Would anybody be able to identify these mushrooms? I wanted to put them in my soup but I did not want to risk getting sick.
They look like they belong to the genus Coprinus. Consider this a preliminary assessment based on a single photo and no other details about the mushroom's habitat; there is also no way for me to guess which species these are. Regardless, if they are from the genus Coprinus, these examples are too old to eat.
Don't even think about putting a wild mushroom into your food, without being 100% sure of the identification. Not doing go is like playing Russian Roulette with five live bullets in the the magazine of a six shooter. Some of the most deadly poisonious mushrooms appear to be the most attractive. One should get to know the poisonious one first. Choose well known ones to eat, oyster and morals are relatively easy to identify, but the common ones purchased in supermarkets has many look alikes in the wild, and are often difficult to identify. When mushroom hunting I sometime meet older people from the Eastern parts of Europe, and they often have some useful practicable knowledge, which is basically reliable, plus I use other sources of information. Extreme care is the watchword, when choosing wild mushroom to ingest. Durgan.
Sorry to be a bit late to find this excellent site but just had to say that I could not agree more with Durgan. Most of my forays and consumption take place around my vacation home in Tuscany Italy that the locals regard as the porcini capital of Europe. After returning from our first foray, the locals were very pleased to sort our findings, in the event, discarding 90 %. They were very concerned that they would end up having all the hassle of sending us back home in wooden boxes hence insist on sorting our finds. It must be said that our% of rejects are not so numerous now, and they always err on the side of safety. However on one occasion we returned with a crop of purple-capped russula, that my book said were not edible however, the locals said "si buono"! Many of these good folks literally lived from the fruits of the forest during world war two and I imagine were very hungry - I therefore was happy? To accept their word (Russula Roulette). Anyone interested in this great region could find out more at www.underthetuscansun.co.uk Had the pleasure to canoe the Bowron Lake circuit last year and was amazed at the specimen fungi down near the falls. Great place B.C.
