|
Some of these posts are very old and might contain outdated information. You may wish to search for newer posts instead.
|
iamhiv
Stranger
Registered: 07/23/04
Posts: 5
Last seen: 19 years, 7 months
|
Are they gymnopilus? (MA)
#2923553 - 07/24/04 12:14 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Hello all and I am happy to be a part of this message board. I have a question regarding identification of a group of mushrooms.
It all began as I was driving down the nearly deserted road on the way home, when something caught my eye. Growing from the base of a tree were a batch of literally huge mushrooms. These things were big. Anyways, I stopped and picked one to bring it home with me. The reason I did this is I have always heard and read about the one common mushroom native to New England that actually has psychoactive properties.
It is believed to contain psilocybin. You may know what I am talking about, it is called gymnopilus spectabilis. AKA the Big Laughing Gym (heretofore known as BLG), it grows in Japan, California, and all of North America pretty much. Anyways, these mushrooms looked exactly like a picture of BLGs that I had seen when I had done extensive reasearch on them. By extensive, I mean I searched the web.
Here is the picture that I am referring to: http://www.mykoweb.com/photos/large/Gymnopilus_spectabilis(mgw-02).jpg
Anyways, I brought the little guy home, and compared it to several pictures online. Most did not fit, but the one above fit exactly with what I had seen on the roadside. I figured it was worth a shot, went back with a big bag, and harvested some mushrooms. I now have....well...many pounds of mushrooms in my possession.
I am going to dry them out if nothing else. I plan to test them out in very small doses at first, barely a quarter of a small one, to be completely sure there are no toxins at all present, then work up. If indeed they are BLG, and the information that I am trusting is true, then I cannot explain how overjoyed I would be. Shrooms come around here very infrequently, and they are probably my favorite psychedelic of all.
A spore print of the mushrooms confirmed that the spores were rusty orange with a hint of brown. This is another confirmation of at least some type of gymnopilus, and hopefully rules out the Jack O Lantern mushroom
Just to confirm here, the gills of these mushrooms run down the stalk/stem, just a little bit, but noticably, and they are orange/yellow. The gills run down the stem, I cannot stress that enough, that I am quite sure of.
Other important questions: -The shrooms had bugs and beetles all over them, and it looked like colonies under them, which I tried not to destroy, but will this cause and toxins or problems if the mushrooms are indeed BLG? I will probably have to make tea with them correct?
-How long will the mushrooms last being stored all together in a jumbled mess before I have to lay them out nicely and dry them out?
-What would be my best bet for drying them out? Laying them in the sun? Inside? Outside? My basement? Would my basement work at all as it is what I'm probably going to have to do?
-After dried, just store them in a cool dry place, correct?
PS. They stipe/stalk is NOT ringed, is this a negative identification for gymnopilus?!?!
Here is another picture I found that looks very much like them: http://www.mykoweb.com/CAF/photos/Gymnopilus_spectabilis(mgw-05).jpg
Here is one last picture of what they looked like, their growth pattern was exactly like this picture, except they were not brownish white like the ones in this picture! They are very much orange/red/yellow, most much closer to orange than anything else: http://www.erowid.org/plants/show_image.php?i=mushrooms/gymnopilus_spectabilis1.jpg
Thank you all so much for any information that you can provide. I cannot thank you enough for reading this and helping me on my quest for...whatever it is that I am searching for, I do not know yet, but hopefully this will help me find it.
Best regards Amateur mushroom hunter jon
PS. Please do not close this post, if there is anything wrong with it ask me and I will EDIT IT immediately!
|
ShaDeShroomz
Stranger
Registered: 05/16/04
Posts: 22
Last seen: 19 years, 7 months
|
Re: Are they gymnopilus? (MA) [Re: iamhiv]
#2923568 - 07/24/04 12:20 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Post deleted by Gumby If you give bad advice one more time, you WILL be banned.
Edited by Gumby (07/24/04 03:07 PM)
|
mycopsycho
Tit Inspector.
Registered: 06/17/04
Posts: 3,712
Loc: Going Nowhere Fast
|
Re: Are they gymnopilus? (MA) [Re: ShaDeShroomz]
#2923580 - 07/24/04 12:31 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
ummm.... you don't just "test" things that you are unsure of. especially when they could have the power to kill.
-------------------- I Am The Sickness. Diploid: I think adults have a right to make stupid decisions and it's nobody else's fucking business.
|
spores
haploid
Registered: 02/18/99
Posts: 2,486
Loc: Washington
|
Re: Are they gymnopilus? (MA) [Re: iamhiv]
#2923585 - 07/24/04 12:34 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
hrmmm, sounds like you may have gyms if your description is correct, seems a little early for them though, spectabilis doesn't come up till september/october up here... do they have a unique, sickeningly sweet, almost fruit-like smell to them? A description of the size would be good as well. How does the base of the stem look (bulbous, tapered, even)? All of them I've seen had a pretty prominent annulus... Any way you can post pictures or a scan of what you found? I don't really feel good about saying yay or nay without being able to see the specimens in question... "[There are] several easily confused Gymnopilus species. No member of this genus is recommended for the table and experimentation with them could lead to an unexpected poisoning." if you don't know FOR SURE they're gym spectabilis don't eat them in any amount. starting with small amounts and increasing the dose if you don't get sick is not a safe way to test for toxicity. DH
|
MAGnum
veteran
Registered: 07/08/04
Posts: 2,421
Last seen: 12 years, 3 months
|
Re: Are they gymnopilus? (MA) [Re: ShaDeShroomz]
#2923612 - 07/24/04 12:50 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
ShaDeShroomz said: They sound like gymnopilus to me....dry em out and test them.
