the mushy season is upon us

[eddy]

i have just come back from walking the dog and there are little fungi popping up everywhere as a result of recent rain here in perth we are also getting a fair bit more today. for the last few years i have been thinking about which ones i could try but obviously caution is first does anyone have any thoughts on the very young puffballs as they look great when they are fresh and young also i have found some beefteak fungi and something that looks like a native reishi anyone out htere have any thoughts

[Bluetongue]

Hi Eddy,
Welcome to the forum I know there's another thread, quite recent, on this subject, but can't immediately see it. Lately all I've eaten have been the field mushies - brown gills. I think the beefsteak's edible, but please check in a good fungi book before trying anything new.

Can anyone direct Eddy to the other thread?

[Ed Dunkel]

Yeah try this link:

http://www.bushfood.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10&sid=322e58bda77bcaf0a96eeb5a66769f8b

And please be careful, read up or bring someone along that knows what to look for.

Remember there are old mushroom lovers and bold mushroom lovers, but there are no old and bold mushroom lovers.

[clare_b74]

Just a warning that's probably well known in mushie circles but was news to us in our new abode: the Adelaide Hills, and probably other parts of Oz, have a "yellow stainer" mushroom which looks ridiculously like a field mushie but will do some nasty damage to your liver, eventually anyway. Looks like a field mushie, brown gills and all, but stains yellow if you break it or run your fingernail across it. Smells a bit more pungent as well...

[Bluetongue]

Yeah, someone recently warned me about them, too. We must have both types locally. I'm pretty chicken but now know how to ID the field mushies and saffron milk-caps. It's a start

The saffron milk-caps stain green, from memory, and only grow around pine trees as far as I know.

The Field Naturalists go on fungi forays. Permaculture and Slow Food groups tend to know knowledgeable fungi bods too, Eddy, if you have access to any of those people.

[eddy]

thanks for the replys and yes i am aware of the yellow stainers we seem to get heaps over here in the perth hills and i will definetly steer clear of em , just yesterday i found some huge field type mushys but with white gills and ill be staying clear of them too does anyone have info on identification guides on the net i have seen fungimap but seems mostly eastern states

[Bluetongue]

Sorry, can't find anything but fungimap as an online resource, but saw these in my travels .....

Freo fungi walk and talk (last year) here:
http://www.freofocus.com.au/news/html/fungi.cfm
Contact numbers given.
Perth Urban Bushland Fungi here:
http://fungiperth.org.au/index_bf.html
.. has been updated to include a link to this year's walks and workshops.
Edit: There's a link to identification tips, but they don't have a database... they recommend compiling your own - using books. Good luck!


Inexpensive book called Fungi of the south-west Forests, by Richard Robinson, mentioned here:
http://fungimap.rbg.vic.gov.au/fni/fni6.html

another book,
Fungi of Southern Australia
Author: Neale L Bougher & Katrina Syme
Publisher: University of Western Australia Press 1998
..mentioned here (with transcript of interview with Katrina): http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/earth/ ... 049619.htm

[Bluetongue]

A member of another group has recommended Lepista nuda mushrooms as tasty and safe to eat. Bruce Fuhrer's "Field Guide to Australian Fungi" (2005) says they are ok when cooked, but mildly toxic when eaten raw. Probably an introduced species like the Saffron Milk Cap, as they grow under pine trees and other exotic plants.

[Bluetongue]

Maybe some of us are 'over' mushies already for the year, but Gardening Australia are featuring a range of wierd and wacky specimens next week, on ABC TV.

If you miss it, look out for a fact sheet after the programme is aired, on the site below:

www.abc.net.au/gardening