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hjens
Stranger


Registered: 07/29/11
Posts: 56
Loc: Washington
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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4 Colorado Finds
#18785187 - 09/01/13 12:58 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Same old story, Colorado Front Range, 9,100 feet under mixed aspens and ponderosa, first group found in two bunches at the base of an aspen stump. Larger ones were four inches diameter. I'm thinking agaricus silvicola or armillaria mellea but what do I know. Awaiting a spore print but an expert could probably identify from the pictures below:



Second two mushrooms found in the same area but I have no idea what they are. The have a high-peaked cap and stand about 2 inches high. Were with some small yellow shrooms that had a very dark brown spore print (picture of those didn't come out).

Third shroom had a very distinctive brown skin over a white cap that could be easily peeled off. Two-inch cap and two-inch stalk. Maybe a gomphidius glutinosis?

Fourth and last shroom my be a Leucopaxillus gentianus, according to a photo off some Italian web site.
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Tangich


Registered: 10/28/09
Posts: 8,723
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Re: 4 Colorado Finds [Re: hjens]
#18785206 - 09/01/13 01:01 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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1&2 - Armillaria mellea 3&4 - Russula
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hjens
Stranger


Registered: 07/29/11
Posts: 56
Loc: Washington
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Re: 4 Colorado Finds [Re: Tangich]
#18788431 - 09/02/13 06:09 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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1-3 are all the same group, which you have identified as armillaria mellea, correct? 4-5-6 are all different shrooms.
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Tangich


Registered: 10/28/09
Posts: 8,723
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Re: 4 Colorado Finds [Re: hjens]
#18788436 - 09/02/13 06:12 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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1-4 are all Armillaria mellea, 5&6 are different species from the same genus Russula.
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hjens
Stranger


Registered: 07/29/11
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Loc: Washington
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Re: 4 Colorado Finds [Re: Tangich]
#18788444 - 09/02/13 06:15 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Thank you. I'm going to sautee in white wine, butter and garlic and try not to kill myself, but I think I'll pass on No. 5. Don't like the looks of that peelable skin.
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ToxicMan
Bite me, it's fun!


Registered: 06/28/02
Posts: 6,722
Loc: Aurora, Colorado
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Re: 4 Colorado Finds [Re: hjens]
#18788601 - 09/02/13 07:40 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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The local common Armillaria species is A. solidipes (=A. ostoyae), commonly known as Honey Mushrooms. The various similar species are tough to separate using only photos. While they are edible, be very sure you cook them completely. Even slightly undercooked Honey Mushrooms will make you sick.
Russulas are largely a bad bet for eating here. We had 4 cases of people ending up in the hospital a few weeks ago from people eating Russulas. There are certainly edible Russula species, but they are very difficult for beginners to accurately identify.
-------------------- Happy mushrooming!
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hjens
Stranger


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Re: 4 Colorado Finds [Re: ToxicMan]
#18788645 - 09/02/13 08:01 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Thanks for the advice. I've eaten some Russulas before without getting sick, using the rule of thumb that anything with an orange or yellow spore print is OK to eat while white spore prints, from Russulas that is, are to be avoided at all costs. The armillaria do have a white spore print but are said to be edible. My wife uses me as a taster, with the philosophy that one of us should be able to drive the other to hospital, and if I don't keel over she will finally eat what I find.
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ToxicMan
Bite me, it's fun!


Registered: 06/28/02
Posts: 6,722
Loc: Aurora, Colorado
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Re: 4 Colorado Finds [Re: hjens]
#18788844 - 09/02/13 09:28 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
rule of thumb that anything with an orange or yellow spore print is OK to eat while white spore prints, from Russulas that is, are to be avoided at all costs.
You've been lucky, then.
The 4 cases all involved people eating red-capped Russulas with colored spores and pink stems, apparently in an effort to find R. xerampelina.
Russulas are just not very well studied in this region, so you should avoid the vast majority. In any event, they aren't really all that good to eat anyway, so keep after the other, easier to safely ID kinds.
-------------------- Happy mushrooming!
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mahniti
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Re: 4 Colorado Finds [Re: ToxicMan]
#18789102 - 09/02/13 10:45 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
I've eaten some Russulas before without getting sick, using the rule of thumb that anything with an orange or yellow spore print is OK to eat while white spore prints, from Russulas that is, are to be avoided at all costs
this is great to know, thanx! i often find russulas in forest, so far i was only eating russula delica, but now im going to try some others...
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ToxicMan
Bite me, it's fun!


