Twelve nh mushrooms

New Hampshire Mushrooms:
A Tiny Slice of NH’s
Mycological Bounty
A workshop on foraging wild mushrooms with
Will Hopkins

A Few things to know right off the bat
about me:
• I am a mushroom geek, I am not a mycologist, I do not have a
degree in this. I have principally learned wild edible mushrooms
from books, forums, and websites.
• While I have led friends and small groups on forays, this series is the
first time I have done so formally, or prepared a presentation.
• I took my first mushroom workshop and began foraging five years
ago- In that time, I have eaten over 20 varieties of wild mushrooms,
I have never gotten sick, had to go to the hospital, or seen anyone
else get sick from a variety I have fed or taught them.
• This is a scary subject to learn about, I would not be holding this
workshop if I did not feel like I can safely teach you to identify the
varieties we are covering. That being said, mushrooming is an
activity done at your own risk.

About Foraging Wild Mushrooms
• According to the North American Mycological Association,
less than 1% of North American Mushrooms are poisonous
• In a Study of mushroom poisonings in Poland, where
mushroom foraging is much more common than here, of
457 hospital visits involving wild mushrooms, 87.5% of
sickenings were caused by EDIBLE varieties, these were
usually harvested at high temperatures, and carried in
plastic bags for more than three hours, improperly cleaned
or cooked, or stored for more than two days. Only 5.3% of
all cases required hospitalization. NEVER EAT RAW WILD
MUSHROOMS-ALWAYS COOK.
• Read More here: http://www.wsj.com/articles/safe-
mushrooms-cause-most-poisoning-cases-1436793802

Mycophobia!
•According to the American
Journal of Botany, there are an
estimated 5.1 MILLION species
of fungus on earth.
•Species of Fungus are thought
to outnumber plant species
6:1.
•Mushrooms Demystified, the
holy bible of mushroom
identification covers over 2000.
•Mushrooms of Northeast North America, the suggested text for
this class only covers a little over 600 species.
•From Penicillin, to Psilocybin, to Amanitin, fungus contain a
veritable pharmacopeia of chemicals: Some can indeed be
dangerous.

BUT!!!
• There are a great number of species and
groups of species that are delicious, plentiful,
and safe- all you’ve got to do is learn how to
differentiate. Mushroom hunting safely is
about attention to detail.
• In the end- the final ID is always on you- be
100% sure-don’t be reckless… and don’t sue
me!
.

Your Own Body
• As the chemicals differ greatly from mushroom to
mushroom, understand that allergic reactions, and
individual intolerances to mushrooms, do happen. It is
a good idea to start with a very small amount of a new
variety. Get comfortable, and make sure your body
and each species agree with each-other.
• Depending on the levels of digestive enzymes in your
system, some mushrooms may remain in your stomach
for up to three days, so any unexplained stomach upset
for three days following may signal a variety you don’t
get along with.

A bit out of order:
How to make a spore print.
•Cut or remove cap from stem, and place the cap, gills or pores
down on a piece of paper, it is helpful to have white and black, so a
white spore print will still show up. Aluminum Foil works as well as
paper, better for white spores.
•Cover the cap with a bowl or something to keep the spores from
blowing away.
•Set the cap aside for an hour or so (we did this out of order to
leave time for a good print at the end of the PowerPoint).

Tools of the trade.
• Basket: keeps mushrooms from
getting squished in transit.
• Scissors: always cut, never pluck
your mushrooms, the “fruit
body” is the reproductive
mechanism of a much larger
organism that can be damaged
if you pluck;
select a sturdy
pair.

