Found a collection of beautiful Laetiporus sulphureus. In this video I chat about Chicken of the Woods.

Alert! A fiery fiend of fall is afoot, whose leaves of three will inflame your fur. It’s green in the season of heat, yet when barren in winter it is still not neat. Its fearsome name is poison oak, so don’t go testing it or giving it a poke. It’s an angry, steaming face that can feel like a splash of mace. Its lustrous, oily allure will pass you a pain you can hardly endure. If you seek wild mushrooms for your dinner plate, avoid wrestling this bush like a drunken mate. Plop down in front of it to behold it, but never, ever simply hold it.

Saturday afternoon, November 19, 2011

I’m sitting in Berkeley’s Long Haul Infoshop witnessing the birth of a grassroots mushroom movement. Nearly two dozen mycophiles (mushroom lovers) from the bay area have gathered to discuss “Radical Mycology,” or the limitless ways to herd and ally with fungus in order to develop a stronger awareness of the benefits of mushrooms. Some participants have cultivation experience, others have logged hours researching fungus, and others are here to lend a supporting hand with land, labor, and resources.

Today’s meeting was led and organized by Maya Face, whose experiences at previous radical mycology meetings in Washington inspired her to develop a local bay area group. The meeting was divided into two parts. Maya initially discussed the role of mushrooms in our environment, explaining how mycelium (the larger underground organism that produces mushrooms) breaks down organic matter and returns stored nutrients to the earth. She then went on to explain how humans, by allying themselves with fungus, have been able to grow edible mushrooms and reduce bacterial and toxic contaminants in our environment.

The second half of the meeting was used to organize action from participants. Members discussed interest in cultivation and further intent to use their collective labor to reduce waste in the bay area, whether it be oil spills or toxic effluent. We sat around the room discussing different inexpensive methods to cultivate mushrooms. Before adjourning, members set a time and place to meet, who was going to gather materials, who was going to offer space and how money would be raised for further projects.

I heard about the meeting through the Shroomery, an online message board dedicated to individuals interested in all things mushroom. In the announcement, Maya explains “Why Radical?”

We see the use of fungal species for environmental betterment as an extension of “radical” or “deep” ecology, which considers all beings as having an inherent value and interdependence. Through our collaboration with fungi, we are attempting to challenge assumptions about the importance of the fungal kingdom in an effort to help shift our relationship to Earth toward greater harmony. One of the things that distinguishes radical mycology from some of the other things going on in mycology is that the kind of mycology work that we’re supporting is very cheap or free, are very DIY [do-it-yourself] and seek to reduce our reliance on the globalized industrial capitalist system. Mycogardening, mushroom cultivation, mushroom identification, mushroom paper-making are skills that can help us live outside of that system, and build a sustainable future.

Maya played with a mycelial metaphor. She explained that like mycelium, an underground organism, we connect. When the time is right, a work of labor emerges like a mushroom. Ideas, like spores, are released and spread across the land. She hopes this convergence is a way for ideas to spread. Maya was adamant that the group work selflessly, not to be wrapped up in who generated an idea, but instead to think of the larger picture, that each active participant’s role will greatly benefit the group’s mission as it evolves.

If you are interested in participating in further bay area radical mycology meetings, contact Maya Face, armillarianabs@gmail.com

I hope this lore carries you to the woods! Enjoy!

Some silly spirit in the sky stole my enchanting rainbow. He whipped that gleaming goddess at the gasping ground and she shattered and scattered, countless stained glass pieces settled like dust, through the trees’ leaves and mass of grass.

Downhearted, I scoured for her. I leaped over logs, and stepped through bogs, but that cruel phantom cast his cold, damp blanket where my goddess once danced. He soaked my land, and ousted my days of delight. His merciless hands wrung his cloth over my head. His fearsome fire bolted the ground and his cacking cracked through the calm.

I bent my neck and stooped over the soggy soil, ready to surrender dreams of color. In my dread, I spied her! My wonderous beauty, who once held my joyous heart so high in the sky shone between my toes! With every terrible drop of water that splattered, she grew more grand.

Oh, that most magnificent, cunning lady. She sings in color!

Golden trumpeted chanterelles! Bleeding blue-bell milk caps! Brown-cloaked burgundy-wine king porcinis! Blushing brides and polka dot amies! Orange roosters sitting on stumps and chocolate hens roosting on roots!

You, too, can find her splendor in a toadstool if you venture through the meadows, over branches, logs, and frogs. Put on those shoes, slip out that room and see her grace. She’ll fill your heart and put a smile on your face.

