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Mushrooms, Mycology and Psychedelics > Mushroom Hunting and Identification
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How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom?
    #25525983 -

Apart from magic mushrooms, how sure are you when identifying an edible mushroom? How many features have to match before you feel confident?


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'You don't have to let go, because there is nothing to hold on to'

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: DrunkRobot]
    #25526012 -

There are many here more qualified to respond than I am. So to be short and somewhat myopic, I never eat (or consider it for that matter) ANYTHING that I am not 100% sure of. I grow oysters and shiitakes. Those I know are safe. But the meadow lover's etc., no way. In my part of the world some of the deadliest 'shrooms known to man are ez squeezy to find, while delicious edibles not so much.

It is not that I fear mistaking an edible for a painful heart-stopper, but rather I fear that I mis-identify a delectable for a mildly poisonous  gastric upsetting look-alike that I mis-identified. The deadlies are ez to spot, the edible look-a-likes are (or in my case) CAN be.

Having said that, I have been known to consume Turkey tails (trametes versicolour), wild oysters (pleurotus sp), Fairy ring (Marismius oreades), and chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphurerus). Only because they are common  and their characteristics are obvious.

I hope this answers your post at least a bit. I'm guessing Queensland means Australia? I am woefully ignorant as to the type of deadlies that grow down there (it seems that almost everything else wants to kill you lol). Has anyone published a book about mushrooms of Australia? If so, I would like to know about it.

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: scarabaeus]
    #25526014 -

If you get experienced at what you are looking for and what's in the area in general you can be pretty certain on many types.


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Those that know their mushrooms say...[...] Amanita.
[quote]sublimistri said:
id probably just trip it out then make them a friend and grow my own belladonna secretly to dose them on. [/quote]

[quote]sublimistri said:
this is the exact reason I wanna grow belladonna, because ima get that bitch back. [/quote]

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: merch137]
    #25526015 -

Agreed...

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: scarabaeus]
    #25526099 -

I agree with what has been said above, however,  even experienced people have gotten lazy on their identifications and poisoned themselves. Everything has to be 100% positively identified before I eat it, my mantra for eating wild mushrooms is: when in doubt, throw them out. I don't care if I was sure what it was when I picked it, if at anytime I doubt my id it's in the compost pile.


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Psilocybe cubensis data collection thread. please help with this project if you hunt wild cubensis.
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=26513593&page=0&vc=1#26513593

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: Doc9151]
    #25526111 -

Hello Doc. Since I have your attention, and the OP is not engaging the conversation, my question to you is that are there any books like "Mushrooms of Australia" or the like that you know about? The OP piqued my curiosity. Personally I don't go too far into Mush ID because my interests go mostly into the microbiology side off growing, (contams especially), but I like to read up on ID'ing shrooms . Thanks for your time.

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: scarabaeus]
    #25526160 -

A great answer, thanks. I was interested in knowing how an eperienced forager would view the mushrooms they picked. A meadow mushroom is actually what led me to ask this question as I found myself lost in what it could be.

Can't help you with the book as I am quite new to the field.


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'You don't have to let go, because there is nothing to hold on to'

Edited by DrunkRobot (10/10/18 06:09 AM)

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: Doc9151]
    #25526170 -

Thanks for your insight. It almost feels instinctively wrong to eat a Mushroom without the 100% positive ID.


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'You don't have to let go, because there is nothing to hold on to'

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: DrunkRobot]
    #25526246 -

The thing is, the deadly ones actually taste good going down (from what survivors say). There are some (like russulas) that are bitter and would only make you puke and crap like a firehose  -assuming you could swallow them in the first place. But anywho, you are right-on in following your instincts. Even with the mushies I grow on logs  outdoors, if some look a bit bacterial or suspect in the least, I just toss them. Cooking would probably kill the contams but I can't be bothered to find out. If I remember correctly, last year 6 people died on the west coast, and 2 on the east coast survived (in the U.S) from consuming the 'death cap' phallotoxin variety of shrooms.

Time for me to log out for the day. Have fun, good luck, and be careful. Good talk...:smile:.

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: DrunkRobot]
    #25526486 -

It might be worth mentioning what 100% confidence looks like. I think of it as a process of elimination rather than a checklist. Not only are you confirming supporting details, but disconfirming contraindicating details. Once I've eliminated the possibility that the mushroom I'm holding could be anything else - even species I don't know about - only then will I consider eating it.

Edited by Phenotype (10/10/18 10:27 AM)

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: DrunkRobot]
    #25526507 -

DrunkRobot said:
Thanks for your insight. It almost feels instinctively wrong to eat a Mushroom without the 100% positive ID.