Tools of the trade (Continued)
• A pocketknife: sometimes you
just want the margins of some
mushrooms, especially
polypores, sometimes scissors
can be cumbersome, a good
pocketknife can be very handy.
• A brush: for cleaning off dirt,
leaves, bugs, and other
particulate before putting a
mushroom in your basket

Is there a simple rule I can follow
to keep me safe?
• NO! Rules will get you killed!
• The most deadly mushrooms take 14 days or more to kill
(Amanatin)- so even feeding them to your cat is not a safe
way to tell.
• There are a few poisonous species that grow on trees.
• Don’t even talk to me about applied kinesiology.
• “But I heard that if you put a mushroom in boiling water
that if the water doesn’t turn black…” -Really, are you
trying to win a Darwin award?
• You need to know what species you are eating, and how to
tell it from it’s look-alikes. Period.
• Okay, I don’t think there are any deadly shelf mushrooms,
but still…

Why do we cut and not pluck?
What is the 10% rule?

Edibility and Difficulty
• I like to put mushrooms into one of five types of edibility.
– Edible: NEVER EAT ANY WILD MUSHROOM RAW-ALWAYS COOK! Watch out for allergic
reactions and individual intolerances.
– Inedible: the majority of mushrooms fall here, they don’t necessarily have dangerous
compounds, but that doesn’t mean you WANT to eat them. Some are molds, or woody-
fleshed- some taste horrible, or start self-digesting (autolyzing) into a nasty goo the
minute you pick them- not necessarily dangerous, but certainly not safe to eat- inedible
mushrooms are just not something you want to put in your mouth. Anything that in a
field guide does not say edible, poisonous, or deadly, is usually inedible.
– Toxic/poisonous: These mushrooms contain compounds that will likely make you ill in
one of a number of ways- most just make you barf, some can cause severe sweating,
temporary paralysis, diarrhea, temporary psychosis, or organ damage. Any toxic or
poisonous mushroom has the potential to kill you.
– Deadly: Only a small handful of species are deadly, and none kill 100% of the time- the
worst of them can take up to fourteen days before causing cascading organ failure and a
long painful death. Deadly mushrooms are those that have a high likelihood of killing
you.
– Psychoactive: Most field guides qualify psychoactive species as toxic or poisonous.
– I will also give each mushroom a difficulty rating of Green Circle(easy or beginner), Blue
square (intermediate or use caution), black diamond (expert only), or double black
diamond (microscopy and/or expert identification required). This rating system is based
purely on my opinion- take it with a grain of salt.

Know what to avoid!
Especially when you are adding a new species to
your repertoire, reviewing the deadly species
often is a good idea. Wikipedia has a fabulous list
of mushrooms that have been associated with
fatalities. Know the deadliest species and genera
that way if you ever do screw up, it will be a night
of barfing rather than a funeral… White spored
toadstools make up most of the deadliest fungi,
so saving those until you are comfortable and
well versed might be a good idea.
Here are some genera to avoid:

The Genus Amanita
While several delicious edibles like Amanita Caesarea and Amanita
Calyptrata do exist, the Genus Amanita accounts for approximately
95% of all mushroom fatalities. Members of this genus are for experts
only and avoiding it is a great first step toward safe mushrooming.
•Amanitas are strictly terrestrial; it is very rare
even to see an Amanita on a long-decayed
mossy log.
•Amanitas do not grow in bouquetlike clusters,
though it is not unusual for several specimens
to grow in a tight group.
•Little bits of tissue (often called "warts")
adhering to the cap's surface is a trait common
to many species of Amanita.
•Commonly the edge of the cap is noticeably
striate, most of those species have either warts
on the cap or a cuplike volva around the base
of the stalk. The volva should be considered a
warning, for the most notoriously poisonous
Amanitas exhibit this structure. Note that the
volva is often hidden down in the duff on the
forest floor.

The Genus Amanita Continued
• Many Amanitas also have partial veils covering the gills of
young specimens; these are more-or-less membranous tissues
that extend from the upper stalk to the edge of the cap at
first, and later end up appearing as a skirt- or ring-like
structure on the stalk.
• The gills of an Amanita are either entirely free from the stalk
rather than attached to it or attached only by fine lines.
• Most Amanitas' gills are white or pallid, though some species
have gills that are either entirely yellow or that have yellow
edges.
• Every Amanita produces a white spore print.
• Symptoms of poisoning , primarily liver failure, from this
genus can be delayed for 14 days or more.

