Please Help Me To Identify These Mushrooms

[Mintaka]

I have uploaded some images here (link below) and will add photos as and when I find them.

 

I know that visuals alone aren't enough, I am new to mycology and don't even have a microscope yet,

 

but if any of these leap out at you and you can help me to identify them, I will be one happy chappy.

 

Thank you!

 

My Mushrooms

[Turtle]

nice shots. :) i know very few fungi identifications, but have read that making a spore print is a useful technique to that end. there are instructions at this source:

 

Mushroom Expert.Com

While a single mushroom spore can't be seen by the naked eye, a pile of many spores can--and the color of a mushroom's spores, seen en masse, is a crucial identification feature. Obtaining a mushroom's "spore print" is therefore an essential step in the identification process. ...

[Turtle]

i think these may be chantrelles. (never eat a mushroom that you are not positively, absolutely, without doubt sure of the id. )

 

Chantrelle @ wikipedia

 

[freeztar]

Since you are beginning with Mycology, I'd like to reiterate Turtle's caution about eating wild mushrooms. You must be *absolutely* certain before putting even a piece of a mushroom in your mouth. Mycetism is about the worst way to die. Amanita phalloides poisoning is a poignant example. Of course, collecting and identifying mushrooms for purely scientific purposes poses little risk and is encouraged! Stick to public lands, follow the laws, and wash your hands after handling mushrooms and there are no worries.

 

With that out of the way...

I agree with Turtle about mushroom #1. It looks like really old chanterelles. I wouldn't eat any mushroom that was that old and woody. I've tried and they are not good, at all.

The others are too difficult to identify from the pictures alone.

 

Mintaka, where about do you live? Geography is a factor in identifying mushrooms.

Spore prints yield the most definitive ID, but you need a microscope to view the spores. You can see color without the microscope, but I've seen mushrooms of the same type, picked in the same area, give slightly different print colors. So generally, I caution against using spore print color as an accurate identifier, though color can be useful in eliminating potential species that have entirely different spore print colors.

 

There are lots of other identifying factors, including but not limited to, gill type, gill spacing, gill attachment, annulus, cap type, cap color, cap margin, single or colony, ground attachment shape, size, and style, striations, veil, etc.

 

Some of that is hard to see in pictures, even with the great photos you have posted, Mintaka. Perhaps you can describe some more about mushrooms 2 and 3 to help with identification?

[Mintaka]

Since you are beginning with Mycology, I'd like to reiterate Turtle's caution about eating wild mushrooms. You must be *absolutely* certain before putting even a piece of a mushroom in your mouth. Mycetism is about the worst way to die. Amanita phalloides poisoning is a poignant example. Of course, collecting and identifying mushrooms for purely scientific purposes poses little risk and is encouraged! Stick to public lands, follow the laws, and wash your hands after handling mushrooms and there are no worries.

 

With that out of the way...

I agree with Turtle about mushroom #1. It looks like really old chanterelles. I wouldn't eat any mushroom that was that old and woody. I've tried and they are not good, at all.

The others are too difficult to identify from the pictures alone.

 

Mintaka, where about do you live? Geography is a factor in identifying mushrooms.

Spore prints yield the most definitive ID, but you need a microscope to view the spores. You can see color without the microscope, but I've seen mushrooms of the same type, picked in the same area, give slightly different print colors. So generally, I caution against using spore print color as an accurate identifier, though color can be useful in eliminating potential species that have entirely different spore print colors.

 

There are lots of other identifying factors, including but not limited to, gill type, gill spacing, gill attachment, annulus, cap type, cap color, cap margin, single or colony, ground attachment shape, size, and style, striations, veil, etc.

 

Some of that is hard to see in pictures, even with the great photos you have posted, Mintaka. Perhaps you can describe some more about mushrooms 2 and 3 to help with identification?

 

 

Thanks all, my interest comes from wanting to be able to identify edible species because there are lots of tasty varieties here in Andalucia ( Southern Spanish coastline, near Gibraltar), but of course you are right that a microscope is necessary to identify spore shape and colour etc and this forensic side of mycology appeals to me also. It is a very elusive science and I am excited about learning more.

 

I have decided to host my photos on flickr, it's easier this way to do upload batches, so from now on I will link to them here , my Mushrooms , and upload the odd one here as and when necessary.

 

If you look now you will see that the first seven mushrooms do look like chanterelles, but after many days of checking I am now sure that we are falling into a trap.. and I think they can be narrowed down to 1) Pleurotus Eryngii ( also known as king trumpet mushroom, french horn mushroom, king oyster mushroom or 2) Omphalotus( Olearius) Illudens . ( Jack O' Lantern). A Google image search of these two types throws up ( in my mind) something closer to mine. However, of course I will not eat any specimen until I am sure and I have made some contacts with some professional mycologists in the hope they will give their opinion.

 

Having checked the photos for Mushrooms 2 and 3, all I can say about them now is that they were found only metres away from Mushroom 1. I will post later what kind of trees were in the area.

 

Thanks again for your input....:)

[Castle-RockCannabis-Club]

You might want to build up a little mycology toolbox!

 

Mycology stains and reagents.

<link removed>

 

The KOH is a common reagent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KOH_test

 

Mycology - Alpha Laboratories

<link removed>

Edited March 14, 2011 by Qfwfq
spammish

[Jorge1907]

Mushroom identification is not usually performed with stains and "reagents" (whatever was meant) and KOH use is limited to clinical mycology to dissolve tissue in which fungi (usually dermatophytes) may be growing - typically human tissue.