This is a bumper year for mushrooms. On a short stretch of path in the woods, I spotted six different types. I didn’t pick any or examine them carefully, and without noting the specifics of their gills and stalks, I can’t identify them with certainty. Mushroom identification is tricky in the best of cases, and without being sure what each is, I definitely won’t eat them. But the differences in colour and shape are interesting.
Is this one of the edible puffballs? Maybe, maybe not.
The intense colour of this mushroom tells me that it is most likely not edible. Note how the mushroom is emerging from its protective covering.
Any mushroom with a scaly stem looks unappealing.
This yellow mushroom could be a fly agaric. Notice the brownish mushroom almost hidden in the grass.
These white mushrooms develop scalloped edges as they mature. There’s another puffball on the bottom left and some tiny orange mushrooms hidden in the leaf litter.
In another part of the woods, I spotted three more types.
A tilt of the hat to my granddaughter Vivienne who took this photo.
Someone has taken a bite out of this pink-tinged one, exposing the gills.
Vivienne photographed this one, too. The strange colours make me think of Hallowe’en.
There is one mushroom I saw that is easy to identify. And even easier to eat. Chanterelles. Yum.
The woods are full of chanterelles this year. And they are later than usual.
Do you pick mushrooms? Do you eat the ones you pick?