The Genus Clitocybe
• Soft Fleshy and Pale spored, Clitocybe has no
species of significant culinary value save for the
blewit (Clitocybe Nuda aka Lepista Nuda), and a
few that can be dangerous, it’s best to avoid the
whole genus.
• Stalk is central, and the cap tends to turn upward
when mature creating a funnel shape.
• There are over 200 known species of Clitocybe.
The grow on the ground or on extremely well
decomposed wood.

The Genus Clitocybe continued
• Before you start eating
white spored toadstools
(other than the Chanterelle
which is very distinct) you
should have a good idea
what a Clitocybe looks like.
Clitocybe Dealbata: Potentially Deadly
Clitocybe Rivulosa: Potentially Deadly

The Genus Lepiota
• Lepiotas are white spored, the gills are free from the
stalk, a soft ring remains around the stalk where the
cap separated from the stalk during the growing
process, the stalk is central to a round cap, and they
tend to have shaggy or scaly edges.
• While Macrolepiota Procera is a popular edible, but like
Amanita Ceasarea it is best kept for experts.
• Chlorophyllum Molybides resembles Lepiota, but has a
green spore print, frequently this is deadly as well.

Brown Spored Toadstools
• While many species of brown spored
toadstools are highly prized by photographers,
none are all that highly regarded as edibles,
and members of Conocybe, Cortinarius
(pictured in this slide), Inocybe, and Galerina
can all be deadly.
• Brown spored toadstools should be avoided.

Worthy of note:
• Every deadly species we have discussed so far
has a green, white, or brown spore print.
grown on the ground, or in herbivore dung.
is gilled and has a central stalk.
• The next few will be reviewed a second time
as we discuss the mushrooms I am focusing
on.

Other Highly Toxic Varieties
• Gyromytra Esculenta- The False Morel
• Schleroderma Citrinum and other Black-Fleshed
Puffballs
• Tricholoma (presents similarly to Clitocybe)
• The Genus Paxilus (Look for a rolled over cap
margin)
• Red-Pored-Blue Bruising Bolettes (spongey
bottomed)

The Four Varieties I taught in Early
Summer Mushrooms:
• Black Trumpets
• Morels
• Chanterelles
• Lobster Mushroom

Black Trumpets/Craterellus Fallax
• Craterellus Falax(black spored)/Craterellus Cornocopiodes(white
spored): similar taste, texture, and appearance. Both choice
edibles.
• Vase shaped
• Outer edges curling outward
• Thin rubberery texture
• Season from early July through first frost
• Growing in duff on forest floor
• Older forests are preferred.
• Damn near impossible to screw up- only look-alike is devils urn.
• Spectacular with curry.
• Also known as Trompe de Morte/ Trumpet of Death/Horn of
Plenty/Black Chantrelle/

Look-Alikes?
• Saprobic (wood
growing) Devils Urn is
inedible, won’t
probably even make
you puke, but not an
edible. Sometimes the
wood is buried, so be
careful. Upper edge
grows inward, and
shape is cupped, tough
leathery flesh. Far less
common.

• All members of the genus Morchella are
considered choice edibles, they are the first
prize of the spring, and are usually found in
NH in the month of May.
• Mainly the morels in NH are of three varieties,
black (Morchella Elata), yellow(Morchella
Esculenta), and half-free (Morchella
Semilibera)
• Morels sell for up to $300/lb- they are
reportedly heavenly- I wouldn’t know… 

How to tell it is a Morel
•Hollow inside (one large hollow opening)
•Honeycomb structure in a candle-flame shape
•Cap connected to stem
Poisonous Gyromytra
•Cottony fibers in stalk or
compartmentalized
hollowness.
•Cap only connects at top

Gyromytra, or false morel is one of the other
mushrooms that frequently results in fatalities,
a vertical slice is the best way to make sure that
what you have is a true morel.
If you do not find the honeycomb structure, the
hollow inside, and the general flame-like
structure, toss-it, no mushroom is worth dying
for.

