The Quick Guide to Wild Edible Plants: Easy to Pick, Easy to Prepare

Mushrooms

123 mushrooms are not plants; they are in the Kingdom Fungi but were traditionally included in the study of plants because they have plantlike characteristics. We include them in this book because any wild food enthusiast will encounter mushrooms while foraging and also because there are several that are easy to identify. The features used to distinguish among mushrooms are entirely different from those used to identify plants. This should not discourage anyone interested in learning about these fascinating organisms. Rather, the novice should invest in a good book dealing with fleshy fungi (which include mushrooms, shelf fungi, puffballs, and more) and patiently pursue learning how to recognize local mushrooms. This is not a book about mushrooms. Therefore, we have selected only a few widely distributed, easy to identify, and easy to prepare species. Never ingest an unknown mushroom! Be certain that you are not allergic to mushrooms so that an allergy is not mistaken for poisoning. For emergency help in mushroom poisoning, call the Poison Hotline at 1-800-222-1222. oyster mushroom widespread, eagerly sought as food, and easily identified, the Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) is named for the shape and gray color of the cap rather than for a resemblance to the taste of oysters. Its frequency and ease of recognition along with its typically prolific fruiting make it a prized food mushroom worldwide. Oyster mushrooms are now available, both dried and fresh, in food stores throughout the United States. But they are so common in nature and so easily identified that there is no need to get them from a store. The host range of this mushroom is broad and includes many species of living, dying, and dead trees. Where does Oyster Mushroom grow? In the Middle Atlantic States most frequently in floodplain forests, but it Mushrooms the quick guide to wild edible plants 124 could turn up just about anywhere, including in a neighborhood near you. The season for Oyster Mushrooms is more specific than its host tree—cool weather, especially after a period of warm, humid weather. But it retains its delightful felicity in fruiting at unpredictable times. Oyster Mushroom is a shelf fungus, which emerges at right angles to the trunk of the tree, typically producing troops of caps, sometimes in immense quantities. The top of the cap—slightly tacky to the touch when fresh—is gray or purplish gray, and the edge is curved; these curved caps help distinguish Oyster Mushroom from the many species of ubiquitous woody shelf fungi. Older mushrooms will have cracked caps with upturned rather than curved margins. Unlike the majority of shelf fungi, which are tough and can grow for years, the Oyster Mushroom decays within a week or so after appearing, leaving the tree with no trace of its once attractive parasite. Unlike most shelf fungi, Oyster Mushroom has gills rather than pores. The large, widely spaced gills are on the undersurface of the cap. Oyster Mushroom produces dirty white to lilac-colored spores. To obtain a spore print, place the mushroom, gills down, on a piece of white paper in a warm, Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus): a fruiting cluster of Oyster Mushroom on a hackberry tree. These mushrooms have just emerged within the past 48 hours and, because the weather has been cool, there are no insects. Cutting the cluster from the tree with a knife avoids breaking the caps. dry place. Maximum sporulation will occur within four hours. The base of the mushroom, the stalk, is very short or entirely lacking and is usually hairy. With its curved rubbery caps and lilac spore print, the Oyster Mushroom is distinct from any other shelf mushroom. There are no toxic shelf fungi with which it can be easily confused. The curved cap and widely spaced gills are characteristic of the widespread and often abundant Oyster Mushroom. The shape and color of the cap give the Oyster Mushroom its common name; its flavor does not resemble that of the shellfish. A spore print from the Oyster Mushroom. No other of our shelf fungi has a sordid (dirty) lilac spore print. 125 Mushrooms recipes Oyster Mushroom Soup about 10 fresh Oyster Mushroom caps (dried mushrooms can be used after hydration) 1 pint whole-fat yogurt 1 cup water 1 cup sliced Groundnuts (see page 69) salt to taste Combine 1 pint yogurt with 1 cup water. Heat in a heavy kettle but...