A Light Look at Mushrooms…

Magic mushroom

‘Tis the season for mushrooms, from the sublime to the…er…odd. The fantastical photo above was taken by Christina Lombardi. She had to work to get that magical glow. “I took two photos,” she explained. “One with a flashlight to illuminate the mushroom and one without the flashlight. I then blended the two photos together in photoshop to achieve the “Mushroom Lamp” effect.”

The two fungi below are less luminous and more…er…oddly shaped. The photographer, John Sheridan, said that the mushroom on the left is Bear’s Comb or Bear’s Brain. Others identify it as a Bear’s Head Tooth Mushroom. On the right is a Prince Mushroom. “Both delicious,” said the photographer. (Please don’t eat wild mushrooms unless you know what you are doing.) He suggests that despite the beer shown in the photo that you not consume alcohol and wild mushrooms at the same time. Other experts agree with him.

Do you hunt mushrooms with your camera or otherwise? Please share your favorite photo or story in the comment section.

mushrooms

Photo shared with us by a reader.

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::)
Guest
::)
7 years ago

That pic reminds me of the joke
god gave men a brain and a penis but only enough blood to work one at a time 😉
the coors fits perfectly betweenst the two

All in fun of corse

Lost Croat Outburst
Guest
Lost Croat Outburst
7 years ago
Reply to  ::)

My brain!?! That’s my second most favorite organ! (Woody Allen)

Sparklemahn
Guest
Sparklemahn
7 years ago

Nancy: Have you ever been to Denmark?
Fielding Mellish: I’ve been, yes… to the Vatican.
Nancy: The Vatican? The Vatican is in Rome.
Fielding Mellish: Well, they were doing so well in Rome that they opened one in Denmark.

G-ma
Guest
G-ma
7 years ago

That is a beautiful photo!thank you for sharing.i used to hunt mushrooms with my grandfather when I was yound.couldnt make speggetti sauce without it!!fond memories

browndwarf
Guest
browndwarf
7 years ago

sweet! i found some shaggy manes the other day 🙂

Trump 2016
Guest
Trump 2016
7 years ago
Reply to  browndwarf

Are you talking about the crusty wook trimigrants in garbageville?

browndwarf
Guest
browndwarf
7 years ago
Reply to  Trump 2016

trump 2016 lmao! no the actual fungi

Mikey likes it!
Guest
Mikey likes it!
7 years ago

Nice photo – it is the season! I was fortunate to be given a sack of chanterelles picked by a knowledgeable hunter & didn’t have a clue what to do but googled & OMG! Soooo good, no wonder people rave about them. Delicious & easy to incorporate into a delicious pasta.

Covelo or busted
Guest
Covelo or busted
7 years ago

MIKEY……Lots and lots of JACK-O-LANTERNS this year, more than we have ever seen. J.O.L. are a Chanterelles [bloody french spellings] look -a like,.and will kill you deader than a door/ nail/ mouse!

Mikey likes it
Guest
Mikey likes it
7 years ago

I heed the warning about the jack-o-lantern / chanterelle lookalike that is toxic. Thanks. Better safe than not.

JBIRD
Guest
JBIRD
7 years ago

What you do is make pizza dough
Cut chanterelles into small pieces
Roll out the Dough into preferred pizza size
Cover with chanterelles
Then use brie cheese as your cheese
It will change everything you have ever thought about mushrooms

Sparklemahn
Guest
Sparklemahn
7 years ago
Reply to  JBIRD

Many thanks!

browndwarf
Guest
browndwarf
7 years ago
Reply to  JBIRD

yummm!

Jackie
Guest
Jackie
7 years ago

Nothing spectacular about this photo of mine…except that I have 40 or 50 of these things growing in my yard and they are huge!

Covelo or busted
Guest
Covelo or busted
7 years ago

Agaricus [sp]family. Get a good book……. CAUTION…….A 50 cent mushroom is certianly not worth getting sick/ scared or better yet……melting you liver.

John
Guest
John
7 years ago

Can’t find that shroom in my book.

Johnny ben there.
Guest
Johnny ben there.
7 years ago

ALL OF YOU SHOULD ATTEND THE MUSHROOM FAIR. Sunday Nov.20th. Redwood Acres 11a.m. 4.p.m.
NONE of you should eat ANY mushroom unless you are damn sure, what it is. Do not take this warning lightly!!
yer first mistake, might be yer last!!!!!

visitor
Guest
visitor
7 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Here’s the HBMS page for the fair, too, with more details and a couple of good photos of previous events.

http://hbmycologicalsociety.org/wp/get-involved/mushroom-fair/

Amy
Guest
Amy
7 years ago

I took this one just today. I don’t know what kind of mushrooms these are, but they are very photogenic;)

Tim Haywood
Guest
Tim Haywood
7 years ago

Here are some Sulphur Tufts. I’m also including the link to my fb photo album FungiEtc.

visitor
Guest
visitor
7 years ago
Reply to  Tim Haywood

Wonderful photos, Tim. You might contact Britt Bunyard at Fungi Magazine and see if he’d be interested in publishing some in the mag.

http://www.fungimag.com/contact.htm

Tara Dactly
Guest
Tara Dactly
7 years ago

Orange Chantrelle I harvested, while hiking with my dog.

Sparklemahn
Guest
Sparklemahn
7 years ago
Reply to  Tara Dactly

Nice! Thanks for sharing.

Alpha
Guest
Alpha
7 years ago

Heavy squat lift gone wrong..
What’s this nasty looking thing called?

Alpha
Guest
Alpha
7 years ago

Heavy squat lift gone wrong!
What’s this nasty thing called?

