New To Mushroom Hunting? Start Here!

[Music] greetings everyone i'm madame hairatan and if you are interested in learning the skills involved in forging wild mushrooms then this is a video that I encourage you to watch in its entirety what I'm going to do over the next several minutes is cover some basic information as it relates to the identifying and collecting of wild mushrooms so that you can begin to develop a strong foundation that will support and carry you through all your future mycological endeavors as you might imagine the fungal Kingdom is incredibly diverse and incredibly complex and every year new information is discovered and published because of this complexity it can be difficult for an absolute beginner to know where to start or how to best approach the subject matter that's why I created this video to make this whole process of learning a little bit easier and a little more exciting so this video is meant to serve as a starting point in your educational process by no means will the content in this video be exhaustive things will be left out but I will do my best to lay a solid foundation and to provide enough information and inspiration to get you started so with all that in mind let's begin to explore the wonderful world of mushrooms and more the conventional wisdom not so much folklore but whose to decide what we must ignore [Music] and let's begin our discussion with it's obvious yet very important question what is a mushroom well a mushroom represents a single stage in the complex life cycle of a fungus the fruiting stage in this cycle begins when spores germinate into slender strands that grow and connect to form a larger network of filaments known as mycelium often hidden from plain sight the very abundant and soil leaf litter and trees the mycelial network of a fungus is responsible for among many things acquiring nutrients when conditions are appropriate mycelium can give rise to above-ground reproductive structures known as mushrooms now what's interesting and bordering on perplexing is that even though all mushrooms are members of kingdom fungi not all fungi produce mushrooms and the exact number of fungal species is unknown some researchers believe that there are between 1.5 to 5.1 million species of fungi though a very recent estimate suggests that there are instead somewhere in the order of 12 million fungal species on planet earth so what are all these fungi doing well just like every other living organism on this planet fungi are involved in elaborate relationships which we could reclassify as roles conveniently the roles of fungi can be broken down into a few categories whose boundaries are actually not so clearly defined but we will keep these boundaries in place for the current discussion one category includes saprotrophic fungi these fungi grow on decaying wood on stumps logs sticks forests litter and fallen leaves and saprotrophic fungi have the ability to break down plant cell wall compounds saprotrophic fungi are therefore considered to be decomposers another category of fungi includes parasitic fungi these fungi grow on or within living substrates at the ex of their host substrates such substrates include living trees plants other mushrooms animals even humans and a third category of fungi includes mycorrhizal fungi these fungi form mutualistic symbiotic relationships with plants both organisms the plant and the fungus benefit in this relationship the plants photosynthesize and creates sugars in exchange for water minerals and other nutrients so where do we find these fascinating mushrooms and when can we find these mushrooms well now that we already know a little bit about fungal ecology we already have a better understanding of where we can find mushrooms forests and woodlands are excellent places to explore and if you really want to increase your chances of finding certain types of mushrooms specifically mycorrhizal mushrooms then I strongly encourage you to learn tree identification and learn which trees form mycorrhizal associations where you live here in the Northeast slash mid-atlantic region trees that form mycorrhizal associations with mushrooms include oaks beech trees birch trees hemlock trees pine trees and spruce trees of course within forests you will also find saprotrophic mushrooms on wood including on logs stumps and standing snags the leaf litter is also a good place to look for mushrooms and if you're looking for some of the more obscure fungi pay attention to insects and arachnids for the parasitic fungi that grow on these animal hosts fields and meadows are good places to look for fungi wood chips or excellent substrates for mushrooms garden beds provide optimal habitats for numerous species of fungi and don't forget animal dung can be a hotbed of mushroom activity the trick is knowing when to look for mushrooms and timing your mushroom hunts perfectly there are mushroom seasons and it's important to know when these seasons occur in you region here in the northeast and mid-atlantic region our mushroom season kicks off early spring and continues through mid to late autumn believe it or not mushrooms even grow throughout the winter season