Found these just up the bank from the Missouri River, along a mulched trail. There were several of them together, growing out of the mulch at the edge of the grass and plants. I also found them in different locations along the trail.
I soooo need to find a book on 'Mulch/Woodchip Fungi' :o) Did these have smooth caps...sticky...flaked...furry? The younger ones would more likely retain any of that then the older specimens. Did you by any chance get a spore print to see if it was purple, black or brown?
I did not get a spore print. I was mainly taking photos and walking. Here are a few more photos. The second and third were of mushrooms in different parts of the path, but I think they were the same type at different stages of growth. You can see that truck key- it's 2.5 inches long- so these are rather large. I have been unsuccessful in identifying them using online id keys and I'm awaiting arrival of the Audobon guide in the mail.
I LOVE my Audubon Field Guide...but it sadly doesn't provide every mushie out there. It's helped me tons though on more familiar ones or even unusual ones. This really looks like a possible black spore from the residue on the skirt in the second photo in the first group. Possibly a Stropharia species with that shaggy stem. Do you remember if the stems seemed hollow or 'tough' or brittle? When I see these 'new' mushrooms...each one just seems so exciting in it's hidden possibles. Maybe Rugoso Annulata? http://www.mushroomexpert.com/stropharia_rugosoannulata.html
Thanks C.Wick, Frog and MycoRob. It does indeed seem to be Stropharia rugosoannulata. In my searches online for identification I didn't even come across the Stropharia species. There has got to be a better way to i.d. mushrooms.
When you get you're Audubon guide...in the back before the index there's great information guide to help. Categories for mushroom ID's by spore color helped me here. There's litterally THOUSANDS of species of mushrooms just in the US. (over 1,500 here in KS alone) Many FAMILIES, Subfamilies and so on. Many also get re-categorized so it's almost impossible to keep track of everyone. My favorite mushroom, Netted Rhodotus (Rhodotus palmatus), found here in Kansas is the only one in it's family and was once in another. There's a recent discovery of a mushroom believed to live IN water also. Another new species. Fungi is such an amazing world with so much still to learn. It can definately be over-whelming and frustrating figuring it out.
Thanks, C.Wick. I'm relatively new to identifying fungi. I hunted morels a long time ago and kept meaning to go out again. Well, I finally did this year, found some, and now I'm hooked. While trying to study the morels, I became fascinated with the whole field of mycology. It's amazing that I can't find a single guide to mushrooms in Nebraska- all the crap that's published and not one helpful guide to fungi here. I've also been unable to find any local clubs. Anyway... I found what I believe to be the Netted Rhodotus yesterday. They're cool. The stranger the mushroom the more interesting to me. I've attached a couple pics. Thanks for the tips.
You sure did! Most people can go a life-time and not see those....They're my absolute FAVORITE mushroom, especially for photographing. If you remember the location you found them you should be able to go back in the fall (Sept. here) sometime and find them again? They've such beautiful colors and the textures are just amazing to me. Cool that they're the only one in their 'class/family'. Very unique! Right now you should also start to find Chanterelles...another great edible. Check around mown areas along wooded areas and especially under Oaks. A great book that might help is A Guide to Kansas Mushrooms by Bruce Horn, Richard Kay and Dean Able. I've met both Bruce and Richard (Skip) and both are great people for ID's. You're area is very similiar to mine in fauna so might be a good one? I ebay often for mushroom books and sometimes this one comes up for only a couple dollars. A couple other books that I just got and are great: 'Mushrooms of W.Virgina and the Central Appalachians' by William C. Roody ,and, 'Macrofungi Associated With Oaks Of Eastern North America'..there's 6 author's listed but I'm sure you could find it under the name. I couldn't find any Nebraska clubs either? Maybe you should start one? I know most of the members of mine drive in from Missouri almost an hour's drive or more.
