Mushrooms growing on my mounts

[Laserbeak]

Now you've given me ideas... I want to make a mount with an orchid and Psilocybe mushrooms!

[ALToronto]

Originally Posted by Laserbeak

Now you've given me ideas... I want to make a mount with an orchid and Psilocybe mushrooms!

For all I know, that's what my mushrooms are! I know Psilocybes grow in Canada natively, but I've never had one identified to me.

I've been picking edible wild mushrooms since I was 5 years old, and rule #1 is, if you don't know it, you don't touch it. Of course, you learn about the nasties - there are only 6 kinds that are truly dangerous - and my homegrown shrooms aren't on the bad list. But otherwise, they're non-descript LBMs - little brown mushrooms that only the most committed mycologist would bother identifying. Most likely harmless but bad tasting.

[Laserbeak]

Originally Posted by ALToronto

I know Psilocybes grow in Canada natively, but I've never had one identified to me.

I don't know what kind of species would grow in your area so you would want to make sure it physically looks like one of them first. Luckily they are one of the easiest to test for. Just bruise them and wait like 10 - 30 minutes. If the bruised area turns a bluish color, it's a Psilocybe.

Only one other type of mushroom in the world passes the blue test but it doesn't look anything at all like any Psilocybe species.

---------- Post added 10-11-2013 at 12:06 AM ---------- Previous post was 10-10-2013 at 10:16 PM ----------

Another benefit of mushrooms is that they break down organic material that the orchids can't use into simpler chemicals that act as fertilizer for them.