mushroom id ? TRYING several pics!

[partndn]

My first attempt at pics, so cross fingers!

Was in the mountains this weekend for a few hours. (I wish longer!)

CF and WIHH - I'm trying to post pics of mushrooms to identify.

I think I see "chicken of the forest."

The little plant that's mostly white is a flower called Indian Pipe. I just put it in for fun. A flower that has no chlorophyl, obviously no green, is kinda odd.

One pic of shrooms looks like a couple of sea coral, and the rest, I just don't really know one from another.. brown, white, etc.

If you can id any, post away.

Also as always, warning to folks about not attempting to eat stuff you aren't 100% sure about.

[oldmanriver]

don't know what they are but good pictures

[buslady]

The sea coral is what we call deer antlers. Very good eating. Buslady

[partndn]

I wish they weren't quite so big, but I am tickled the pics at least worked!

Deer antlers.. ok. good to know. Thanks!

[Cabin Fever]

I'd say "NO!" on the Chicken of the Forest (ie, Sulfur Shelf mushroom). Your mushroom appears to be growing out of a cherry tree, ours are always out of an oak tree or stump. Also, sulfur shelf mushrooms typically appear in several stacked "shelves." Your example has only one shelf. Lastly, the top of sulfur shelf mushrooms have bands of color, your example is a solid color....sorry.

[partndn]

Good thing I didn't sample any! I'm just starting to try to learn.

Now, doggit, I forgot a couple.

Here's one that could be "lobster?"

Some white ones...
and the last is just my idea of heaven on earth.. to be able to live where you could hear the sound of this nearby.. oh.....

[Cabin Fever]

It that color on your Lobster example is "florescent orange," then I'd say "yes!"

I believe that Lobster mushrooms are the only funnel-shapped mushroom that has a florescent orange color.

Here is a photo we took of a couple Lobster mushrooms:

[Ravenlost]

Oh, thank you for sharing the Indian Pipe photo! Brings back memories. We had them in the woods on my parents' place in Alabama.

[MELOC]

photo 3 and the last photo look like a lactarius. i think i even see a drop of milky fluid on the gills of the second lactarius. the ones we find here look identical and we call them "beef steaks" or "milk plates". the lactarius we eat always must "bleed" the white milky substance, or we leave them alone. if it bleeds white sticky fluid, it is most likely a lactarius and is ok to eat. they are tasty and very filling. please do research to be sure. some literature states there are several types of lactarius and some have been reported to cause stomach distress in some people. i have never experienced any problems. i learned to forage and eat them from my dad and he ate them all his life.

the coral mushrooms appear to be what we call "buckhorns". it may be "claveria", but my quick internet research failed to find the info i wanted. there are many fungi in that family and if i remember my reading from years ago, some of those have also been reported to cause gastro-intestinal distress. that said, i have eaten them and my cousin hunts them often and has eaten great quantities of them. i find them mostly in pine forests. there are many other coral mushrooms that may or may not be fit to eat, so be careful. i have only ever eaten the tan/blond colored ones. i have seen orange ones, but i shyed away as i was not sure about them.

the lactarius are easy to identify and i would feel safe eating them. be sure they bleed sticky white fluid!

[partndn]

This is so much fun and so interesting.

I wish I didn't feel like I needed to get a 6 year doctorate to be safe!

I wish I had an old App mountain dwelling kin person who could spend time with me and teach me "hands on" all the secrets and gems of knowledge. sigh..

[MaineFarmMom]

Does anyone have a name for the fourth picture? We've always called them goats beards but without a proper name I've not been able to find them online.

[ronron]

Cabin, does your lobster have ribs on the bottom if so are they on the cap or do they extend down the stem? or is the underside of the shroom more celulose (like a sponge) looking I want to be very exact when I see one for eating that i have the right thing? we are taking a class in two weeks

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by ronron

Cabin, does your lobster have ribs on the bottom if so are they on the cap or do they extend down the stem? or is the underside of the shroom more celulose (like a sponge) looking I want to be very exact when I see one for eating that i have the right thing? we are taking a class in two weeks

A Lobster mushroom is actually an inedible white Lactarius or Russula mushroom that has been infected with an orange mold. The orange mold will mostly fill in the ribs and gills on the underside of the host mushroom.

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by Wind in Her Hair

I hate to disagree with my esteemed colleague but if the gills aren't completely closed, I wouldn't trust it.

Some mushrooms (like Fly Agaric) start out pale yellow and go through phases to darker orange to even a red but are still NOT edibles! Lobster mushrooms are very very DENSE, thick stalked, blunt and they are heavy and have NO gills! AND they are fluorescent orange.

http://mushroom-collecting.com/mushroomlobster.html

Excuse me, but how may times have I used the term "funnel shaped" when describing a Lobster mushroom. A Fly Agraric has the typical toodstool Or "umbrella" shape....sheeesh!

In my experience, funnel-shape + flourscent orange mold = Lobster mushroom

And from the website YOU referenced, we have this excellent photo. The outside top half of this lobster mushroom has gills....yes, gills....that are nearly filled in by the florescent orange mold.

[partndn]

Y'all be purdy now.

CF yer just starting something so you can make up when you get home.

I went to the library today to try to preview some books I might like to purchase.

It's aggravatin' how they put the scientific names, and maybe ONE reference to common name or such... I'm sure there are many possibilities.

Thanks y'all. Still interesting and fun

[sirquack]

Now that you have shared the beautiful photos you have of your walk in the mushroom meadows, what kind of camera did you use? I am looking to get myself a new camera after being displeased with the photos that the wife's digital camera takes.

[partndn]

sirquack -
Mine is a Canon Powershot A520.. whatever that means. 4MegaPixel.. nothing real fancy. I've had it about 2 years. I got it at Sears.
It has settings for "landscape, close up, fast moving," etc. But I just had it on automatic. They were all pretty clear except the funnel shaped one. I musta been moving on that one.

[MELOC]

there is a great variety of good digital cameras on the market now. i would opt for a sony, canon, nikon or olympus. i think walmart has a 12.1 megapixel for $180 or less...i forget the brand. the 14 megapixels are coming soon to a retail giant near you. the sweet thing about having a high megapixel value is that you can stand away from the subject in a wide angle view and be certain it will remain in focus. you can then crop in on a portion of the picture and still end up with a great quality photo. pretty soon you won't have to get anywhere near the nude beach to have fun, lol.