16 Wild Edible Mushrooms You Can Forage This Autumn

[Music] everyone I'm Adam Harrison and in this video I'm going to feature 16 wild edible mushrooms that you can forage during the autumn months how many of these species actually grow during the summer months some of these species grow into winter and at least one of these mushrooms if not two could be found during the late weeks of spring but for the most part all of these mushrooms can be found right in the middle of autumn and I'm going to feature the ones that grow in eastern North America because that's where I live there's the ones that I'm most familiar with I just want to throw it out there that this is not meant to be an exhaustive list of every mushroom that we forged during the autumn months you know I left out a lot of species I'm only including the ones that I'm most familiar with the ones I think you'll most enjoy so before you leave a comment saying hey you fret this mushroom why didn't you include this mushroom I can't believe you left out this mushroom just know I'm warning you I'm not including every single one just sixteen that think you'll most enjoy also please note that this is not meant to serve as a replacement for a field guide for a mushroom Club for going out with knowledgeable mushroom hunters this list is just an introduction into species that grow during the autumn months with some key identifying features you know many times when I release a video in a particular mushroom I spend 10 to 15 minutes on one species if I would do that in this video this video would clearly be over 160 minutes long so I'm not going to do that so definitely consult other field guides join your mushroom Club go out with people who know a thing or two about foraging wild mushrooms and you'll be well on your way to confidently identifying all the species in this video also just a few thoughts on edibility a few guidelines on edibility whenever I say that a mushroom is edible in this video I definitely mean edible when cook if you decide to eat any of these wild mushrooms definitely cook them and cook them well do not under any circumstances eat these mushrooms raw because you could get very sick doing so number two start small it's your first time finding and identifying and eating any of these wild mushrooms definitely start small you don't want to cook a whole lot because some people just can't tolerate some of these wild edible mushroom species so start small just to make sure that you can tolerate them number three don't combine wild mushroom species if it's your first time eating them let's say you go out into the woods on a mushroom hunting excursion you find all 16 of these wild edible mushrooms in one day first consider yourself lucky but also don't eat all those 16 edible mushroom species in one meal just try one of them see how your body reacts wait 24 hours wait 48 hours before moving on to the next mushroom and lastly if you really enjoy learning mushrooms by season perhaps you'd be interested in hearing that I'm currently working on in creating an extensive online mushroom hunting video course this is a year-long class designed to guide you through all the seasons spring summer fall and winter helping you feel confident and positively identifying the most popular edible mushrooms medicinal mushrooms and poisonous mushrooms this course will feature over 50 brand new videos nothing that I posted on youtube so far not only will be talking about identifying features we'll also be talking about how to cook wild mushrooms how to preserve them various ways of preserving them we'll be talking about medicinal mushrooms how to make extractions like decoctions and tinctures I know a lot of you have been asking me how I like to make my medicinal mushroom extraction so we're gonna cover those step-by-step we'll also be talking about the science of mycology including mushroom ecology biology anatomy and a whole lot more so I've been working on this for a very long time all year long I still have some work to do so it probably won't be released until the spring of 2019 but I'm really excited to put this out there and to bring this forward if you're interested in learning more about this you'll want to go over to learn your landcom sign up for the email newsletter put your name and your email address in that box and I'll be sending updates to that list I will not be putting this course on YouTube it will be 100% exclusive to learn your landcom so if you want to feel confident being guided through all the seasons spring summer fall and winter connecting with various mushrooms and utilizing wild mushrooms head on over to learn your land comm sign up for the email newsletter and I'll keep you posted so without any further introduction on my part let's get into wild edible autumn buses [Music] so of course to kick off this list we are going to talk about hen of the woods the maitake mushroom Sheepshead the Latin name is Griff Allah fron dosa and that species name fron dosa means full of leaves because the leaf like appearance of the caps of this mushroom now this mushroom is a favorite amongst fall mushroom hunters and no surprise it's one of my favorites it tastes great rather meaty in my opinion it can be found in abundance and the medicinal potential of this mushroom is rather impressive there are numerous studies conducted on the maitake mushroom with a majority of research focusing on one particular compound on his defraction this compound diffraction has been studied for its role in stimulating immune system cells like macrophages and natural killer cells also for its ability to reduce tumor cell viability and to repress cancer progression so what are some key identifying features of the maitake mushroom well it's a large grayish brownish polypore mushroom containing numerous overlapping caps each cap is typically fan-shaped and fleshy not woody like you'll see another