around here and of course mushrooms really like rain generally speaking ample rainfall is associated with mushroom formation if you have a really wet summer season for instance well you may also observe lots of mushrooms during this wet summer season so learn the mushroom seasons where you live and keep in mind that rainfall and tree diversity have a lot to do with the number and diversity of mushrooms that you may observe in any given season now that we have a basic understanding of fungal biology and ecology and we know when and where to find mushrooms what specific anatomical features should we be looking for when attempting to identify a wild mushroom well mushrooms come in all different colors and textures and shapes and sizes and more often than not they're full of surprises so let's look at their features their fringes and frills our first example fungi with gills guild fungi are among our most recognizable mushrooms a guild mushroom contains a spreading cap known mica logically as a pileus many guild mushrooms have a stalk known mica logically as a Stipe though many guild mushrooms do not have stipes underneath the cap is where you will find the Fertile gills which are known as lamellae and these lamellae contain microscopic structures that forcibly discharge spores now some guild fungi but not all contain a few more structures worth mentioning the first is the universal veil which covers the entire immature mushroom and eventually breaks to leave behind patches on the cap surface or even a sack like structure at the base of the stem known as the vulva some guild fungi also contain a partial veil which covers the gills of an immature mushroom this partial veil breaks to leave a ring or ring zone known as in on ulis around the stem now clearly not all mushrooms contain gills underneath their caps non guild fungi include polypore mushrooms which have fertile tubes and pores underneath their caps bull eats mushrooms which like polypore mushrooms typically have tubes and pours underneath their caps toothed mushrooms which have teeth or spines that contain fertile structures chanterelles that have blunt folds or ridges Club and coral fungi jelly fungi puffball fungi stink horn fungi and crust fungi additional mushroom morphologies that you will routinely encounter include cup fungi morel mushrooms cordyceps fungi and truffle like fungi now in addition to those features a mushroom spork color can be one way of acquiring a positive identification and to observe the spore color it may be necessary at least when you're just starting out to take a spore print to take a spore print you'll want to put the fertile side or the underside of a mushroom on some kind of surface after several hours check and see if your mushroom deposited its spores and note what color you see now spore color alone will not tell you what mushroom you have but spore color can be one effective way at helping you arrive at a positive identification after noting all those other features that we previously mentioned so we've covered a lot of ground so far a lot of the basics but nothing too bizarre I think we're now ready to focus on hunting mysterious mushrooms that we'll be confronting so let's switch gears to the actual harvesting of wild mushrooms and let's kick off this section with the following often asked question what should we bring with us on a mushroom hunt well you actually don't need to bring many items or tools with you but there are two things that I do consider indispensable when hunting and harvesting wild mushrooms the first is a knife so that you can cut your mushrooms and any sharp knife will do and a second is a collection vessel whether it's a basket a mesh bag a wax bag a paper bag a tackle box a backpack just something to put your mushrooms in so that you don't have to carry them around in your pockets or in your t-shirt other items that you may wish to bring with you include a camera to document your finds a brush to wipe off any debris a hand lens to observe features that require magnification and anything else that would make you feel comfortable in the woods personally a knife a basket or bag and a camera are the things that I most often carry while exploring the woods for mushrooms on the topic of knives let's briefly discuss two common methods used to harvest wild mushrooms the first obviously is to cut a wild mushroom at the base of its stock or at its point of attachment to its substrate this technique is very useful if you already know the identity of your wild mushroom and you are harvesting for debris free consumption however if you are harvesting for identification purposes I strongly recommend harvesting the entire mushroom this means you may have to dig a bit around the base of the mushroom if it's in the soil full specimen harvesting is important because several key features including a bulbous base or a vulva mycelial color or even a unique and unexpected host are oftentimes located in a soil and if you just cut the mushroom at its stock at ground level you will be missing out on some very important characteristics that will help you identify your mushroom now what about sustainability of harvesting