The Daily Bucket: More fungi from the October Mushroom Show: Part 2 :

Pacific Northwest

Bellingham, WA

This is part 2 of the Northwest Mushroomers Association’s annual mushroom show. If you missed part one you can find it here.  

Corals and related fungi

When one sees what looks like corals in the forest they probably do not think immediately of seeing mushrooms. Coral mushrooms do in fact look like the corals we see underwater creating reefs of all colors and where multicolored fish roam. And some look like sponges as well. As is so often the case the Greeks have beat us to the naming process. The Latin term “fungus” derives from the Greek word “Spongos” meaning sponge.

Although these coral fungi may not look appetizing, some say they are quite tasty and versatile in a variety of dishes. Although it does not seem clear at this point, there are none known to be deadly poisonous although some might give one stomach distress. However, one source says do not eat yellow corals in the fall although they are OK to eat in the Spring. As with all wild mushrooms, it is best not eat them unless your are sure what you are eating and that it is safe.

After the equivocation on what to eat, when to eat and when not to eat, this next tray in the photo at the right has a couple of coral mushrooms on which there is some consensus. 

The Coral Club mushroom (Clavariadelphus truncatus), the erect orangish one in the upper left is apparently is quite edible. It is sweet and often used as a sweetener on desserts. 

Just across from it is the Pink Tipped Coral (Ramaria botrytis) reputed to be the most edible of the coral fungi by the Forager Chef, among others. 

Spined or Toothed fungi are often included with the corals as shown in the photo below. These are in the genus of Hericium, contrary to the corals that grow their spines upward, the toothed fungi grow their spines downward. And also contrary to the corals there is little controversy that these are highly prized edibles. Shown here are the Bear’s head  (Hericium abietus) and the Coral Tooth (H. coralloides). 

Puffballs

Puffballs . Lycoperdon, literally, “Lyco = wolf” “perdon = expelled gas, ie. “fart” and related genera are also referred to as “stomach fungi” as they grow and develop their reproductive spores inside their spherical bodies. When young, their bodies are firm and solid and when cut open are a white mass like a marshmallow. At this stage they are quite edible. Then as they mature, the spores develop and the interior becomes largely hollow and pithy. When stepped on, pushed, or touched, the hole you see in the top pops opens and spores are “puffed out.” At this point they are not edible and inhaling the released spores can cause respiratory distress. 

There are about 50 species of Lycoperdon, four of which are shown in the photo at the right. The fungi at the bottom left are Earthstars (Geastrum, spp), while attractive are not edible. The ones labeled Scleraderma citrinum are called earthballs and these will make one ill but not kill you. As they are completely spent in the photo, I don’t think anyone will be tempted to eat them. 

Here is the “mystery mushroom” I left you with from Part 1. I am sure you can see that it is a puffball — specifically it is a Pestle Puffball  (Lycoperdon excipuliforme). I noted above what Lycoperdon means. Add to this - Excipuliforme meaning, “shaped like a goblet.” Taken together you have a mushroom called a “wolf fart in a goblet!”

Next is a granddaddy of all the puffballs: The Western Giant Puffball (Calvatia booniana). This specimen shown below was found in 1963 in a Skagit County strawberry field, just south of us. Based on a core sample, they estimated that it contained about 10 trillion spores!

The Western Giant Puffball can grow up to two feet across and weigh up to 50 lbs. Further, this monster mushroom is highly edible in its early stages although it presents some difficulties fitting it into a frying pan. 

Giant puffballs have been prized for probably millennia among the indigenous peoples of north America and globally for its medicinal properties. Their primary use has been to dress wounds, staunch bleeding, treat diaper rash and even heal a newborn’s navel. 

Polypores and Allies 

Virtually anyone who has been to a forest or a stand of trees, especially ones with dead or dying hard wood will have seen some of these polypore fungi. They have little or no stem but grow mostly directly attached to trees, logs or stumps and stick out like a shelf or a bracket as they are sometimes called. These are some of the major decomposers of dead wood. Without them and many of the other fungi, our forests would be piled high with dead logs and stumps.

In contrast to the previous groups of fungi, many of the polypores can be found year round although their fruiting (growing) season tends to be summer into fall. Even though some are attractive, they are not edible like others as they are largely tough, woody, and at best like leather.  However, some of them have ancient histories of use for their medicinal properties, especially in East Asia and increasingly so in Western countries.  

 I will point out just a couple of these polypores and allies of interest from the show tray below and illustrate with a couple of my own photos of the same.

The favorite of most is the “Turkey Tail”, the polypore that looks like a turkey tail with its flared display of varying layers of concentric alternating patterns of different colors out to its wavy margin. Running your fingers over the top feels like petting soft velvet. Underneath is a soft white layer with tiny pores from which their spores are dispersed.