polypore fungi underneath each cap is a whitish grayish pore surface containing numerous tiny pores hence the classification of the species as a polypore mushroom there are no gills just a poor surface the spore print of hen-of-the-woods is white now this delicious mushroom tends to grow late summer through fall and it's often found around the basis of oak trees either living or dead oak trees you'll probably have a lot of luck looking under the basis of very large and old oak trees you can also find hen-of-the-woods at the basis of other hardwood trees like beaches and maples sometimes directly on the trees but oftentimes right up against the bases of the trees or a few inches away so now that we've talked about hen-of-the-woods let's focus our attention on chicken of the woods also known as the chicken mushroom not only is this mushroom very easy to learn it's also very easy to spot even from a distance this mushroom is certainly a favorite amongst many mushroom hunters because its texture can resemble chicken meat when cooked it grows rather prolifically and it's season is expansive chicken of the woods can grow from late spring all the way through mid autumn so let's go over to chicken of the woods species the first is laetiporus sulphureus also known as sulfur shelf this mushroom grows in overlapping clusters or as a rosette on deciduous wood each individual cap can be up to 12 inches wide now often times you'll find individual caps that are much larger than this the top of the mushroom is typically smooth and faintly wrinkled and when fresh its color is bright orange too yellowish orange sometimes with a bright yellow margin one of the key identifying features of the chicken mushroom can be found on the underside of the cap this is a polypore mushroom because it's fertile surface contains numerous pores from where the spores are dispersed this means that there are no gills on the underside of the chicken mushroom and there will never be gills on the underside at least for the next couple of millennia this mushroom always contains a poor service with very tiny pores in this particular species laetiporus sulphureus the pore surface is bright yellow and fresh though this color will fade with age the spore print from laetiporus sulphureus is white another chicken mushroom species is late the poor Cincinnatus and while it looks and acts like laetiporus sulphureus there are some key differences late the poor Cincinnatus typically grows either at the basis of hardwood trees or oftentimes a few feet away from hardwood trees lay the poor Cincinnatus has a cap that is somewhat dollar almost pale orange to pinkish orange in color also on the underside laid to poor Cincinnatus has pores that are peach ish white in color remember later parcel Firoz has pores that are bright yellow regardless both species are edible and I enjoy them both when they're very young once they're older they tend to lose their appeal at least in my opinion and not everyone who cooks and eats chicken mushrooms can tolerate them I know a few people who cannot eat chicken mushrooms even if they're cooked well so if you've never eaten either of these mushrooms before after you positively identify them start small and cook very well let's move on to the fourth mushroom here in eastern North America chanterelles are typically harvested during the summer months at least in abundance now a few species linger on into the autumn months sometimes even into winter like the winter chanterelle also known as the yellow foot chanterelle now it's really fascinating about this fungus is that even though it's common name suggests that it's a chanterelle mushroom its genus names suggest that it's more like a black trumpet crater Ellis is its genus name it's also the genus of black trumpet mushrooms however chanterelles and black trumpets are in the same family of fungi that can thoroughly see a family so these mushrooms are very closely related pretty fascinating stuff huh so the yellow foot chanterelle is fairly easy to identify it's on the smaller side typically up to three inches across and up to three and a half inches tall the cap is yellowish brown to grayish Brown and with age it becomes funnel shaped with a central depression on the underside of the cap you will see a fertile surface comprised of vein-like ridges that run down the stalk these ridges are thickened and blunt not sharply defined like you would see at most killed fungi the bluntly ridged fertile surface is a key feature not just for the yellow foot chanterelle but for other chanterelles the stock is typically hollow many times with a groove running its length and a stalks color is yellowish orange the spore print produced by the yellow foot chanterelle is white now this species tends to grow in wet conifer forests typically from Moss even if the moss is growing up the base of a tree I have the most luck finding yellow foot chanterelles in areas with a lot of Eastern hemlock trees next let's talk about hedgehog mushrooms starting with hide number panda so hedgehog mushrooms aren't too distantly related to chanterelles and black trumpets because all these mushrooms are in the same order of fungi the Cantarell alleys order so like chanterelles and black trumpets hedgehog mushrooms are delicious wild edible fungi their toothed mycorrhizal fungi that could be found growing summer through fall and their terrestrial mushroom so they do not grow on wood they grow from the ground underneath hardwood trees and conifer trees now I'm putting that species name or pan them in quotes because hi Nomura Panem is a European name it's unclear whether or not the true high number pan them grows here in eastern North America so if we pick a mushroom that looks like high number pan them it's not really clear if that is the true high number panda that grows in Europe a lot of work needs to be done on this genus but we can feel