Alpha
Guest
Alpha
7 years ago

I was told to wash my hands after touching this one, which was kind of a given for me..

visitor
Guest
visitor
7 years ago

Fungi Magazine is highly recommended, for both serious fungophiles and ‘laymen’.

http://www.fungimag.com/

The editor is the current director of the Telluride Mushroom Festival. If you’re a serious fungophile, make the pilgrimage at least once in your life. Bring a fun(gi) costume for the fungi parade.

visitor
Guest
visitor
7 years ago
Reply to  visitor
jahjoe
Guest
jahjoe
7 years ago

They’re watching.

Yaqui
Guest
Yaqui
7 years ago

Highly recommend David Arora’s books:
Mushrooms Demystified and All that the Rain Promises and More
which is the handy small pocket guide to go along with the bible, M Demystified.
Its chanterelles, boletes and cocorras for me today ! YAY !

Do NOT ever eat unless you are 100% sure of the identification and make sure to know the Deadly Duo: Death Cap, Destroying Angel, both in the amanita family.

visitor
Guest
visitor
7 years ago
Reply to  Yaqui

Yes, both of those are great. If one gets the opportunity to hear David speak, take it.

Also recommended, Paul Stamets books, including
‘Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World’
and
‘Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World’.

Paul is fantastic speaker ; here’s his TED talk,
‘6 ways mushrooms can save the world | Paul Stamets’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI5frPV58tY

Lost Croat Outburst
Guest
Lost Croat Outburst
7 years ago
Reply to  Yaqui

Yes, great books and very spacey and fun. I invested a few dollars trying to establish a morel colony in my yard. Followed instructions, no dice. I never saw any mycelium at all in the sphagnum peat that was the alleged inoculant. Makes me suspicious that Quality control was lacking. They tell you it’s dicey and you can believe it, but morels are so good. Big fail for me with the Stamets Fungi Perfecti org, but people seem to like them. Love the Arora books.

Way back in the day when I lived for a while near the Loleta dump on Hookton Road, the Dunaway would lead us on bolete hunts in the conifers after the first fall rains. Big mushrooms with slimy caps and pores, not gills as I recall. Peel off the slimy skin and a pretty good, tasty ‘shroom. Have an expert guide and s/he eats first.

visitor
Guest
visitor
7 years ago

If one is interested in the subject of indigenous, shamanic, ritualistic use of mushrooms in healing ceremonies, check out
‘Little Saints: Eat a Mushroom, Talk To God.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPgovG3S01s

The filmmaker, Oliver Quintanilla, has had a near 20-year connection with a legitimate curandera in Oaxaca. She does not advertise; his initial meeting with her was filled with synchronistic magic, beginning two weeks before they met.
After many years and many personal visits for healing, she allowed him to film five healing ceremonies, four with individuals and one with a couple.

The film is reverent; it does not sensationalize; there are no ‘trippy’ graphics or ‘trippy’ music. Incredibly well edited and composed, weaving in several interviews with individuals in the fields of anthropology, ethnography, entheogenics and theology.

It’s a serious subject and deserving of respect; this film is the finest documentary work on native healing rituals that I’ve ever seen. It does not ‘push’ anything: it documents and exalts. Highly recommended for anyone with an active interest in these topics and for anyone with serious curiousity about them, interested in learning.

Sparklemahn
Guest
Sparklemahn
7 years ago
Reply to  visitor

Thank you very much.

Karen Thomas
Guest
Karen Thomas
7 years ago

Took pictures of this one today.

Nor Cal Local
Guest
Nor Cal Local
7 years ago

Mendo Amanita Muscaria “Red Fly Agaric” Legendary psychedelic mushroom which must be prepared before used. Used by many Pacific Northwest Tribes from Siberia to Mendocino.

visitor
Guest
visitor
7 years ago
Reply to  Nor Cal Local
visitor
Guest
visitor
7 years ago
Reply to  visitor

Incredible article by Jeffrey Vallance: ‘Santa Is A Wildman’

http://www.laweekly.com/news/santa-is-a-wildman-2135731

‘….One symbol is a miniature sleigh pulled by a tiny reindeer. This image is used by the shaman to “ride into the sky,” calling to mind Santa’s Christmas Eve flight. On the other hand, Siberian shamans feed psychedelic mushrooms (Amanita muscaria) to their reindeer. The animals’ metabolism removes the toxins from the mushrooms but leaves the hallucinogenic properties intact in the urine. The shamans then drink the reindeer pee to “fly high.” “

Sparklemahn
Guest
Sparklemahn
7 years ago
Reply to  visitor

Excellent.

Sparklemahn
Guest
Sparklemahn
7 years ago
Reply to  visitor

Christmas reading!

visitor
Guest
visitor
7 years ago
Reply to  Nor Cal Local

Preparation is actually very easy. Needle some thread through the stalk and hang them up to dry. Eat dry. Simple.

Perhaps you have another, valid technique.

Note: the white spots are ~~~not~~~ toxic. That’s a myth.

Sally Pringle
Guest
Sally Pringle
7 years ago

Took these on Sunday in Brooktrails

Sally Pringle
Guest
Sally Pringle
7 years ago

Brooktrails Sunday November 13 2016

Photo by Lila Wynne

Yaqui
Guest
Yaqui
7 years ago

Tried the Chanterrelle w Brie cheese on a flatbread !
Fantastic, thanks for the tip.
I added roasted red bell pepper pieces ,
even more fantastic w/o overpowering the shrooms

Sparklemahn
Guest
Sparklemahn
7 years ago
Reply to  Yaqui

Can’t wait to try it, too.

Subslinger
Guest
Subslinger
7 years ago

Found these in Redwood National Park a few weeks ago.