Also watch out for stinkhorns, they won’t kill
you, but you would not enjoy them- most grow
in the late fall, but a quick sniff should let you
Know you don’t have a morel if the hefty stalk
And season don’t.
Stinkhorns are covered in smelly
Slime.

They say…
• The best way to find a morel, is to look on
burn sites, and under apple, elm, and ash.
Older or dead trees are the best, as the roots
breaking down is the favorite substrate. The
ash from bonfire or forest fire help with
substrate ph.
• When soil temperatures hit 50-60 degrees
• Near where you have found them before.

Chanterelles!
Season: Hottest part of the summer, mid-
July to mid-August.

The not-so-highly regarded
False Chanterelle

The Poisonous Jack O’Lantern

Is it a Chanterelle?
• Is it growing solitarily or in pairs with no more
than two from a single stalk on the ground in
mixed or coniferous woods?
• Does it have an irregular, not perfectly round
edge?
• Do the gills fork near the edges of the cap and
blend smoothly into a thick stalk? False Gills
(rounded, and not fully separated like a button
mushroom)
• Does it look like this ->
• If all yes, eat it!

Hypomyces Lactiflorum:
The Amazing Lobster Mushroom!
• Hypomyces Lactiflorum is a mold that grows on white-
fleshed mushrooms, primarily Russulas, and a few Lactarius
species.
• Many field guides call for the exercise of caution- as it is
difficult to identify the substrate fungus.
• Hypomyces Lactiflorum is widely eaten all over the world,
there has never been a recorded sickening or death.
• Some believe this is because the mold only grows on edible
species, others believe that the mold metabolizes toxins
rendering the substrate mushroom edible.
• It’s totally up to you, whether or not you want to risk it, I
feed these to my family regularly and they are sold at
farmers markets in New Hampshire and all over the world.

How do I tell if a mushroom
has been infested?
• A mushroom that has been infested by
hypomyces lactiflorum will be bright
orange, and have a crisp, brittle shell.
The inside will be white.
• They are best on the day of a
rainstorm, while the substrate
mushroom remains firm, and you can
cut without the mushroom crumbling.
• Do to their mysterious edibility, I only
eat them when the orange shell has
covered the entire mushroom.
• Go great with seafood or in stir-fries,
really tough to screw this one up.

Late Summer Mushrooms
• White Puffbals (Many Species, all Edible,
primarily Lycoperdon and Calvatia)
• Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus Sulphureus
and Laetiporus Cincinnatus)
• Hedgehogs (Hydnum Repandum and Hydnum
Umbilicatum)
• Boletes (Several Genera)

How to Identify Edible Puffballs
• Puffballs are a favorite for beginners wanting to try
something that is very easy to find and make a solid
ID with. This is an area, where there are simple rules
to follow. One simple rule once you have established
you have a puffball actually.

Establishing you have a puffball.
• Puffballs are generally round or upside-down
pear shaped, growing on the ground or very
well decomposed wood. They tend to like
sandy lawns and pastures- anywhere you find
grass, you may find puffballs. Some have
“gem studded” skin, or roughness, but there
are no appendages.
• This is not a puffball--

Now, slice your puffball from top to
bottom.

• The inside should be pure white, like a
marshmellow.
• If there is black, in the center or throughout, you
have a schleroderma, these are poisonous, toss
it.
• If there is yellow bleeding, the mushroom is too
old to eat, toss it.
• If there is black speckling, toss it (probably found
this on well decomposed birch? Not a puffball.).
• If you see the outline of a toadstool, this is an
unopened or immature toadstool, likely an
Amanita, toss it!