While not edible they are used by some who drythem, pulverize them and used them for a tea. This species has been considered and continues to be used and studied for its medicinal and general health promoting value. The Chinese have long used this as an anti-inflammatory and to treat infections. More recently one of its molecular constituents have been used to stimulate immune function and has been approved as an anticancer drug in Japan since 1977.

In the upper left and to the right here, you will see some tan-pinkish fungi lined up. These are some crust fungi that, like the polypores grow out of dead logs without a stem. They are typically softer than the polypores and are more pliable. Those shown are Phlebia tremellosa.

Another prominent polypore in virtually every woods or forest setting are the “hoof fungi” (Fomes fomantarius) that do indeed look like horses hoofs. In the tray photo above in the upper right, they are shown in a grey color against a grey log.  Although they are not as colorful as the turkey tails, they have a distinctive shape of a hoof and have long history in sustaining life among our ancestors for thousands of years. This polypore fungus has been used for at least 5,300 years to carry a smoldering ember for travelers to start fires from at least as far back as the Copper Age.  Below is a clearer photo of a couple that I found. 

 Cauliflower Mushroom (Sparassis crispa) is a polypore that appears different from the others shown but has the basic polypore characteristics that it grows on trees and stumps and DNA shows it is in the same order. In contrast to other polypores it one of best tasting mushrooms, period according to many experts (forager chef and Paul Stamets). One cook calls it the ultimate soup mushroom.

Some have suggested that they should change the common name because in fact it looks more like wide egg noodles than a cauliflower. Others think that it looks like a brain but then there are other fungi that appear more brain-like such as the Brain Mushrooms (Gyromitra esculenta).

the Cauliflower is relatively rare say all the experts and I have to agree, although I found one few years back sticking out of a knot hole in a log. I have returned to that log for three years now and have yet to see a new bloom.

My little cauliflower mushroom that has failed to reappear.

Ascomycetes or “sac fungi”

Ascomycetes or “sac fungi”  are so named for the fact that their spores are developed in small sacs. Ascomycota is the largest Phylum of fungi and includes some seemingly strange bedfellows: yeast, molds, cup fungi, morels, penicillium, and truffles. 

Orange Peel Cup: Most of the sac fungi do not take the “usual” mushroom form such as the Orange Peel Cup seen below in the photo. Rather, in this case they form colorful cup-like shapes. People do eat these and in some cases they eat them raw when put in salads for color. Apparently they have little taste but are attractive and they are not toxic at all. In fact, they are probably healthy as the orange coloring is from the anti-oxidant, beta carotene, a source of vitamin A. However, one should not eat these on in large doses or on a regular basis.  You will find these growing on the ground in sandy and grassy areas.   

Another equally attractive ascomycete cup is the Scarlet Elves Cup ( Sacrocypha coccinea). Here is  one that I found. In contrast to the Orange peel cup you will find the elves’ cups growing on logs as seen below.

Elfin Saddles  Another Ascomycete is shown in the upper right of the tray photo above. These are of the Helvella genus and are rather gross looking with their convoluted tops and and fluted stems. Their common name is the Elfin Saddle” as their cap often is saddle shaped when young before it becomes increasingly convoluted. These are labeled here as Western Elfin Saddles to distinguish them from some other closely related species.

You can see them better in the other photo from the show that has them arranged in a wheel with some of the orange peel cups for decoration. Although these are largely whitish and gray, they might also be found blackened which they also do with age. 

Candle snuff fungi:(Xylaria hypoxylon) also Stag horn fungi)

These candle snuff fungi are quite widely distributed in woody areas and found under and on fallen logs, hence its species name (hypoxylon meaning “under wood”). The white ones seen in the tray photo above are young as they turn black with age. Also as they age they begin branching and flattening like a stag’s antlers while retaining the white tips.  In my photo below you can see them starting to thicken and branch that is not visible in the larger photo above where they look string-like.

Candle snuffs  are also of interest in that they are bioluminescent although it needs to be very dark to observe it. These are not edibles as they tough and stringy but apparently they have anti-tumor action for certain lines of cancer cells as it contains lectin, a carbohydrate-binding protein and is increasingly investigated and is used in cancer treatment.

That’s it for now on the report from the big fungal show.

My intent here has been to expose those readers who do not regularly look for mushrooms when out in the woods and fields to be aware that there are many organisms in nature that you might not see unless you look for them.  I encourage you to keep an eye open to what is on the ground and in the trees. It is fun and educational to spot and identify these many colored and shaped parts of nature. 

If you have hung in here and read both of these buckets with their Latin names various characteristics, you are a true fungal trooper. Thanks for hanging in there and please share any fungal photos or stories that you might have encountered recently.