That instinct is called the Survival Instinct. :smile:

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: Phenotype]
    #25527718 -

That is a very useful perspective to ID mushrooms from. Is there an online resource of photos to help with identifying and checking for lookalikes?


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'You don't have to let go, because there is nothing to hold on to'

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: DrunkRobot]
    #25527853 -

This is a very big subject. But generally speaking, the idea is to learn from experts what combinations of traits are absolutely unique to the mushroom you're looking for. That way, you can confirm those traits without necessarily knowing what specifically you're ruling out.

This site is the best I know of for psychedelic mushrooms. For others, try Mushroom Expert

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: scarabaeus]
    #25527963 -

scarabaeus said:
my question to you is that are there any books like "Mushrooms of Australia" or the like that you know about?



Here's a selection of some of the field guides we have down here. Mostly for the SE Coast. There's a few pdf type field guides available as well




As to how certain I am on if a mushroom is edible depends on if I can id it 100% correctly. Sometimes, if it's not a toxic genus it doesn't matter if I'm not 100% certain.

These days it's very hard to be 100% sure. Most of the fungi down here are undescribed or were assigned European species names and probably aren't them.


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My Ethnobotanical Growing TeksWhere to Start Flow Chart, QnA, and helpful links

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: karode13]
    #25528500 -

I don't know how well cellular service is in your area of the world but I use my phone in the field more than any books. I can find the same information online in the woods as I can at my desk.
Learn to use the keys to the different genus, make spore prints (spore color is very important, many people could have avoided being poisoned if they would have taken a spore print), carry a hand lens and check everything out on the mushroom from the top of the cap to the bottom of the stipe base.

Color, texture, smell, taste, habitat, time of year, location, substrate, spore color, gill attachment, these are just a few of the things you have to look at. Some species require microscopy so you will only be able to narrow it down to the genus.
Learn which genus has toxic and deadly species, join a mushroom group or society in your area and go on forages with them. The internet has tons of information and people willing to help you learn.

Start with what's in your yard, learn to identify them,  once you have one identified read a description of it by a mycologist and try to identify the taxonomic characteristics of that mushroom, it will help you build your skills, just don't get lazy with your identifications or you will regret it.
Whenever in doubt throw them out rule  will save you from doing something stupid.  People are always trying to convince themselves they have something they don't,  especially when it comes to getting high.

Here's 2 useful links, both are by Michael Kuo:
The first link is the homepage for mushroomobserver.org
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/index.html

This is for identifying mushrooms:
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/identifying.html


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Psilocybe cubensis data collection thread. please help with this project if you hunt wild cubensis.
https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=26513593&page=0&vc=1#26513593

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: Doc9151]
    #25528509 -

Knowing what to rule out is important though, if you know jack o lanterns characteristics this should help you in distinguishing chants characteristics as a chant.

After seeing some things a few times its hard to confuse them with other things. And after experience of seeing the lookalike and the ones you're hunting together a few times, you really should start to be able to id that mushroom even if you leave your area with confidence for the most part.

There's some trametes that look almost identical to turkey tail, until they are turned over and theres no pores and the inner part of the pore surface is brown. Then theres a common lookalike around here I can spot form a distance that has red in its center. After being around this species I should be able to id it like cubes in a field no matter where I go, and the more you harvest/hunt certain mushrooms the more you should become like that with them in general. Not being aware of toxic lookalikes is something to try to be aware of, I found a pholiota terrestria lookalike searching the internet the other day that I didn't know existed but thought one may exist.


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Those that know their mushrooms say...[...] Amanita.
[quote]sublimistri said:
id probably just trip it out then make them a friend and grow my own belladonna secretly to dose them on. [/quote]

[quote]sublimistri said:
this is the exact reason I wanna grow belladonna, because ima get that bitch back. [/quote]

Edited by merch137 (10/11/18 12:21 AM)

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: merch137]
    #25533581 -

To the TI from down under, thanks for posting the book pic's. (got back to this thread late -been busy). -much appreciated.

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: scarabaeus]
    #25533586 -

Hello, I want to ask about magic mushrooms. But I can not figure it out. Can I get your Facebook?

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: chutidech123]
    #25533799 -

chutidech123 said:
Hello, I want to ask about magic mushrooms. But I can not figure it out. Can I get your Facebook?


You could just ask here I'm sure people will give you all the information you need


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Never eat a mushroom I have identified                Smokey of friday

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Re: How Sure are you when Identifying a Mushroom? [Re: wannabmckenna]
    #25533802 -

When I see libs my brain automatically ids them like terminator


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Never eat a mushroom I have identified                Smokey of friday

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