mushrooms is cutting a mushroom less detrimental to future populations compared to pulling up a musher from the ground well peer-reviewed research suggests that polling or cutting a mushroom has no discernible effect on future yields of fruiting bodies nor on species richness within an area remember mushrooms are the reproductive structures of fungi the ecological role of a mushroom is similar to the role of fruit on a fruit tree hence the term fruiting body to describe a mushroom so many people will make the comparison that harvesting mushrooms is no more detrimental than harvesting apples from apple trees my thoughts on the subject are this just as someone would not Forge every single apple from a neighbor's apple tree without first asking for permission or offering a gift in return or at the very least saying thank you perhaps we should not approach the foraging of wild mushrooms with anything less than intention gratitude respect and awareness that every single action of ours is intimately bound to a consequence so forge responsibly and respectfully and be a good example for others to do the same moving forward let's discuss animal mushrooms now I got to tell you up front not every mushroom that is listed as being edible is tolerated by everyone just like some people have sensitivities to common foods in the grocery store some people have sensitivities to wild foods including to wild mushrooms to reduce the likelihood that you would experience any negative effects upon consuming a mushroom that is listed as being edible I recommend starting with a small amount if it's your first time eating that mushroom and I recommend cooking it well and yes I recommend cooking all wild edible mushrooms before ingesting them now I know these are broad recommendations and many people might take issue with them I'm fine with that but if you want to reduce the likelihood of experiencing gastrointestinal distress or cramps or indigestion start small and cook well and of course forage intelligently meaning never eat an unidentified wild mushroom always be 100% positive of your identification before consuming a wild mushroom forage and clean areas as mushrooms can bioaccumulate toxins and when in doubt don't throw it out but save your unidentified mushroom and learn to properly identify it then proceed accordingly so right now I'm going to briefly discuss eight very easy to identify wild edible mushrooms that grow in the northeast and mid-atlantic region of the United States I'm not going to go into too much detail on any one particular species because there's already plenty of information on several websites in several books and I do have several videos on the following species I'm only going to introduce you to them so that you know which ones to start with I encourage you to do more research research them more thoroughly before going out harvesting and consuming them of course we are going to start with morels because these mushrooms are arguably among the most prized of all edible fungi in my neck of the woods they are some of the first edible mushrooms to appear during the spring months morels have honeycomb pitted caps that sit on top of stalks and for the most part when you cut these mushrooms in half you will see that the insides are typically hollow from top to bottom morels grow terrestrially from the soil in association with a wide variety of trees including Elm tulip poplar apple sycamore chicory ash and pine trees moister mushrooms comprise several different species in the pleurotus genus and depending on where you live you may encounter oyster mushrooms growing every season of the year and that's true where I live in Pennsylvania moister mushrooms typically grow on wood their caps vary in color the most wild varieties display shades of white cream tan yellow or brown and underneath the cap of an oyster mushroom you will see gills that run the complete length of the cap and down the stalk if a stock is present chanterelles are delicious edible mushrooms that fruit during the summer and autumn months where I live and these mushrooms are mycorrhizal with a variety of trees including Oaks and hemlocks meaning you will typically find these mushrooms growing terrestrially from the soil chanterelles typically display vase shaped morphologies with undersides comprised of blunt folds or ridges rather than distinct plate like gills black trumpets are closely related to chanterelles so it's no surprise that the two groups of mushrooms share similar features black trumpets are mycorrhizal and you will find them growing terrestrially in association with oaks hemlocks and pine trees during the summer and autumn months like chanterelles black trumpets are typically vase shaped with an outer or under surface comprised of blunt folds or ridges rather than clearly defined plate like gills chicken of the woods is one of the easiest mushrooms to positively identify because it is among the brightest and largest of all fungi in the forest this mushroom starts to appear during the later weeks of spring and you will continue to see fruiting stare out the summer and autumn months chicken of the woods contains a bright orange