Dude, are you insane? that shit could be poisonous. If that guy actualy did what YOU said, it would on you if he died! Only tell someone to eat a mushroom if you know for sure what they are.
|
iamhiv
Stranger
Registered: 07/23/04
Posts: 5
Last seen: 19 years, 7 months
|
Re: Are they gymnopilus? (MA) [Re: spores]
#2923732 - 07/24/04 02:02 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
The ones I found were HUGE, ranging from 1 inch in diameter to 5 inches in diameter. Some were concave, some were convex. Some were brown, some were orange. They were all growing in a huge colony off the bottom of a tree.
YES, they do have a peculiar smell. I am drying them out in my basement and you can smell them throughout the whole basement. They dont smell bad, they just smell like fruity mushrooms. But the smell is quite strong, even though I do have a lot of mushrooms drying down there.
The base of the stem seems to be even consistently, but on a couple it is smaller and on a couple it is VERY slightly bulbous.
Once again, them stem has no veil on it, does this mean anything?
|
iamhiv
Stranger
Registered: 07/23/04
Posts: 5
Last seen: 19 years, 7 months
|
Re: Are they gymnopilus? (MA) [Re: iamhiv]
#2923738 - 07/24/04 02:09 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Also, the top of the cap has a very distinct bell shape...Hard to describe, but heres what it looks like (ignore the x's)
xxxxxxxx^ xxx----^x^---- x---xxxxxxxxx--- --xxxxxxxxxxxxx-- Hope that works, its just kind of like the point of a steeple, but not pointed, round
PS. My next door neighboor is a retired chemist, so I obtained some 5% KOH from him and am going ahead with the KOH test.
|
superblingtheory
ghettogepetto
Registered: 11/02/03
Posts: 921
Loc: Omnipresent
Last seen: 11 years, 3 months
|
Re: Are they gymnopilus? (MA) [Re: iamhiv]
#2923818 - 07/24/04 03:10 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
good call
-------------------- Guts and danger, Airborne Ranger...
|
spores
haploid
Registered: 02/18/99
Posts: 2,486
Loc: Washington
|
Re: Are they gymnopilus? (MA) [Re: iamhiv]
#2923920 - 07/24/04 03:49 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
that sounds kind of small for laughing gyms, I've seen mature ones with caps close to a foot in diameter. sure you don't have some kind of Pholiota? They have brown spores, grow in clusters on wood and some can resemble gymnopilus pretty closely. when they're fresh the caps will be viscid/slimy, gym caps don't have that quality... DH
|
iamhiv
Stranger
Registered: 07/23/04
Posts: 5
Last seen: 19 years, 7 months
|
Re: Are they gymnopilus? (MA) [Re: spores]
#2924118 - 07/24/04 05:06 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
It could very well be pholiota The spore print looked rusty orange - rusty brown, so I am going to take another spore print. The caps were pretty big, I can't remember exactly, but a couple of the biggest may have been up to 8 inches in diameter.
Are pholiota poisonous?
Also, I do not remember if the mushrooms were slimy when I picked them, but when I got them out of my basement after having them sit there overnight all in a big bag, they were slimy. But I do not think they were slimy when I picked them. I gotta go back to the site right now to see if they are slimy. Back Later with results, and another spore test.
|
Gumby
Fishnologist
Registered: 06/13/01
Posts: 26,656
|
Re: Are they gymnopilus? (MA) [Re: iamhiv]
#2924198 - 07/24/04 05:55 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
>Are pholiota poisonous?
Yes, some are. From what I've seen, gyms drop bight orange spore prints.
|
shroomydan
exshroomerite
Registered: 07/04/04
Posts: 4,126
Loc: In the woods
|
Re: Are they gymnopilus? (MA) [Re: iamhiv]
#2924244 - 07/24/04 06:16 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
They don't sound like spectabilis for two reasons:
First the gills run down the stalk (decurrent). The gills for BLG should be attatched but not decurrent. Aora says that BLG gills are "notched to adnate or slightly decurrent", but I've never seen one with noticeably decurrent gills.
Secondly there is no ring on the stripe. BLG's have a rusty brown/orange ring 1 cm or so down from the top. This can be hard to see in some specimens, but considering you have so many mushrooms you would have noticed it on some of them.
Some pholiota's are reported to cause severe gastric distress. Some that I have found are very fragrant, sweet smelling.
Please don't eat those mushrooms.
|
nofind_um
Explorer ofEarth
Registered: 06/30/03
Posts: 933
Loc: At work, at school, at my...
|
Re: Are they gymnopilus? (MA) [Re: iamhiv]
#2924374 - 07/24/04 07:26 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
I just scanned through this post... Pholiotas aren't out yet... G. Spectabilis is dormant... You most probably found Gymnopilus penetrans... I've been finding them for the last 2 weeks.... I can't give you any other info on them.. Good luck Nofindum... the voice of reason on the North East coast...
-------------------- My hunting partner is gone, I miss her so!
|
nofind_um
Explorer ofEarth
Registered: 06/30/03
Posts: 933
Loc: At work, at school, at my...
|
Re: Are they gymnopilus? (MA) [Re: iamhiv]
#2924404 - 07/24/04 07:36 PM (19 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
oh by the way are you F'ing nuts... Unless you are 110% possitive of the ID on this mushroom do not put it in your mouth... People dye from this shit.. and at least it will make you violently illl... I find at least 10 different species every stinking day.. and I think they are Ps. caerulipes..... but they never are... Even if you are positive yourself wait till you get a few others around here to give you the go ahead..... ..... Later Nofindum....
I don't think Gymnopilus penetrans will kill you though....although they are generally considered inactive and non edible..... good luck nofindum ....
-------------------- My hunting partner is gone, I miss her so!
|
|