact I found a large mess of both this week in the yard. I had almost 2 dozen meadow shrooms right off the rear deck under my blue spruce Tuesday am. Then overnight on Weds I had 8 fresh puffballs come up in the middle of the yard that are just perfect.

These and of course the spring sponges are the only shrooms I eat.


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## hardwaterfan (Apr 6, 2004)

id love to eat a spring sponge, if i could ever find one!!! ive looked and looked, read all about them....and only found one puny half free for all my efforts. oh well i guess it will be even more special when i finally do hit a nice patch of them.


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## ss minnow (Aug 11, 2005)

Esox, thanks. Any idea what this one is? I thought that a puff ball was a smaller 1 1/2" dia. that belched out greenish brown powder sporse when you kicked it. I also have some regular toadstool looking mushrooms i am wrestling to get the pics small enough to post.


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## ss minnow (Aug 11, 2005)

oops! thats a top view on the right and a bottom view on the left.


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## Elamenohpee (Nov 17, 2004)

Mushrooms change charcteristics from one continent to another. One in Europe can look identical to one in N. America. The one from Europe was edible but that same one in N. America was deadly. I hear this story evey year and its very sad indeed. The first rule for eating wild mushrooms is "NEVER eat an all white mushroom". I'm the only person I know who can identify an edible all white N. American wild mushroom.


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## Anth (Aug 16, 2004)

hey SS Minnow I bet when you tuch the yellow bottom part it bruises blue?


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## Anth (Aug 16, 2004)

also, Can puffball's grow on dead trees on the ground and stumps?


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