confident in calling it part of a high number panda for now regardless is delicious wild edible fungus known as the Hedgehog mushroom also sweet tooth and wood urgent's so this particular hedgehog mushroom is a medium to large-sized fungus that can grow to be six inches across or more the texture of the cap is smooth and dry its color is yellowish orange to reddish orange when you look at the underside of the cap you will see a fertile surface with spines or teeth that are up to 1/4 of an inch long this fertile surface is a pale orange color that bruises darker so there are no gills or pores on the Hedgehog mushroom the key feature is that it contains teeth or spines the stock is a whitish color with oranges shades and a stock bruises Brown 1 handled spore print of high number panda is white now is another hedgehog mushroom or sweet tooth mushroom that's found this time of year summer through fall in eastern North America and that's the umbilicus hiding them umbilical that species name I'm bill academ means navel so this mushroom kind of resembles hide a map annum in a lot of ways though it's somewhat different in that it's generally smaller than hide in my panda it's cap is somewhat darker and there's usually a conspicuous central depression on the cap hence the species name I'm Bella Kadem the cap of this mushroom is between 1 to 2 inches wide it's texture is smooth and dry and the colors reddish orange to brownish orange when you look at the underside of the cap you will see a fertile surface comprised of spines or teeth like you would find in any member of the hidin of genus the teeth found in this mushroom are up to a quarter of an inch long and they're creamy white to pale orange the stock on Heineman Billick a dime is between half an inch to two and a half inches long it's creamy white or colored like the cap it also bruises a darker color when handled the spore color produced by Hyneman billa Kadem is white now the habitat for the umbilical hedgehog is a bit different than that of high Nomura Panda the umbilical Hedgehog tends to grow in wet conifer woods and I have the most luck looking underneath Eastern hemlock trees the next three mushrooms that we'll be discussing are the hurry see'em mushrooms maybe you're familiar with harissa mushrooms maybe you're not these white sport mushrooms include lion's mane and its allies so harissa and mushrooms grow directly on wood either living trees or dead trees and the ones I'm featuring in this video typically grow on hardwoods now all members of the hurry seem genus are considered to be edible and you're unlikely to confuse parasya mushrooms for members of any other genus they're very easy to positively identify at least down to the genus now what's really interesting is that even though her 'i'm literally means hedgehog these mushrooms aren't cloak lee really referred to as hedgehog mushrooms that name is typically reserved for members of the genius so let's start with one of the most well known members of the recent genus which is lion's mane not only is this a choice edible mushroom resembling seafood when cooked properly but it's also been shown in the scientific literature to treat cognitive impairment and depression and this is due to its concentration of nerve growth factor bio synthesizers known as heresy knowns and Aaron a scenes so lion's mane consists of a cushiony water rich mass that is between three to ten inches wide and typically the same size tall the fruiting body of lion's mane is unbranched it's the only hairy cm species in eastern north america that is unbranched this feature will become much more apparent once I go over some look-alikes in the hurry seem genus which are branched the fruiting body of lion's mane consists of numerous icicle like spines or teeth that point downward and paper to a point each spine is soft and typically half an inch to two inches in length bears head tooth or her ECM Americana is another wild edible fungus that can be found throughout the summer months in autumn months it's similar in size compared to lion's mane and has a hurry seem species bears head tooth is comprised of numerous downward-pointing spines that are soft and white one key feature related to bears head tooth is that each spine or tooth is similar in size compared to the spines found in lion's mane keep that in mind because it's important now what really distinguishes bears head tooth from lion's mane is that bears head tooth has multiple branches or clusters each one bearing spines are teeth and remember each spine is similar in size compared to the spines found in lion's mane now there's one more hurry cm species that I want to feature and this is hurry cm coral IDs many people refer to this mushroom as comb tooth or coral tooth in the Latin name coral ladies literally means having a likeness to coral this one resembles lion's mane embarrass head tooth because as a hurry seem species it grows on wood and has a fruiting body comprised of numerous downward-pointing spines there are two key features to keep in mind with comb tooth number one it contains multiple branches that arise from a central core similar to bear's head two and number two the spines are very small they almost look like teeth on a comb and these spines are smaller than the spines found on bear's head tooth and lion's mane so small spines and multiple branching you're probably looking at hurry SimCorp lloyd he's comb tooth or coral tooth next up let's talk about puffballs so there are lots of puffballs out there lots of families lots of general puffballs are considered to be gasps steroid fungi or gastro my seeds and that term literally means stomach fungi because the spores of puffballs are produced internally inside their fruiting structures contrast that to lots of other mushrooms which may produce their spores on external structures gills tubes cheap now with all puff balls that are considered