I have a number of photos of mushrooms I'm trying to ID, photos taken just north of San Francisco, on Mt. Tam. Any help would be greatly appreciated. http://anthrome.wordpress.com/2008/12/27/unidentified-fungi/ http://anthrome.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/unidentified-mushrooms/ http://anthrome.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/orange-mushroom/ http://anthrome.wordpress.com/2008/12/27/unidentified-mushroom-6/ I have quite a few more... trying to become more familiar with mushrooms in the area.
Hi Anthrome, Here is the link to the explanation of how to post photos here. http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=60953 cheers -frog
1. Russula sp. 2. Leccinum sp. 3. unclear from photo. 4. Amanita section Vaginatae. There are wonderful mushroomers in the Bay Area! They have one of the most active Yahoo discussion boards (of a local group, anyway!) on the internet, too. Google "Yahoo group" "BAMS" and "mushroom" and it will be the first hit. I suggest that you go on some guided walks with those folks this coming season. best of luck ...
MycoRob, In #2, how did you determine it was a leccinum sp? The sponge gills and texture on the stem? To my untrained eye the cap makes it look a lot like boletus edulis. Thanks!
The dirty off-white pores, plus the dirty stalk that has some dark scabers, and a bit of a blue hue (bruising) that my eyes (or maybe it is my mind) can make out.
Hello from the beautiful SF Bay Area! Rob's IDs almost got it right, and we appreciate the plug to BAMS, Rob! It's two years gone, but your beautiful bolete was indeed Boletus edulis var. grandedulis, not a Leccinum species. It can be hard to ID from just a photo, and lighting and color is not always indicative of what the mushroom looked like in hand. Our CA version of edulis grows BIG (you might have noticed) and when mature, the pore surface colors a reddish-brown. The prominent stipe reticulations (raised lines) caught light and may have looked like scabers or even bluing. But that critter was an edulis nonetheless. Don't cry over lost porcini though...by the time that they get to that size they are often already occupied by a whole city of mushroom maggots! Only that beautiful shell of a bolete is left... All the best, and keep on huntin', Debbie Viess Bay Area Mycological Society www.bayareamushrooms.org