Hop City Maple

Edible mushrooms we positively identified

It's early summer, and mushrooms are steadily ramping up, but we will not expect large hauls until the fall. The Hop City Maple family forest is exceptionally conducive to beautiful "gourmet" edibles. To the west, the Mourningkill runs through the property; proximity to water always makes us hopeful when prospecting for mushrooms. The more northeast portion of the forest is marshy and swampy, so the space is moister but the water is still and not in motion. Throughout the land, there is abundance of mixed conifers, deciduous forest, and old-growth hardwoods. The forest is rife with sugar maples, red and white oak, beech, elm, ash, birch, hemlock, and more. Mushrooms love these trees and grow mycorrhizal with them! Let's recap the mushrooms we found and positively identified.

Cantharellus cibarius

Golden Chanterelles

Fertile surface area has decurrent, forking false gills/ridges
Spore print is white
Color is light yellow/tan to deep yellow/gold
Stipe will peel away like string cheese; the inside is white
Smooth caps that develop vase-like indent as they age
Mycorrhizal (unique relationship between mycelium in ground and the trees) with deciduous and coniferous forests; these guys cannot be cultivated
Generally mid-summer, but in my experience, golden chanterelles have a much longer season than other mushrooms
Grow IN the ground, not ON wood directly
Grow in single mushrooms, sometimes very small clumps, but never in large clumps like oysters
Faint apricot aroma

Ganoderma tsugae

Reishi

Has a glossy, lacquered cap
Finely pored fertile surface
Reddish-brown, banded cap with a "peripherally inserted" stem, which gives Reishi its beautiful fan shape
Brown spore print (learn how to make one!) that may leave the tops of lower brackets dusty, obscuring the lacquered caps
Mycorrhizal: We found these wild Reishi growing directly on hemlock and in surrounding ground that was richly concentrated with decaying hemlock matter
A medicinal mushroom, reducing inflammation and more
Here's how to make Reishi tea, if you're dehydrating yours!
A note on responsible harvesting of Reishi
- Reishi can be cultivated, and often returns year after year in the wild, as long as the decaying matter is there
- However, the Wooly Adelgid has destroyed a lot of hemlock AND Reishi is the sole food source of some beetles, like the Bolitotherus and the pleasing fungus beetle

Pleurotus citrinopileatus

Golden Oysters

Bright yellow to golden brown, velvety smooth, thin-fleshed, and indented caps
White, decurrent gills that run down a white stipe that has an off-centered attachment to the cap
Pale pink spore print
Grows in clumps with a common base and overlapping caps
Saprotrophic: Golden oysters grown on decaying wood, and assist in actively breaking it down
Fruiting generally begins in the spring, alongside morels, in the same habitats; golden oysters love to grow on dead and dying elms (especially) and hardwoods
Easy to cultivate, but golden oysters are considered invasive! They are not native to the United States, and some argue are taking over morel habitats, making morels harder to find

Laetiporus sulphureus

Chicken of the Woods

Fruit bodies are generally bright orange to pale yellow/tan as it ages
Fertile surface area is pored; a golden yellow underside releases white spores
Lacks a stipe; Laetiporous is a fungus that attaches directly to wood and often grows in overlapping shelves (shelf or bracket fungus)
Saprotrophic: COW loves dead and dying hardwoods (in my experience, mostly oak, but they will grow on other trees and conifers occasionally)

Notes on consumption and more

As they say, all mushrooms are edible once.

Use caution when consuming wild foods. No mushroom will harm you by touching it, smelling it, or even licking it. It is the actual swallowing and consumption we want to be aware of.

That being said, 99% of edible wild mushrooms should be thoroughly cooked before consuming to avoid gastrointestinal distress. If you're unsure how an edible mushroom will affect you, try a small amount and wait several hours before trying more, to see how your body reacts.

Fresh mushrooms should be stored in a cool, dry place, around 38°-42°F. Field cleaning your mushrooms is the best way to keep them tidy and limit your prep work later. Do not rinse mushrooms in water until you're ready to use them; this helps prevent rot and lengthen their freshness.

Should you choose to dehydrate your mushrooms, please note that your finished product is still considered raw, and should be cooked before consuming.

Deepening the relationship with your forest

Maps and waypoints