Thanks, C.Wick. I'll look into that book. Also, may go out along the edge of those woods and try to spot some Chanterelles. I've been wanting to search for them but really had no idea where to look. So, fish dr: are "wine caps" = Stropharia rugosoannulata? And they are a decent edible?
Hey there NebraskaDave, I googled and found mycologist Marvin Williams, at the University of Nebraska email: williamsm@platte.unk.edu Perhaps he would be willing to recommend a regional text and/or know of a local group. cheers frog
Yes, delicious. Just don't eat them three days running, especially with alcohol, because they eventually interfere with some digestive enzyme that causes severe abdominal distress. These are also known to radically increase production of various vegetables when they are cultivated together. They are also known as the Garden Giant for this reason. A third name is King Stropharia. The caps are known to reach 12 inch diameters. Unfortunately the stems are a favourite for maggots, but mushroom expert Paul Stamets finds them delicious even with the maggots. If you are interested in this kind of thing, may I recommend his book: Mycelium Running. And don't be looking for chanterelles until after the first fall rains, and only under the certain trees they are obliged to live under. They are a mycorrhyzal fall mushroom. Happy shrooming.
May I ask why u say this? This is our top season for our Chant's. All our myco experts collect the beautiful golds at this time. 2nd season is in fall for us.
Then I stand corrected. Let me rephrase: Don't go searching the Pacific North West for Cantharellus formosus or Cantharellus subalbidus until the fall rains, under Douglas Firs or Western Hemlocks. This is the first reference I have heard of spring/summer chanterelles anywhere, and I've read plenty. What species are you collecting CWick and from under which host trees ? Fish Dr.
Fish dr, I think that, even on the West Coast, Chanterelles will come up in the summer whenever there is enough rain. Here in Vancouver, I've collected them for over 30 years and found them in mid-July a number of times when there was rain in early July. However, invariably you can only collect a few small to medium size specimens before everything dries up, leaving hundreds of shrivelled buttons. The main crop comes later, when steady rains arrive.
I've 86 ounces of Cantharellus cibarius in my refridgerator right now, and had picked almost as much only Tue/Wed. Mine were collected in a mostly Oak forest. Fellow hunters had small collections of the same that they collected from they're neighboring yards. We'll have them again in the fall when Jack O Lanterns appear around stumps and other hosting trees but our Chant. collections stand free of tree...sprouting large and trumpet-like in huge gatherings in same locations we collect in the spring. The ones in the photo below were the bag-full collected yesterday...the one on top still has the base as my son collected that one. It's about the size of the palm of my hand. We collect 2/3 of the groupings...leaving the smallest to continue sporing. The ones we're collecting right now are beautiful and not bug-ridden.
Thank you for the (as always) excellent picture. They're beautiful, and very different from our "formosa". Your caps are apparently much brighter, more a lemon yellow than the rest of the mushroom, and the gills look much more like true gills than ours. Ours caps are more uniformly apricot coloured and The gills on ours have a dusty look and a very low a profile and look sort of molded, as from clay. The have a similar staining reaction it is not as intense as with yours. If we cut ours off with a knife, leaving the stem in the ground, often a second crop will appear on the same stem later. If we pick the "root" there will usually be no more that season. It is very rare to find that wildlife or insects have eaten a 'formosa" or a "subalbidus" before you got there. Bacteria and other fungi seem to be similarly reluctant to eat them. Subalbidus are huge. They will stay fresh on the ground for weeks if they do not either dry out or become waterlogged. Conditions at the beginning of the season are usually most like this. Later they are often very wet. The only Oaks that we have native here, that I know of are Garry Oaks, and unless you consider morels to be mycorrhizal, they seem to have no notable partners that I have seen. I have also not seen Chants on the introduced oaks in landscaping here. Often other trees come along complete with their fungi. Pleast tell in what ways yours are similar/different, especially with regard to pest and wildlife grazing. The fungi I find most interesting are those that we humans eat the other animals and bacteria and fungi eschew. Another favourite of mine, that fits in this category is the Shaggy Parasol, Chlorophyllum rhacodes.