A Novice's Guide to Picking Mushrooms in North America

I was in the middle of writing this earlier today, but my computer crashed and I lost the post. Anyway, earlier this came up in a discussion at some point and I realized that not a lot of North Americans know how to pick these things. Instead you'd rather order wild mushrooms at a fancy restaurant for top dollar, when you could easily just pick/prepare them yourself. I'm no expert, but I can certainly pick enough to have a good meal and stay alive. Always consult your field guide before eating ANYTHING. The last thing you want is to make a mistake and get sick or hallucinate. Here are a few basic edible mushrooms with pictures:

Bolete/"Sponge Mushrooms": This is the easiest thing to find. When I go mushroom picking these types of mushrooms make up 90%-95% of what I eat. These mushrooms look like what you would picture a mushroom to look like. They have a stem and a cap. Underneath the cap you are looking for a sponge-like appearance (as opposed to gills) that appear white or yellow. Red or purple spongy undersides are poisonous so stay away from those. Pics below:

^This one is the king bolete. Notice the white underside and the large stem. The large stem is what separates the king from others. It is known as the king, because it is the most covetted when you are preparing them (it's the tastiest).

^Notice the red underside. This can kill you. Stay away from this!

Exception: This isn't much of an exception per se, but there is one mushroom with a white underside that tastes bitter. It isn't poisonous at all, but it tastes so bad it will ruin your meal. It is aptly called the "Bitter Bolete." Often if I suspect a mushroom is a bitter bolete I will take off a tiny piece, put it in my mouth, and spit it out. If there is a bitter taste I don't pick it. Pic below:


Chicken Mushroom and Hen of the Woods: These are nicely named because they describe the texture of these mushrooms. Both are similar to chicken when prepared. A few years back my family gave some chicken mushroom to a poultry dealer and he couldn't tell the difference. Anyway, the chicken mushroom is a vibrant orange color and grows in trees. These things can be huge. A large enough chicken mushroom is enough to feed a family with leftovers. It also appears to have many different shelves. Pic below:

The Hen of the Woods will grow on the ground. It has a very similar appearance to the chicken mushroom. The main difference is that the Hen of the Woods is brown. Pic below:

Chanterelles: These are the only gilled mushrooms I'll take because they are just so delicious. They go great with eggs. Anyway, they are even more bright of an orange than the chicken mushroom. Their gills start half way up the stem and continue to the the bottom of the cap. Pic below:


Exception: There is something called a Jack O Lantern that looks similar to the chanterelle, but can get you violently ill. Here is a picture of a chanterelle next to a Jack O Lantern:

^The Jack O Lantern is the on the left and the chanterelle is on the right. The Jack O Lantern is more orange than the chanterelle. The edges are sharper, and the gills aren't as smooth. If you can't tell the differenct between the two than stay the hell away from these.

Wow. Those are dangerously close to each other in appearance.

I usually stay away from Chanterelles unless I'm absolutely sure. The others I included are much easier to find. I also skipped a lot of other edible mushrooms like edible versions on the Amenita family, because I don't even go near them.

Ah, this section was missing when I was finally done with it. Here it goes:

Puffballs: These don't have a typical defined cap and stem like most mushrooms. Instead they are a spherical or elliptical shape. They can be either white or brown on the outside. White on the outside is typically edible, but there is a simple way to tell edible from poisonous which requires cutting them open. Inside, if they are white, they are edible and if they are black/purple they are poisonous. They can grow from less than an inch to up to the size of a watermelon. Pics below:

^Notice the dark inside. Stay the fuck away from this!

^Typical looking puffball. You aren't going to find large ones unless you're extremely lucky.

^Just because I haven't found anything remotely close to that size doesn't mean they don't exist. She will be eating for a while with such a nice find.

Chen- a question:

Which mushrooms are "fool-proof", meaning which ones are impossible to be mistaken ?

For example, with animals, one could theoretically confuse species of dogs with each other, while always being able to identify a giraffe or an elephant.

Which mushrooms are equally distinct?

Something like the chicken mushroom is extremely is to distinguish from anything else because of its distinct color, and appearance and the fact that it grows on trees. Other tree dwelling mushrooms are poisonous, but look nothing like the chicken mushroom.