cap and as a polypore mushroom it contains pores on its underside rather than gills these pores can vary in color depending on the species though you will usually see either yellow or peach colored pores also depending on the species you will see chicken of the woods on or very near deciduous and coniferous both living and dead trees hen-of-the-woods is another polypore mushroom but rather than displaying bright shades of orange and yellow this mushroom instead camouflages itself perfectly with its brown and tan and grayish colors hen of the woods grows either directly on trees or a little away from trees and this mushroom is most commonly found late summer through autumn growing in association with oak trees though you will also see this mushroom growing on or alongside beech trees maple trees and cherry trees lion's mane is one of the easiest mushrooms to positively identify the only other mushrooms that look like lion's mane are other mushrooms in the hurry cm genus all of which are considered to be edible lion's mane consists of a cushioning mass of downward pointing teeth or spines it grows directly on wood typically on hardwood trees either living or dead trees and it typically grows summer through autumn where I live in the last edible mushroom that I will briefly discuss is the puffball mushroom and actually there are lots of puffball mushrooms but I'm just going to describe one that we call the giant puffball mushroom it's incredibly easy to positively identify and the only thing you'd mistake it for is a soccer ball or volleyball or a bag of trash in the woods puffed balls are considered to be edible when their insides are still white and not discolored yellow or olive or purple again obviously I only briefly discussed those eight edible mushrooms so I strongly encourage you to do more research on each of those species before harvesting and consuming them if you just scroll through my youtube channel you'll find plenty of videos on almost all of those mushrooms I do realize that I could have discussed about 150 more edible mushrooms including some people's favorites but for brevity's sake and the Jess get you started I'm going to stop with those eight edible species that commonly grow in the Northeast now what about poisonous mushrooms well it's no secret that kingdom fungi houses some pretty toxic species and when learning to forage mushrooms for the table it is absolutely essential that you also learn which species are toxic and it's important that you learn which species are toxic during the early stages of your foraging education I'm now going to briefly introduce you to five common poisonous mushrooms and again this is not an exhaustive list of poisonous mushrooms nor am I going to go into too much detail on anyone's PC so I strongly encourage you to do more research on the following poisonous mushrooms the destroying angel is one of the deadliest organisms on planet Earth due to its concentration of toxic compounds known as amatoxin and when I say deadly I mean deadly when ingested you can safely touch and handle this mushroom but under no circumstances should you ingest this mushroom the destroying angel actually comprises a group of closely related mycorrhizal species all of which are nearly pure white and grow terrestrially from the soil typically during the summer and autumn months the destroying angel contains a partial veil that breaks to leave a ring around the stock and this mushroom has a sack like vulva located at the base of the stock the deadly gallerina is another poisonous mushroom that contains the same class of toxic compounds found in deadly Amanita mushrooms the deadly gallerina is a small brown saprotrophic mushroom that grows directly from wood either from logs and stumps or even from wood chips the deadly gallerina contains rusty brown gills in maturity it contains a partial veil which breaks to leave a ring around it stuck and its spore print is rusty brown the green sport l'épée Oda is a common lawn mushroom associated with more poisoning reports than any other species in North America because of its large size and beautiful features many people are drawn to this fungus but most people who eat the green sport Lapita get very sick ingestion of this mushroom can cause vomiting diarrhea and intestinal cramps that last for many hours one very important key feature as this mushrooms named so clearly states is the green spore print the jack-o'-lantern is a medium to large-sized poisonous mushroom that grows in dense clusters in association with wood during the summer and autumn seasons the jack-o'-lantern is a guild mushroom and a contains a class of toxic compounds known as allude ins that can cause severe gastrointestinal distress if consumed so my recommendation is to obviously never eat the Jack O'Lantern mushroom in the last poisonous fungus that I will include in this video is the sulfur tuft mushroom this species is a small to medium-sized yellowish mushroom with greenish gills and purple Brown spores that grows in clusters on both deciduous and coniferous ultra-tough typically grows in the colder months of the year though sometimes you will see it during the