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truffleupagus


Registered: 02/19/06
Posts: 3,103
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This isn't reishi, is it? (more pics)
#7282596 - 08/10/07 07:26 PM (16 years, 6 months ago) |
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I took a quick little hike into the woods behind my house today. Wasn't really expecting to find much and I didn't. It was just raining earlier today and I suspect it's still a little early to find a lot. But I did run into this one tree that was covered with red polypores. I grabbed one from the base of the tree and brought it back with me. Here it is:


This isn't a reishi though, is it? I did a search for red polypores and I was able to deduce that it's not a cinnabar-red polypore. I guess those also have a red pore surface underneath. This one clearly doesn't. The thing that threw me off was the fact that it's totally red on the top. There's no yellowish or tan ring around the margin.
What do you guys think? I'm in New York BTW.
Edited by TDOTupagus (08/11/07 02:33 PM)
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist


Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 48,312
Last seen: 3 days, 15 hours
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I think it is a reishi. The yellow and white are only there when it is growing - They are all red when mature.
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/ganoderma_lucidum.html
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truffleupagus


Registered: 02/19/06
Posts: 3,103
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Well, that's why I was thinking that it might be a reishi but there was also several on this tree too. They were all different sizes (from 2/2.5 to maybe 8 or 10 inches across) but I don't remember seeing the yellow and white rings on any. So that says to me that it's probably not. But I don't know if they just mature to different sizes or anything like that. Maybe they were all mature.
I'm gonna try doing a spore print and cutting a small slice off to see what color the flesh is. Do you spore print these the same way you do non-polypores? Just put under a plastic container or something and add moisture?
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Alan Rockefeller
Mycologist


Registered: 03/10/07
Posts: 48,312
Last seen: 3 days, 15 hours
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> Do you spore print these the same way you do non-polypores? Just put under a plastic container or something and add moisture?
Yes, pretty much the same. You might also be able to find spores that have already fallen if you look carefully under the other mushrooms under the tree. There also might be a layer of spores on the top.
Check to see if all the features on the web page I posted above match up, especially pore size and flesh color.
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truffleupagus


Registered: 02/19/06
Posts: 3,103
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Okay, so here's an update and a picture of the flesh:

The picture shows a cut made between the cap and stem and the stem is actually upside down in the pic. I cut the cap in half also and it looked the same. The brown corresponds with the pore surface of the cap. It's like a layer of milk chocolate on the bottom with a sliver of dark chocolate above that and then some white at the top.
Getting a spore print was problematic. I gave it quite a while but I didn't end up getting a good one.
As far as the pore size goes, I think it pretty much fits the bill. They're just about barely visible to the naked eye. I'd say that 4-7 pores would fit in a mm but it might have to be a square mm.
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truffleupagus


Registered: 02/19/06
Posts: 3,103
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So should I plan on grabbing a couple more and making some tea?
And if so, what's the best way to preserve these for a little while?
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PinheadX
Stranger thanyou



Registered: 04/25/07
Posts: 1,414
Loc: TX Gulf Coast
Last seen: 6 years, 2 months
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dry them as you would any other. They tend to dry without much work... they won't rot unless they're in a really moist environment.
I would leave them alone for now, and try a tea with what you have there. If you enjoy it, then harvest the others. Otherwise, let them sporulate and spread.
-------------------- If you want to find psilocybin in species that are not yet known to be psychoactive, you should do chemical tests. That way you won't get sick and die all the time. - Alan Rockefeller Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." - Philip K. Dick
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shroomydan
exshroomerite


Registered: 07/04/04
Posts: 4,126
Loc: In the woods
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Was it a hemlock tree? Might be a hemlock varnish shelf, Ganoderma tsugae.
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truffleupagus


Registered: 02/19/06
Posts: 3,103
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Re: This isn't reishi, is it? [Re: PinheadX]
#7283112 - 08/10/07 10:33 PM (16 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
PinheadX said: I would leave them alone for now, and try a tea with what you have there. If you enjoy it, then harvest the others. Otherwise, let them sporulate and spread.
Yeah, I know what you're saying. I was just thinking about going back and grabbing like 1 or 2 more since there's about a dozen or so there still. Plus, there was already slugs eating on a couple of 'em.
Also, I tend to be really tolerant with less than pleasant tasting brews, especially if I know that it's gonna do me a world of good. So, knowing me, I could potentially drink it anyway even if I don't like the taste.
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Lich_king
Rev


Registered: 09/04/06
Posts: 65
Last seen: 15 years, 8 months
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Id grab them all. The reishi I just used was a year old and was in perfect condition. Just keep the bugs away. They are eating all the new reishi around my house.
-------------------- Nothing man can imagine is impossible, that is our limitation as man.
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truffleupagus


Registered: 02/19/06
Posts: 3,103
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Re: This isn't reishi, is it? [Re: shroomydan]
#7283161 - 08/10/07 10:49 PM (16 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
shroomydan said: Was it a hemlock tree? Might be a hemlock varnish shelf, Ganoderma tsugae.
That's what I was considering as the alternative. But I'm thinking now that it's G. lucidum because it was growing on some dead deciduous tree on a hill in the woods. Not sure exactly what the tree was.
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truffleupagus


Registered: 02/19/06
Posts: 3,103
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Okay, so I went back to the same tree today to grab a couple more. Here's some more pics:




I'm really not sure what kind of tree it is, quite frankly. I'm not very good at id'ing trees. It was pretty dead looking so that made it hard to tell. I don't know if anyone can tell from how the bark looks.
Notice in the picture of the underside of one of the bigger ones, you can see some yellow around the outside. So that looks like the yellow was visible on the top of it at one point.
I still don't know if I can be 100% sure that this is G. lucidum. Have we made a positive ID?
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RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure



Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 42,214
Loc: Seattle
Last seen: 1 year, 4 days
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After they're fully dry, I'd suggest PC'ing them for half an hour to kill off any larvae or worms that might be inside. Don't consider G lucidum the only 'reishi'. G tsugae and G oregonese have as much or more medicinal content as G lucidum. We collect G oregonese in our area. RR
-------------------- Download Let's Grow Mushrooms semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat "I've never had a failed experiment. I've only discovered 10,000 methods which do not work." Thomas Edison
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truffleupagus


Registered: 02/19/06
Posts: 3,103
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Re: This isn't reishi, is it? [Re: RogerRabbit]
#7285549 - 08/11/07 08:31 PM (16 years, 6 months ago) |
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Cool, thanks RR. That was gonna be my next question and you beat me to it.
It was my understanding that there are no poisonous polypores so I figured it couldn't hurt to make some tea even if they're not G lucidum.
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