-Joe Soeller

You’ll often find wonderful mushroom dishes at restaurants all across your town. Tonight some friends and I went to Picaro, in the Mission district of San Francisco. A delightful Spanish restaurant, Picaro serves delicious tapas and refreshing sangria. Here we enjoyed one of their mushroom tapas.

What are we looking at? This is a very common cultivated mushroom finished with spices and butter. Known scientifically as Agaricus bisporus, or the crimini mushroom, this ubiquitous mushroom had its start at the end of the 19th century in France. Cultivators found areas in the wild where this mushroom grew and transplanted the soil from which it grew to a larger area. As a result, this “virgin spawn” spread through newly available resources. These French cultivators were somewhat successful with this technique and had further success growing in temperature constant caves.

You’ll encounter Agaricus bisporus in grocery stores more often than any other cultivated or wild picked mushroom. What you know as button mushrooms, crimini mushrooms, and portabello mushrooms are all the exact same mushrooms, but picked at different stages of their growth. Only one or two days of growth can transform a button mushroom into a crimini mushroom.

In the first stage of flushing, white button Agaricus bisporus mushrooms cover the bed from which they grow. Around half of these are picked and allowed to further grow into crimini mushrooms. Around half of these criminis are harvested and the remainder grow into Portabellos, which are often as large as hamburger buns.

From a cultivation perspective, Agaricus bisporus is fairly versatile, but it tends to prefer material that has slightly decomposed, hence why they are referred to as “secondary decomposers.” Think of them as foot soldiers who sweep a battlefield after cavalry have made their initial charge.

What a wonderful treat it is for any roaming mycophile to find a monstrous magnificence, a towering and regal mushroom that steals your sight. What if that beauty is a tasty edible so massive it can feed a whole family? The answer is simple: slice it up and make a feast! But, wait! You don’t want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg, do you? If you find a wild mushroom, you can use it to make infinitely more. With exceptions, of course.

In this AskJoe, I head back to the lab to discuss the finer points of mushroom cultivation. If you’ve never dabbled, then you’re in for a treat! Kick off your hiking boots, crack a beer, and we’ll get down to the good stuff.

Michael writes,

“Is it possible to clone an already dried mushroom (Shaggy Parasol/Lepiota Rhacodes)? My friend found them wild in Oregon and brought them with her here to CO dried. I really want to cultivate these. Can I clone a dried mushroom? If not, where might I find spores or cultures for these?”

Thanks for your questions Michael! There’s a lot to share, so let’s break this down slowly to get everyone involved.

There are two ways to develop a culture of fungus: spore propagation and cloning. Through spore propagation, a mushroom cultivator can start an entirely new strain of fungus. There are many advantages to this. For instance, the ability to observe dozens of different strains until you find one that grows the fastest, or one that prefers a specific type of food. A strain has traits similar to its parent, but may develop in different ways. To develop a new strain of fungus, one must capture its spores (usually via a spore print).

Cloning a mushroom is actually a lot easier than one might think. On a basic level, cloning a mushroom only requires removing a section of its flesh and placing that flesh on a medium that supports its growth. When you clone a mushroom you maintain all of its genetic information. If you find a mushroom while out hunting, you can capture and store it while you develop techniques to coax it into production.

Even better, if you don’t have the immediate means to clone a fresh mushroom, you can preserve it for future lab work. Simply fan dry it to remove all it’s moisture (finishing it with a moisture absorbing material will really help). If you heat dry it, there is the potential to cook it, which will likely kill its mycelium.

Not all mushrooms can be cloned and coaxed into production. Three types of mushrooms dominate our landscape: saprophytic mushrooms, or those that grow from dead organic material (Portabellos, Oyster Mushrooms, Pom-Poms); parasitic mushrooms, or those that grow from living organic material (Honey Mushrooms, Lobster Mushrooms); and mycorrhizal (mushroom + root) mushrooms, those that only produce when they interact in a mutually beneficial relationship with the roots of plants and trees (Chanterelles, Porcinis, Shrimp Russulas). Of those three types of mushrooms, mushroom cultivators are doing a pretty damn good job at producing saprophytic mushrooms. We are only starting to understand how to cultivate mycorrhizal mushrooms. Success only occurs in more natural environments, when cultures are introduced to the roots of trees. Saprophytic mushrooms are grown in both sterile and natural environments.

Mycelium is the larger, underground, living body of a mushroom. It is a web-like structure that lives inside its food. When weather conditions are just right, mycelium produces a mushroom, an above-ground sexual reproductive organ. Mushrooms are basically dense strands of mycelium. Fortunately for a cultivator, this means just about any fleshy part of a mushroom can be used to clone and capture a culture (except for the gills, which bear spores).

