weird fungi

[Undergrounder]

Hi Dave, i used to be really into mushrooms and i could ID just about anything (here in Australia anyway).. let's just say i had a few hippie friends and it paid off to know your shrooms

I know that nothing there is edible, nothing looks particularly poisonous either but certainly not edible. If the Ganoderma is accurate you can make a tea out of it but don't, i'm just guessing with these IDs (I don't have my mushroom book with me at the moment)

1 - 2. the first photo, the purple one, looks like a Reishi shape but isn't Reishi. Possibly Ganoderma of another kind.
3. Three is too small and not enough info to identify, could be many things but possibly Stropharia
4. Don't know.
5. Don't know.
6. Ganoderma?
7. Was it growing on a typical mushroom-like 'stalk'? If so, possibly a Russula
8. Piptoporus?
9. Mycena

The thing is though, most mushrooms are just about impossible to identify accurately by photo alone. Especially the shelf and bracket fungi like the ones without 'stalks' that you posted attached to trees.

What would really really help an ID is if you take a spore print when you see them.

Spore print - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's simply to do, just leave the cap of a mushroom face down on a piece of white paper overnight, and in the morning all the spores will have left a visible print on the paper. You can often ID mushrooms to genus by the colour of their spores. How the gills attach to the cap, the smell, colour that it turns when damaged, the type of tree it's growing under and other things are also important.

In that kind of habitat you aren't likely to find many edible mushrooms at all, just about your best chance is Chicken of the Woods and Oyster Mushrooms, both of which grow on trees. For traditional edibles like some Agaricus spp. and morels and things you need pine forests, and for 'magical' types, at least in Florida, you need cow pastures.

[flhiker]

Originally Posted by Undergrounder

Hi Dave, i used to be really into mushrooms and i could ID just about anything (here in Australia anyway).. let's just say i had a few hippie friends and it paid off to know your shrooms

I know that nothing there is edible, nothing looks particularly poisonous either but certainly not edible. If the Ganoderma is accurate you can make a tea out of it but don't, i'm just guessing with these IDs (I don't have my mushroom book with me at the moment)

1 - 2. the first photo, the purple one, looks like a Reishi shape but isn't Reishi. Possibly Ganoderma of another kind.
3. Three is too small and not enough info to identify, could be many things but possibly Stropharia
4. Don't know.
5. Don't know.
6. Ganoderma?
7. Was it growing on a typical mushroom-like 'stalk'? If so, possibly a Russula
8. Piptoporus?
9. Mycena

The thing is though, most mushrooms are just about impossible to identify accurately by photo alone. Especially the shelf and bracket fungi like the ones without 'stalks' that you posted attached to trees.

What would really really help an ID is if you take a spore print when you see them.

Spore print - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's simply to do, just leave the cap of a mushroom face down on a piece of white paper overnight, and in the morning all the spores will have left a visible print on the paper. You can often ID mushrooms to genus by the colour of their spores. How the gills attach to the cap, the smell, colour that it turns when damaged, the type of tree it's growing under and other things are also important.

In that kind of habitat you aren't likely to find many edible mushrooms at all, just about your best chance is Chicken of the Woods and Oyster Mushrooms, both of which grow on trees. For traditional edibles like some Agaricus spp. and morels and things you need pine forests, and for 'magical' types, at least in Florida, you need cow pastures.

Thanks for your help. I really don't plan on eating anything I find. And definitely not looking for the Magical variety, I actually know where to get them I do a lot of hiking and always wondered what I could eat that I didn't have to carry. More of a curiosity. Oh I absolutely love Oyster Mushrooms. Never had Chicken of the woods. Thanks again.