Hen of the Woods?

[finnbay]

Have heard of it, never seen it. Came across this the other day. Could be?

[jerkin'm]

Nope,hens grow on the ground in a round mass...that is some sort of polypore...

[Steve Foss]

Ken, you've got a bunch of Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor). Chicken of the woods is slang for Sulpher Shelf (Laetiporus sulphureus), which also grows on wood but is a bright sulfer color, usually larger than Turkey Tail, and without the white border.

[finnbay]

Thanks, guys! Down through the brush it looked like a grouse (if I'd have had a shotgun I might have touched one off!)so thought the name would be appropriate!

[jerkin'm]

finnbay-I know Steve was just in a hurry to get out his mushroom book with all the fancy names which is why he misread your title. He thought you said "chicken" of the woods, which is orange and super obvious....you said "hen" of the woods (Grifola frondosa) which is actually pretty close to your picture but grows in one large mass of layers out of one stem coming from the ground.Most times at the base of oak trees...it has many ruffle looking layers coming out of one stem which is connected to the ground..hence "hen of the woods"...

[Steve Foss]

Actually, I'd never heard of hen of the woods, but have heard of chicken of the woods many times, and just figured they were slang for the same species. I learned something new today. That's good!

Grifola frondosa is not included in my northern Minnesota mushroom guide. That's bad!

But I found it quickly with a little Googling. Now I'll know how to tell a hen from a chicken. That's good!

And mushrooms/fungi have so many slang names that vary from region to region that when I try to ID them for folks I always include the Latin name. Avoids confusion that way.

[Dark Cloud]

They are by far one of my favorite mushrooms. Very meat-like and full of flavor.

Around here it is a late sept early oct pick.

Once you find a spot that has them, that spot should be good from year to year if the weather is conducive to em growing.

About 5 years ago I found the motherload and literally filled a hockey size duffle bag. It was a long walk and felt like I was carrying a deer out of the woods.

Squirrel season is open then so shooting tree rats, scoutin deer, and looking for shrooms is a good way to kill some time.

p.s. - the National Audubon Society's field guide to mushrooms is a great all around book/guide...

[finnbay]

Thanks for all the info, guys!