Registered: 06/28/02
Posts: 6,722
Loc: Aurora, Colorado
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Re: 4 Colorado Finds [Re: mahniti]
#18789513 - 09/02/13 12:22 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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That is not a good rule if you're trying to not be poisoned.
-------------------- Happy mushrooming!
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hjens
Stranger


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Re: 4 Colorado Finds [Re: mahniti]
#18790000 - 09/02/13 01:44 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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I am by no means an expert and certainly in no position to advise anyone on what mushrooms to eat and what not to eat. My own somewhat loose rule on Russulas is based on what I found in the Colorado mushroom guide at http://www.coloradomushrooms.com/mushroom.php?id=31 which says: "Russula Xerampelina (Shrimp Russula) is one of the edible complexes has Yellow to Orange spores, smells like shrimp or fishlike in older or drying specimens. It has varying color sometimes with a reddish pink stalk. It has mild taste. It stains brown when nicked or rubbed. Russula Emetica (Sickener) is poisonous, has a white spore print, and has a strong peppery taste. Mushrooms in the Russula genus are very brittle and have white to yellow to orange spore prints. The ones with white spore prints and acrid taste are generally poisonous." If you look at a list of several Russula species the edibility advice usually "varies." Personally, I avoid all red Russulas like the plague, along with smb's (small brown mushrooms) and anything else that cannot readily be identified. I also cook the hell out of any mushrooms I do eat, as opposed to eating them raw.
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mountainplayer
Worm Dehydrator



Registered: 01/07/11
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Re: 4 Colorado Finds [Re: ToxicMan]
#18790109 - 09/02/13 02:10 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
ToxicMan said: The 4 cases all involved people eating red-capped Russulas with colored spores and pink stems, apparently in an effort to find R. xerampelina.
Do you know if the mushrooms have been identified?
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ToxicMan
Bite me, it's fun!


Registered: 06/28/02
Posts: 6,722
Loc: Aurora, Colorado
Last seen: 11 minutes, 46 seconds
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hjens, that website is fine in what it says, but there are a lot more than just two red Russula species here. As with any guide, it will have a very incomplete list of the species that could be found in an area. So relying on descriptions of a couple species, then extending the differences to all of the mushrooms found in the real world will leave you trying to fit other species not mentioned in the guide into the limited list. This is very probably the sort of thing that resulted in the poisonings.
As for the Russulas in the poisoning cases, they have not been identified. As is common with poisoning cases, all of the mushrooms were eaten. And almost no Russulas can be accurately identified without using chemical reagents and a microscope.
I have a pile of various red Russulas here that were taken (every red Russula collection that came in at the annual CMS Fair and several red Russula collections I have made in the last few weeks). I will be going through them over the next couple months to try and figure out what species were candidates for the poisoning.
Since I won't be eating them to see which ones make me sick, we may never truly know what the poisonous species was.
A general rule that has been in use for quite awhile is that Russulas are ok if they aren't peppery or bitter tasting. From what I've heard, the Russulas in these cases weren't peppery or bitter, so that rule should not be used.
If you want to eat R. xerampelina, be very sure you verify the odor. It may not be obvious when they have just been picked, but it becomes pretty strong as the mushroom ages and dries. If the odor isn't really obvious (to where there is absolutely no doubt), then wait to see if it becomes obvious. If it's not really obvious, don't eat it.
-------------------- Happy mushrooming!
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hjens
Stranger


Registered: 07/29/11
Posts: 56
Loc: Washington
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Re: 4 Colorado Finds [Re: ToxicMan]
#18793237 - 09/03/13 06:28 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Well said, toxicman. Perhaps I've been a little cavalier with Russulas. Obviously more care is needed and since there aren't that many around my mountain home it might be best to leave well enough alone. Actually the most numerous species in my neck of the woods are leccinums (orange caps) which I've eaten for a couple of years now without ill effects.
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Thayendanegea
quiet walker



Registered: 02/20/12
Posts: 7,596
Loc: 7 Lodges Nation
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Re: 4 Colorado Finds [Re: hjens]
#18794194 - 09/03/13 12:40 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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lol...yes....How does the saying go? ....There are old mushroom pickers and bold mushroom pickers....but there are no old bold mushroom pickers.
-------------------- Look Deep Into Nature,and Then You Will Understand Everything Better. Albert Einstein
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