Chicken of the Woods
• Laetiporus Sulphurous and Laetiporus
Cincinnatus are similar species both known under
the common name Chicken of the Woods, a
single find might yield as much as ten pounds of
this polypore.
• They grow on many different types of wood,
usually at the base of trees, or along downed
trees.
• Some people experience stomach upset when
consuming Laetiporous that has grown on Spruce
or other evergreens.

Halmarks
• Growing on decaying wood
• Orange or pink(especially when young)
• Lightening near tips (usually)
• Underside does not have gills or teeth
• Can present in shelf or fingers
• Shelves or fingers relatively thin (3/4” seems
to be normal)

So, it’s like… Orange, or pink, and looks
like… something?

These are not Chicken of the woods…

Why do so many people eat a
mushroom with such variation in its
color and morphology with a number
of look-alikes?
• The species of Ganoderma that look like
Laetiporus are edible at the margins and too firm
and woody in the center.
• Berkeley’s polypore tends to be too woody and
bitter, but is edible.
• The black Staining Polypore, and Grifola species
that can be mistaken for Laetiporus are choice
edibles.
• While some look-alikes might be bitter or woody-
none are known to be toxic.

Hedgehogs! (Hydnum Repandum and
Hydnum Ubilicatum)

Hedgehogs.
• Hedgehogs grow on the ground, usually under
conifers in late August-Mid September.
• The appear as toadstools, but instead of gills or
pores, they have hanging “teeth”
• Edible Hedgehogs are light tan to light brown.
• Avoid dark brown, red, or blue hedgegogs.
• Avoid toothed toadstools that are funnel shaped.
• Avoid scaly or woolly topped hedgehogs.
• Tiny mushrooms growing on pinecones are not
hedgehogs.

Boletes.
• Boletes is a family of mushrooms that include
the genera: Strobilomyces, Gyrodon,
Gyroporus, Leccinum, Tylopilus, Chalciporus,
Porphyrellus, Austroboletus, Boletus,
Boletellus, Suillus, and Retiboletus.
• They are primarily (and for the purposes of
this workshop) toadstools with sponge-like
pores in the place of gills or teeth.

Boletes
• Most Boletes are edible, and the best way to
get into them is by learning individual species
one by one.
• Boletes are sold in grocery stores as “Porcini”
or “Penny Bun” (usually Boletus Edulis, the
king Bolette).
• In New Hampshire, it is rare to find a Bolete
that has not been thouroughly eaten by bugs
and infested with maggots.

Boletes.
• Keying Boletes the way I will teach you means
throwing out at least half of edible species, but
leaves a good number that are all relatively safe.
• I seldom bother, as I find Boletes less appetizing
than other types of fungi, and I almost never find
them in a bug-free enough condition that I want
to eat them, but around the world, boletes are
among the most popular wild edibles.

Step 1
• Is the bolete past its prime? Check the pore
surface, can you identify many insect bore
marks? Is the pore surface chewed away by
insects?
• If yes, toss it.

Step 2
• Is the pore surface orange or red?

Step 3
• Squeeze the mushroom between your fingers,
wait about 30 seconds, did it turn blue or
green where bruised?

Step 4
• Does it have an orange cap?

Step 5
• Take a nibble. Don’t swallow, keep it in your
mouth, rolling it on your tongue for about 30
seconds. Now spit it out.
• Was it bitter?
• If yes, toss it. If the taste was sweet or mild,
bring it home and cook it up!

Meadow Mushrooms (Agaricus
Campestris)

Agaricus Campestris
• Agaricus Campestris is a close cousin of
Agaricus Bisporous, what you know as Porta or
Baby Bellas or the common button
mushroom. Most members of the genus
Agaricus are edible, but not all. A spore print
is recommended for Agaricus Campestris, and
should come back a dark purple-brown.