to be edible you want to make sure that they're pure white inside cut them in half top the bottom open them up make sure it's pure white inside that inner material is mica logically known as the gleba it's the inner fertile structure that will eventually contain mature spores and these spores will become yellowish or olive colored or brownish or purplish at this stage is too late to eat the puff ball you might get sick eating it at that mature stage so cut it in half make sure it's pure white also make sure there's not a developing mushroom inside your puff ball because some other mushroom species start out in an egg form and will eventually turn into a mature fruiting body and those eggs can resemble puff balls some of those eggy mushrooms might be toxic like Amanita mushrooms not all Amanita mushrooms are toxic but it's very hard to tell which one you have in the egg form so cut your puff ball in half make sure it's pure white make sure there's no developing mushroom so let's start with a big puff ball the giant puff ball Calvillo gigantea its genus named Calva comes from the latin word kal vedas meaning bald because members of the genus are nice and smooth the giant puff ball is a rounded soft white mass that resembles a softball soccer ball or volleyball and though it is white when young it discolours and becomes yellowish with age an average giant puffball mushroom can grow to be between 7 to 12 inches across and six to 10 inches high the puff ball is much larger than this are routinely encountered when cut in half you will see the two main structures the outer skin in the inner mass of developing spores this inner material is white in soft one young and this is the best stage to eat it though it becomes all of yellow and brownish in maturity and at this stage you do not want to eat the giant puff ball look for this fungus and open woods along trails but also in drainage ditches and pastors summer through fall another puffball you're likely to encounter during the autumn months but also during the summer months is the gem studded puff ball this one belongs to a different genus than the giant puff ball the light go paired on genus and its fruiting bodies are much much smaller each fruiting body is white to the cream-colored and typically between one to two and a half inches wide and up to three inches tall it's rounded like other puff balls though unlike the giant puff ball the gem studded puff ball typically has an elongated stem like base as its name suggests the gem studded puff ball is usually covered with whitish spines and granules these spines will rub off somewhat easily and won't always be present on the fruiting bodies the inside of a gem studded puff ball is white when young though it becomes olive brown and powdery when mature at this point it's too old to consume you want to harvest and eat them when they're pure white inside look for gem studded puff balls along woodland paths and soil or leaf litter usually they're not found grown directly on wood but rather on the ground we'll talk about one more puff ball species that you're likely to encounter during the autumn months but also during the summer months this is the pear-shaped puff ball another member of the like of paired on genus this one is like au paired on pi roof for me and it shares a lot of features in common with the gems that a puff ball but there are some differences to discuss as well the pear-shaped puff balls typically a little smaller than the gems that a puff ball though it can grow to be the same size the color of the pear-shaped puff ball is darker however usually tannish Brown rather than pure white and you occasionally see pear-shaped puff balls covered in tiny scales or spines though these scales are usually not as apparent nor as dense as those found on gem set of puff balls the interior of this mushroom is white one young in all of brown and powdery when mature again it's important to cut each one in half before eating making sure it's pure white in that there is no developing mushroom within the fruiting body the parish a puff ball grows in dense clusters on logs and stumps so it's easy to fill your basket with these in short amount of time now thus far we have not talked about any guild fungi we talked about poly pores we talked about toothed fungi we talked about gas droid fungi I think it's time that we move on to some edible guild fungi and the first one that we will discuss you is the Blewett mushroom now I just want to throw it out there that this is not the easiest mushroom to positively identify don't consider to be a beginner's mushroom definitely consult other quality sources like field guides mushroom clubs and other knowledgeable mushroom hunters before consuming blewett's you can also watch a video that I filmed on bluest by scrolling through my youtube archives once you can positively identify it you see it over and over you'll have no trouble positively identifying blue every time you do see them so let's go over some key identifying features the blue it la pista new de orc like possibly new de is a terrestrial saprophyte meaning it grows from the ground and it decomposes plants material it's a cooler weather specie so it's typically found during the autumn months but you'll also occasionally see it during the winter months the overall color scheme of this mushroom is lilac - lavender though with age these mushrooms can become panitch or light brown in color making identification a bit trickier the blue is a medium-sized mushroom with a cap that is typically between two to five inches across and stock that is up to three inches tall you oftentimes see a bulbous base located at the bottom of the stock but what you will not see on the stock is a ring a partial veil or rusty brown Cortina and a Cortina is a Webby veil typically found in Courtin arias mushrooms make sure your blue it does not contain any of these structures