South-Western Ontario · Wild Mushrooms

July 16th, 2017

The middle of July is here, but despite quite rainy and dump weather my hopes for good chanterelle season did not come true. I find some small groups, far apart and well hidden. That is hardly enough for half decent meal for one person. I am steel hoping that my luck will improve in near future.

The very present mushrooms are Amanitas, Xerulas and Tylopilus.

As far as numbers go, Amanitas are the most present mushroom in the woods in my area. That goes for both coniferous and deciduous woods. That is nothing really new since the same happens every year. Somewhat unusual is the presence of great numbers of Amanita rubescens and Amanita porphyria. Both have somewhat pink tones over the whole mushroom, but porphyria is usually dark pink, almost brownish and smaller overall. According to many sources (mainly European) Amanita rubescens (known by common name the Blusher due to above mentioned pinkish tones) is excellent edible. Personally I never tried this mushroom although it is on my list to try in the future. Another great edible in Amanita genus is Amanita cesarea. Apparently in North America there is very similar Amanita jacksonii, but I did not try that one either. It is  bright red mushroom with yellow gills, stem and ring.

Xerula genus in this part of Ontario is represented with two main species: Xerula furfuracea and Xerula megalospora. The furfuracea is more dark and robust mushroom of medium size. Megalospora is quite a bit lighter and smaller. In my guide furfuracea is listed as edible, but I personally never tried it.  Both species have a long root like extension at the bottom of the stalk.

Tylopilus is Genus of Bolete, but majority of species in this Genus are too bitter to eat. They are NOT poisonous, just too bitter. It is too bad because this mushrooms are real beauties. On the other hand it seems that other creatures (worms and slugs) do not mind bitternes and infest even very young mushrooms. The mature ones are nearly 100% infested and eaten from the inside. The ones found in my area are almost exclusively Tylopilus felleus. They can be huge and it a a great thing to find a group of giants huddling together near some stump. On one of the pictures I put the 15 cm ruler on the cap to illustrate how big it actually is.

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