•Agaricus Campestris should remind you of a porta-bella
with a thick meaty stalk, a prevalent ring where the cap
broke from the stalk.
•Pink Gills remain free from stalk entirely
•Growing usually in lawns and pastures
•White or tan cap free of warts or markings.
•Avoid when near roadways

The Genus Herecium
• All Hereciums are edible, and delicious.
• These rare edibles are usually found growing on the
underside of downed hard woods.
• They are easily identifiable by drooping white spines
hanging down like dense clusters of icicles.
• Ongoing research shows that herecium likely has anti-
cancer properties as well as stimulating re-growth of
brain and nerve cells.
• Some species may tinge pink at points during growth.
• Americanum is the only species I have found in New
Hampshire, but others may grow here.

Pleurotus Ostreatus,
The Oyster Mushroom

Oyster Mushrooms
• Oyster Mushrooms have short stalks with
white gills and spore prints, they grow on
hardwoods.
• Oysters have light brown or tan caps and the
stalks run up the side to the cap rather than
up the center.
• All members of the Pleurotus genus are
edible, as are most look alikes (like panellus
serotinus, the late fall oyster.

Watch out for: Pleurocybella Porigens
•Angel wings are usually much smaller and have white caps
•The form is very similar, and they also grow on dead hardwood,
although usually it is much more broken down.
•Many texts count angel wings as edible, but recent studies suggest
the presence of toxins.

Sparassis: Cauliflower Mushroom

Sparassis
• Again, the entire genus Sparassis is edible. Look
for the wavy fins, not spires, usually Sparassis will
be growing at the base of hardwoods and is
white.
• There are no look-alikes to Sparassis.
• Clean Sparassis well, as it tends to collect dirt and
bugs.
• Only eat when young and white, once sparassis
begins to dry and turn yellow, it is no longer
good.

Coral mushrooms and Ramaria are
different, don’t mix them up.
These are Ramaria:

Posting on an Internet Forum.
• The Facebook Group “The Mushroom Identification
Forum” is a great place to post, many nationally known
experts regularly make IDs. With a new ID, I like to
wait for at least two confirmations of an ID I have made
using field guides. If Alan Rockefeller or Tugrul Deluce
make an ID, they are the best and most prolific experts
on the forum and you are safe to assume they are
correct.
• Don’t post a single photo and say, “Hey, Can I eat this?”
The answer is: “Yes, but maybe only once.” It tends to
frustrate the folks who regularly make IDs.

Include
• A photo of the mushroom where it is growing with
written description of terrain features.
• A close-up of the gills or pores.
• Information on any staining that takes place within five
minutes of bruising, and the speed with which staining
occurs (EG: Upon bruising pore surface, blue staining
occurs within 15 seconds.).
• Information on nearby trees or vegetation.
• Information on current location, temperature, and last
major rain.
• Either a photo or description of the spore print.

Field Guides:
• Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord has the best
section on fungus I have ever seen anywhere.
Almost certainly the best in New England.
• The recommended book to go with this workshop
series, “Mushrooms of Northeast North America:
Midwest to New England” is currently out of
print, but Lone Pine is doing another printing this
fall. It is an excellent quick guide for beginners,
laid out by type and then by spore color for
toadstools- most common fungi can be identified
within five minutes of obtaining a spore print.

Field Guides Continued
• Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America by
Roger Phillips is much more comprehensive, and
thus a bit harder to dig through- but has excellent
photography and is similarly laid out.
• The Audubon Field Guide is quite old, so many of
the names have been changed, it is also laid out
with all the photos in one section, meaning you
have to flip back and forth from descriptions to
pictures, and is very hard to use. It is nonetheless
pretty good despite its issues.

Field Guides Continued
• Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora is
considered the bible of mushroom guides. At
almost 1000 pages, this tome is without a
doubt the most complete guide available, it is
very hefty and difficult to use in my opinion,
but if you are going to get serious about
making the tough IDs, it is indispensible.

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