the underside of the blue it contains closely spaced gills that are directly attached to the stock these gills are violet when young that they turn brownish in age definitely take a spore print of the blue it if you're new to harvesting it the spore print is pinkish buff blue it's tend to grow in the leaf litter mixed woods often running parallel to a log and many times you'll see a dense white mat of mycelium around the mushrooms alright so we're nearing the end of the list we're on mushroom number 14 let's talk about the honey mushroom so honey mushrooms are quite prolific during the autumn months and they can be quite destructive many honey mushrooms cause something known as our malaria root rot all across woodlands in the temperate regions around the world so honey mushrooms are considered to be edible and good by many people but not by all some people just don't tolerate honey mushrooms some people don't like them some people get sick eating honey mushrooms so it's your first time finding an eating honey mushroom start small and cook really well now there are a variety of species in the our malaria genus we're only going to cover two in this video starting with one of the most frequently encountered honey mushrooms our malaria Melia this medium the large size mushroom grows in dense clusters typically at the basis of trees both hardwood and conifer trees the caps of our malaria melia are up to four inches across their yellowish to yellow brown and they typically contain tiny black scales near the center underneath the caps you will see a fertile surface comprised of whitish gills that are attached to the stock these gills are closely spaced and sometimes to current the stock is up to six inches tall its thick fibrous and stringy and it usually tapers near its base a key feature of our malaria Melia is that it contains a partial veil or ring around the stock the partial veil covers the maturing gills when the mushroom is immature as the mushroom grows and expands the partial veil breaks and leaves a ring nearer to the top of the stock if you're unfamiliar with honey mushrooms definitely take a spore print to confirm your ID the spore print is white a related species that's very common summer through fall is the ringless honey mushroom our malaria tibetans this one resembles our malaria Melia the classic honey mushroom though like its name suggests the ringless honey mushroom is ringless it contains no ring around its stem this mushroom grows in dense clusters and it's incredibly common in people's yards and lawns and park settings and other open spaces ringless honey mushrooms are typically darker usually tannish or brownish in color and each cap is dry and covered with dark scales at least when the mushrooms are young the spore print of the ringless honey mushroom is white now make sure that your ringless honey mushrooms are not bright orange as mushrooms that are bright orange and grow in dense clusters could be toxic jack-o'-lantern mushrooms ringless honey mushrooms remember are usually tannish or brownish in color also keep in mind that not everybody tolerates honey mushrooms including ringless honey mushrooms if you decide to eat them start small and cook very well and this disclaimer also applies to our malaria Melia now we can't talk about honey mushrooms without talking about another fungus that parasitizes honey mushrooms and turns them into something completely bizarre but still edible and delicious this fungus is better known as into loma abort even better known as aborted and de loma even better abortive and de Loma this is our 16th and final mushroom of the list the guild fungi pictured on the Left parasitize honey mushrooms and turn them into those rounded whitish structures shown on the right these white spongy masses contain irregular depressions and are typically up to 4 inches wide and 2 inches tall they're typically found near rotting wood and hardwood forests late summer through fall now the mushrooms shown on the left are edible as well though they are not recommended for eating because they closely resemble many other guild mushrooms in the end Aloma genus some of which can be toxic so in this video I'm only going to recommend that you focus your appetite on the fungal masses pictured on the right which are also known as shrimp of the woods and are essentially parasitized versions of honey mushrooms okay so there we have it 16 wild edible mushroom species that you can forage during the autumn on especially if you live in eastern North America now many of those species can actually be found during the summer months a few of them can be found during the early weeks of winter and at least one maybe two could be found during the late weeks of spring so I hope you enjoyed watching this video if you'd like to stay in touch if you want to hear more about that online course that year-long class that i'm currently creating guiding you through all the seasons spring summer fall in winter helping you positively identify connect with the most popular edible medicinal and poisonous species head on over to learn your landcom sign up for the email newsletter put your name and email address in there I can keep you updated with that project thanks again for watching I'll see you in the next video [Music] you

Channel: Learn Your Land

Views: 756,036

Rating: 4.8983932 out of 5

Keywords: Adam Haritan, Learn Your Land, Mushrooms, Fungi, Fungal, Fungus, Mushroom, Foraging, Edible Mushrooms, Medicinal Mushrooms, Hen Of The Woods, Morels, Maitake, Honey Mushrooms, Lion's Mane, Oyster Mushrooms, Camping, Outdoors, Nature, Primitive Skills, Gardening, Permaculture, Rewilding, Fishing, Hunting, Backpacking, Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Botany, Mycology, Edible Plants, Medicinal Plants, Herbalism

Id: 6PNq6paMBXU

Length: 25min 58sec (1558 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 05 2018