As autumn comes around, some of my favorite wild mushrooms start popping up from the loam in the forest. This time of year yields wildly coveted chanterelles of many different varieties, matsutakes, lobster mushrooms, gemmed puffballs, and the start of truffles.
My first trek out this season didn't yeild much for edibles that I could readily identify. The gemmed puffballs were probably the most easily to spot. They are edible, but from every text and reference that I have come across, the taste is bland and unspectacular. I did find a large patch of lobster mushrooms. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of this patch.
I have yet to prepare lobster mushrooms I have found. I think my hesitance comes from the idea that the "mushroom" is actually a fungus parasitic fungus that grows on top of other species of mushrooms. While I am mostly able to identify the rusullas that are the common host to the parasite fungus, I am never certain if the orange musky weirdness have claimed something more ominous (as if some orange parasitic fungus that encrusts a living organism isn't ominous enough).
These other pictures of various mushrooms and fungi are of things I think are kind of neat even though I know nothing about them...
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