Hello OT. As I'm sure most of you know, I am an avid mushroom hunter and amateur mycologist. In this thread, we are going to discuss mushrooms. If you have any mushroom questions, comments, stories, concerns, or fears, please post them here.

Picture related. 3 pounds of porcinis I found yesterday.

The mushrooms pictured are not Boletus edulis, but are actually the springtime porcini, Boletes rex-veris.

Precisely how many species of mushroom are edible (disregarding the hallucinogenic ones)?

do u smoke those

The edibility of many mushrooms is unknown. Despite our best scientific efforts, the only truly reliable way to determine edibility is by eating them. In general, edibility is only known in the cases of mushrooms that are either rather large or very abundant. There are also a good deal of mushrooms that can have variable edibility based on the individual- either mushroom or consumer.

I really only know California mushrooms, which essentially means mushrooms from the west coast of the US. Many of these are the same mushrooms found in other parts of the world, but they will often have different localized forms which may vary in edibility. If I had to give a very rough estimate, there are probably 100-150 types of mushrooms in California that are both edible and worth eating.

It would be much easier to list the poisonous mushrooms. In California, there are only three known mushrooms that are deadly poisonous at moderate levels of consumption. These are Galerina autumnalis, Amanita ocreata, and Amanita phalloides. The Amanitas are described below, and the deadly Galerina is a small brown mushroom usually eaten only by children or people confusing it with hallucinogenic mushrooms. There would be no food value in a mushroom of this size, so I won't go into detail on it.

The number one rule of mushrooms is that you don't eat them unless you are POSITIVE with your identification. As the saying goes, "when in doubt, throw it out."

Morels (coming soon)

In this post I'll explain the genus Amanita. Amanita mushrooms are easily identified by their white gills and presence of both a universal and partial veil. The veils encompass a developing mushroom, and as it grows the veils will break leaving remnants on the mushroom. The universal veil forms a cup-like structure called a volva at the base of the mushroom, and in Amanita, the partial veil will form an annulus or ring on the stalk of the mushroom. Amanita mushrooms have white spores.

Pictured below are three of the most important Amanita species. Amanita phalloides is commonly known as the death-cap, and can be identified largely by its green-ish coloration and putrid odor. Amanita ocreata, or the destroying angel, is the other deadly poisonous Amanita. The mushroom is usually entirely white, but can become gray in older specimens.

Amanita muscaria is commonly referred to as the fly agaric or fly amanita. It can be easily identified by its red cap, which is usually spotted with white tissue, left-over remnants of the universal veil. Although this mushroom is not generally regarded as edible, some consume it for its consciousness-altering properties. It is not a true psychedelic mushroom, but it can cause delirium. Deaths from Amanita muscaria are very rare, but they have been documented, usually in children. Although you didn't hear it from me, parboiling the mushroom will make it completely edible, and it has a distinct nutty flavor.

Amanita mushrooms are very easy to identify as Amanitas, but it is difficult to determine between many Amanita species. Amanita contains some choice edibles as well two deadly-poisonous mushrooms. For this reason, I would advise against eating any Amanita without a strong knowledge of the genus and of mushrooms in general. It is not a genus for beginners.

Now then, a gourmet mushroom that is rather beginner-friendly. The chanterelle. The main hallmark of this genus is the lack of gills on the underside of the mushroom. Instead they have ridge-like structures. These are rounded and often forked, in contrast to the straight, sharp-edged gills of most mushrooms.

There are actually two genera that fall under the classification of chanterelles- Cantharellus and Craterellus. The two are closely related, with only molecular differences, and together they comprise the family Cantharellaceae. The most commonly eaten chanterelles are those of the the genus Cantharellus.

While there are several different species of chanterelles, none of them are poisonous. Many of the species also visibly differ only on a microscopic level. The "standard" chanterelle is known as the golden chanterelle, and it is a choice edible. As previously mentioned, this mushroom has ridges rather than gills. The shape of the mushroom is similar to a vase or funnel, and it has a uniform golden-orange color. Many similar species exist, differing usually only in color. In addition to the standard orange, white and black specimens are common. The taste is nearly identical in all such chanterelles as well.

Pictured below is a golden chanterelle, as well as two mushrooms commonly mistaken by beginners for chanterelles. The false chanterelle usually has less of a uniform color. It has gills rather than ridges, and the mushroom usually has more of a stalk and cap, rather than the vase shape of the true chanterelle. It is generally thought to be edible, though some will say that it is poisonous, especially when eaten raw. At any rate, it isn't very good for eating.

Another mushroom commonly mistaken for the chanterelle is the jack-o-lantern. Depending on one's geographic location, this will be one of several different species of the genus Omphalotus. Its shape and color are generally similar to the chanterelle's, but again it has gills rather than the chanterelle's ridges. This mushroom is also quite poisonous, and its consumption usually results in profuse sweating and projectile vomiting. It is not regarded as a deadly-poisonous mushroom, but like many highly-toxic mushrooms, it can kill if eaten in large quantities. An interesting feature of this mushroom is that the gills are bioluminescent.

This comment is reserved for Agaricus or Boletus.

I have a question about them, a long time ago i had tried the hallucinogen mushrooms, i had 2 Grams. Nothing happened. Then some time later, i had 3 Grams, still nothing, would you happen to know why?

I know little about hallucinogenic mushrooms. I have heard that they are supposed to be very bitter. The only guess I have for you is that perhaps they weren't the right kind of mushroom. Dried mushrooms are very, very difficult to identify, and it could be that you or whoever you received them from got duped into buying the wrong kind of mushroom.