So yes, Michael, it is possible to clone a dried mushroom! Only if it’s saprophytic, however. Is it possible to clone a Shaggy Parasol, since it’s believed to be saprophytic? I believe it is, though none of my attempts succeeded. There are several factors at play here, though. I used a basic potato-dextrose-yeast-agar solution as a platform from which it’s mycelium could grow. Unlike many other mushrooms I successfully cloned, my Shaggy Parasol didn’t seem to like this solution. It may prefer something else, however. If time isn’t a factor I’m sure you could eventually find something that will work. I have, however, read of others who successfully grew Shaggy Parasol from spores.

How do you clone a dried mushroom? Tear it open in a sterile environment. Do not let anything touch the inside of the mushroom except for your sterile blade. Rip a small piece of its inside flesh and soak it in sterile, distilled water. You can allow it to soak for a up to a day. When you return, you can transfer it to your sterile media. Embed it into the media slightly. Wait and observe. As a tip, use the flesh toward the top of the stalk. It tends to be the youngest and most active part of a mushroom.

Any mycelium that dries out can be revitalized by rehydrating it. I suspect this is why we find a patch of mushrooms in the same spot every year. Once the weather warms up and the ground dries, the mycelium underground dries and goes dormant as well. Then, as happens every year, the rains come and rehydrate the mycelium, reactivating it.

If your friend brought these dried mushrooms in a plastic bag, you might have success gathering any spores that collect at the bottom of the bag. Sterility might be a bit more of an issue, but you can use those to start several new cultures. Ask around on forums for spore prints or have your friend make a fresh print next time she runs into a Shaggy Parasol in the wild.

If you don’t have lab equipment and want to grow shaggy parasols in your backyard, you might have success depositing the mushroom and its spores in a bucket of water, letting it soak for a day and dumping the water all around your area in hopes that a culture will catch in the wild and spring up next year.

Hope you learned something new today! Remember: when in doubt, throw it out! Mycophiles unite!

I found some Lobster Mushrooms! Learn all about them in this video.

Here I discuss the differences between Yellowfoot and the Golden Chanterelle.

Tori asks,

“Hey Joe what is this? It was in my neighbors yard.”

If you don’t want to blow chunks like it’s your 21st birthday, I recommend you enjoy this toadstool solely for its pleasant, ethereal beauty. When you’re done admiring it you can practice your soccer skills by giving it a good punt. Watch that puppy fly!

This stately toadstool looks like a treat, but “The Vomiter” can induce violent vomiting for several hours after eating it. Chlorophyllum molybdites, as mycologists refer to it, is a common yard mushroom often popping up after rains, or in this case after a healthy sprinkler bath. Often growing in large numbers in fairy rings, it is characterized by brownish scales on white flesh with a nipple or cone shaped cap, a ring around its stem and white gills. The problem with The Vomiter is that it has a couple delicious lookalikes. And to be sincere, I can’t make any solid judgements about this mushroom because I can’t see key components of its makeup: the stem, the gills, and most importantly its spore print.

If you decide not to kick the toadstool, there is one way to know if this is The Vomiter. Cut the cap from the stem and place the cap gills-down on a white piece of paper. Come back later in the day, remove the cap and observe the color of the millions of spores that have descended. If indeed it is olive-green, immediately take the mushroom outside and bend it like Beckham!

So then, what are some tasty lookalikes? Lepiota procera, the Parasol mushroom, has a similar appearance but tends to have a very long stem and leaves a white spore print, hence why I don’t believe this mushroom in question is the Parasol mushroom. Lepiota procera is best used to block sunlight on a nice picnic day, and when the sun goes down, you can enjoy it for dinner. Next in order of similarity is the Shaggy Parasol, Lepiota rhacodes, or more recently renamed to Chlorophyllum rhacodes. While taxonomists are battling out proper labeling, folks around the country are enjoying this woodland species in dinner. I’ve had it and it is damn tasty, and a bit crunchy when compared to your supermarket Portabello. These mushrooms are monsters in size and hard to miss. Here is a young one I found in San Diego. Note obvious differences. But the list goes on. There are also some lookalikes that are deadly poisonous, belonging to the Amanita genus. But, that’s for another article.

As always, please do not use my advice to make judgments about what you put in your body. Remember, “When in doubt, throw it out!” If you are curious about mushrooms that you found and would like to know if you can enjoy them in meals, please first take them to an expert for proper identification . Contact your local Mycological Society. Just about every big city in America has one.

Do you have a question for Joe about mushrooms, backpacking, or anything random? Fire away… joe@mushroomjoe.com If you have questions about identification, please send several pictures of the mushroom, including its cap, its underside, and if you decide to dig it up, really get below the mushroom and dig up, because some mushrooms have important identification characteristics that are buried just below the surface of the soil. Mycophiles unite!