Wild Mushrooms Identification
Mushroom hunters from all across the United States will be heading out into the forested regions to hunt for wild gourmet mushrooms during the months of April through November. Proper mushroom identification is critical, since many mushrooms are poisonous. Barbara Bassett of the Missouri Department of Conservation recommends completely avoiding three groups of mushrooms altogether. Spore prints and a good Mushroom Field Guide and taking along an expert ensure that mushrooms are safe for eating. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
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Field Guides
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Mushroom field guides have colorful pictures and explicit descriptions of mushrooms growing in many regions of the United States. Select a copy that best suits your location and carry it along when foraging for mushrooms to cross reference mushrooms found with the descriptions in the book.
Familiarity of Gourmet Species
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The black morel mushroom is a gourmet delight, highly prized and very expensive. Become familiar with the growing habits and appearance of gourmet species such as chanterelles, morels, oyster mushrooms and boletus types. Also, become familiar with look alikes within these groups. False morels are poisonous.
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Take Along an Expert
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Many mushroom hunting clubs in the United States host forays in springtime. Experts having vast experience of finding and eating mushrooms lead groups on mushroom hunting expeditions and the camaraderie and sharing a meal of gourmet mushrooms at the end of the hunt is a delight. Find mushroom clubs and events using the World Wide Web.
Mushrooms to Avoid
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Barbara Bassett recommends avoiding the, "amanitas, the false morels and a catch-all category known as little brown mushrooms." She says that these groups have the highest incidence of mushroom related deaths.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images The mushroom morel image by Ludmila Galchenkova from Fotolia.com