And then the Giant Puffball (what the woman pictured has in her hands) is fairly easy to tell once it has fully matured. No poisonous puffballs will grow as big as a Giant Puffball. The white on the outside and white on the inside and its large size makes it very easy to distinguish from the poisonous relatives.

As for boletes if you just follow the simple rule of picking only spongy mushrooms with white or yellow underside you are golden. That was the first and most important thing I learned when picking. It is fairly idiot-proof unless you are colorblind.

I hope that helps.

I've taught a few classes on Mycology, and the best advice I give to people is to just not forage and eat them without absolute certainty from two or more experienced and qualified parties - just like a second opinion from a doctor - it's your health at stake! Even people trained in mushroom identification can be fooled.

And it's not just confusing looks that can be dangerous. For example - with Sulfur Shelf (or "chicken of the woods"/"chicken mushroom) - it's important that you know the tree species it's growing on, because it's actually composed of at least 3 different species, some of which (depending on their host tree species), can cause potentially serious intestinal problems. Stay away from Conifers, Eucalyptus and Locust trees. You'll typically find them on dead oaks, but a problem you could run into is you find them growing on a dead tree with little/no identifiable bark remaining.

PPS - That is the first I've heard of the chicken mushroom causing problems depending on what tree its being grown on. When I would go mushroom picking with my father when I was a little kid if we found one we would eat it no matter what tree.

Not to say you're lying because you probably know more than me, but no site I'm looking at confirms what you're saying. Are you sure poisonous look alikes exist in North America? What I wrote was basically just a simple guide for people picking in North America only. I know Eucalyptus doesn't grow here, so I'm not concerned about that one.

Wiki says something similar to what you are saying, but says that some people have allergic reactions. The wiki article doesn't site anything so who knows if they are just pulling it right out of their asses.

Anyway, I've been eating these things my whole life with no problem, and I've grabbed them from whatever tree I feel like. I could just be lucky, but I'll keep the trees you mentioned in mind for future reference.

Nevermind, you're right.

http://americanmushrooms.com/edibles4.htm

Guess I've just been lucky then.

Are there any organizations or associations that lead some kind of tours or something for the novice?

You could look that up. I'm sure there are classes. I learned the basic rules I know from my father who knows more than I do who learned from his father, etc.

My best advice to you would be to talk to a German, Russian, Pole, some European that moved here. Picking wild mushrooms is big in their cultures.

As soon as I started picking on my own I bought a field guide with pictures. This is absolutely essential if you're thinking of picking them. As a novice, it's good to look up what you pick online after you have identified it so you can get further information on it. http://www.mushroomexpert.com/ is a pretty good site to use.

The rules and mushrooms I laid out are fairly simple and have kept me and the rest of my family alive for 15+ years.

Well, it's getting close to the end of the season up north. Today we drove around to all of the local state parks for a few hours and only managed a few bites for everyone. Most of what we found were puffballs, although many were too old to pick. The thing about puffballs is that when they get older the inside turns to spores and the outside skin turns browner. Had I went to pick some last week, we would have more to eat.

Also, I left out something called a honey mushroom because honestly, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between one and a poisonous relative. They are a kind of mushroom that is poisonous unless cooked. When I go mushroom picking with my father, he'll pick them because he can tell the difference even though I can't. Today was the first day in a while we went to go pick them together.

Next season I might buy some spores for a type I like to eat and figure out how to grow them indoors. That would take a lot of the guesswork out of trying to separate Chanterelles from Jack-O-Lanterns or King Bollete from a close relative that isn't as tasty.

Just found some chanterelles growing in a spot they grew last year. It's about a month or two earlier than they usually start to pop up, but we've had tons of rain. There should be far more growing in the near future as long as the weather doesn't get to hot and dry.

And my plan to try to grow some king bolete or anything was a complete failure. I saved the spongy part of some of the mushrooms I picked last year and put them in a fish tank with top notch soil and nothing grew. So all the guides are correct that you can't mimic conditions where these things like to grow. Oh well, walking around on a weekend morning and picking them yourself is fun.

Those really are awesome pictures.

boil them in alchohol and eat it.

No seriously! I used to pick chantarelles here in sweden long time ago. it works great with a moose stew!