summer months as well symptoms of toxicity can take up to eight hours to manifest and these symptoms can include gastrointestinal distress nausea diarrhea vomiting and vision impairment interestingly out of all the described mushroom species worldwide only a small percentage of them believe it or not are very toxic the vast majority of fungi actually pose no or only minor harm following ingestion and in many cases gastrointestinal disturbances are the only symptoms reported again I strongly encourage you to do more research on all those poisonous mushrooms we just mentioned learn them learn which poisonous mushrooms grow in your area familiarize yourself with them and forage intelligently and of course no current discussion of mushrooms would be complete without mentioning medicinal mushrooms a scientific literature is quite replete with studies investigating the pharmacological properties of mushrooms and the unique compounds they possess research suggests that certain species of fungi and more specifically their bioactive compounds may offer support for mental health issues and immune system regulation and may be useful in the treatment of certain types of cancer now there's plenty of information on medicinal fungi online if you scroll through my YouTube archives you'll find plenty of videos on medicinal mushrooms so I won't dive too deeply into the topic here but to get you started here are a few mushrooms worth investigating turkey tail lion's mane reishi cordyceps maitake chaga and birch polypore so up until this point we covered a lot of information a lot of basic but useful information to help get you started and of course there are plenty of opportunities for additional learning for example books and field guides one of the most common questions that I receive is Adam what mushroom books and field guides do you recommend and the answer is it depends it really depends on where you live because in my experience is the best mushroom books and the best field guides are really region specific so I encourage you to seek out the books that pertain to mushrooms in your region around here the Northeast Great Lakes mid-atlantic region I recommend mushroom books by the following authors alan and arlene Bessette walter sturgeon William Rudy and Tim Baroni in addition to using books and field guides another great way to improve your mushroom hunting skills is to visit mushroom related websites mushroom observer and eye naturalist are two popular websites that are worth looking into and if you're on face book I'd recommend browsing some of the mushroom identification groups but be warned you will probably encounter some loose cannons and strong egos in some of those groups but if you can tune that madness out you will have the opportunity to learn a lot and last but certainly not least one of the best ways to improve your skills is to join a mushroom Club and to attend local regional and even national forays it's been my experience that there's no substitute for learning from other mushroom enthusiasts especially within a community like setting that a mushroom Club provides check out the North American mycological associations website for an extensive list of mushroom clubs so if you've been on the fence for a while now about this little thing called mushroom hunting and you weren't sure whether to pursue this hobby or not hopefully this video has in luhan's your decision in a positive manner remember this is just one video to get you started and we covered some really basic information I certainly left out a lot that was intentional no video could ever cover everything there is to know about mushrooms because frankly there is no such thing as knowing everything there is to know about mushrooms but give it a shot because it's worth it foraging mushrooms I'd characterize as supremely rewarding at least in my eyes but over the years I think you will realize that nature connection not mushroom identification but real nature connection between you and the land that you live on is the ultimate prize [Music] thank you so much for watching this video I truly appreciate it if you're not subscribed to the learn your LAN youtube channel I encourage you to do that you can also head on over to learn your landcom we can stay in touch if you sign up for the email newsletter you can provide your first name and your email address and I send out a couple newsletters per month you can also follow me on social media at learn your land on Facebook and Instagram thanks again for watching happy mushroom hunting [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Learn Your Land

Views: 523,419

Rating: 4.9476824 out of 5

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Id: 9tqKQ1GrEy4

Length: 29min 53sec (1793 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 20 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/xcskr]

All of his videos are good. Production level, informational value, and delivery are all tops with Adam H. at Learn Your Land.

[u/joieren]

Thanks for posting this! Definitely gives me more confidence to start mushroom hunting :) Will def check out more of his videos

[u/rematar]

That's a good video.