Replies

1. 
   Eef | Oct 03, 2009 12:25am | #1

   shoe,
   death angel.
   eef

1. 
   Lataxe | Oct 03, 2009 01:23am | #2

   Eef,

   That is not an amanita virosa nor any other kind of amanita but rather an ink or shaggy cap (coprinus comatus).  One may eat them when young but don't do so whilst supping at an alcoholic broth.  In olden days they were used for ink, after rotting down.  There are probably some WW neanderthals that will only make a plan for their cabinet using the stuff (via a quill pen; on velum).

   Here is a death cap:

   View Image

   Now, one day I will get around to scanning all my slides of fungi, including fine specimens of phallus impudicus or stinkhorn - a fine upstanding fellow albeit emanating something of a pong enjoyed by flies.  Here is a lesser specimen, found on the web.

   View Image

   Do you lads go a mushrooming in October then?  There are all sorts of weird and wunnerful ones around this neck o' the woods.

   Lataxe

1. 
   johnhenry | Oct 03, 2009 01:51am | #3

   Certainly people got out to hunt fungi.

   Chantrells are very active right now in the Pacific NW. Easy to intentify and plentiful

2. 
   Eef | Oct 05, 2009 07:42pm | #8

   good morning lataxe,shrooming in LA is not the finest. we just don't get enough rain. in spite of this, and when it does rain, we sprout some interesting fungi. last year after the down-pour, my backyard was host to, ahem, a much larger phallus impudicus than the one you posted. we also have a type of morel that is very interesting to look at and the psylocibine (SP.) mushrooms have made in-roads into the southland by way of imported wood chips that people strewn in their gardens. there is also a very large puff-ball that appears once in a while.
   eef

1. 
   Lataxe | Oct 06, 2009 01:22am | #9

   Eef,

   I can tellee be enjoyin' yoursen with all this talk of stinkhorns and puff balls.  :-)

   As to that psilocybin, it grows in profusion around here on the fellsides.  Long ago I shared a flat (apartment) with a fellow who enjoyed a tea made from the dried item.  At these times I and the girlfriend (who also lived in the flat) were apparently transformed into pixies, which caused the tea-drinker a great deal of merriment.

   Then he would wander about the town as it was filled with equally amusing goblins, trolls and even a nice fairy or two.  The innocent pleasures of yoof.

   Now, I wonder if you have fly agaric over there?  These too grow in profusion about the NW of England, especially in the birchwoods.  Many have a hookah-smoking caterpiller atop them - or so I seem to recall.

   View Image

   Lataxe, now more a hobgoblin than a pixie.

   View Image

2. 
   flairwoodworks | Oct 03, 2009 02:30am | #4

   Think you can soak it in resin and turn it? They've done that with giant pine cones.

   Chris @ www.flairwoodworks.com
   and www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)

    - Success is not the key to happiness.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer

3. 
   JohnWW | Oct 03, 2009 01:28pm | #5

   Looks like a shaggy mane mushroom, its the right time of the year. They commonly grow in wood chips and the like. They are famous for pushing through asphalt. They are considered a choice edible.

   John White
   Shop Manager for FWW Magazine, 1998 to 2007
1. 
   RalphBarker | Oct 03, 2009 05:39pm | #6

   I'm reminded of two signs at the grocery store. "Mushrooms - $$2.50/pound" and next to that, "Mushrooms?? - $.27/pound". ;-)

2. 
   Shoemaker1 | Oct 03, 2009 05:40pm | #7

   Thanks all.
   I have no desire to eat anything I am unsure of. My old Romainian Grandmother could ID mushrooms.
   I did some googling on said fungus and the ink thing sounds interesting . now I wonder if it would be good to use as a stain? Of course no idea of the light fastness but might be something to putz around with. Maybe the ultra marketing gig.That no booze mix is also interesting. Hate to be the person that found out. Like the guy who oiled his gauges on his oxygen tanks.

4. 
   WillGeorge | Oct 06, 2009 04:42pm | #10

   I have a very old sort of pine tree in front. Maybe a Cedar of some type? Not sure what it is but a fungus will grow on it in the right conditions. Nasty looking brown things grow but go away after a short time and the tree , A big one that seems not to be harmed. I think it needs it on occasions.

1. 
   Eef | Oct 06, 2009 05:59pm | #11

   lataxe,
   last winter whilst walking in the local arroyo (dry riverbed, we have lots of those around here) i chanced upon a small "stand" of chantrells, the first i have ever seen. sometimes i wonder what makes it's way down to this area and how it then gets established. for example, when i was but a kid one never saw a certain type of long legged spider. now, they are everywhere.
   for some reason beyond my own i have many memories from before i could walk or talk. seeing those red mushrooms with the white flakes on the forest floor in holland is a memory as clear as last friday.
   eefpardon, boys. i meant to post to lataxe. good morning, just the same will.
   eef

   Edited 10/6/2009 11:00 am ET by Eef

2. 
   JohnWW | Oct 07, 2009 12:03am | #12

   Those are quite possibly honey mushrooms which are good eating but you need to be very careful with the identification, there are a few similar looking mushrooms that are toxic. Honey mushrooms are a serious pest in some areas since they can kill trees. We have them up here in Vermont, had some for dinner the other day.This has been a great Fall for mushroom hunting we've had bumper crops of puffballs and entolomas.John White
   Shop Manager for FWW Magazine, 1998 to 2007

1. 
   jyang949 | Oct 07, 2009 05:42pm | #13

   If I were still living in San Francisco, I'd join their Mycological Society and go hunting for Fungus amongus.

   Janet