Help with ID

[Tom Sawyer]

These were popping up under Red Pine, in openings with abundant sun. Day after about 3 inches of rain over night, just north Brainerd.

The real question is edible? I need to get a good book or two; take a tour with a expert too.

Please give book suggestions.......

[JP Z]

Probably not edible..........I personally stay away from most if not all gilled mushrooms. Just too many scary ones.

Some Good books are:

100 Edible Mushrooms by Michael Kuo

Mushrooming without Fear: The Beginner's Guide to Collecting Safe and Delicious Mushrooms by

Alexander Schwab

These are 2 of the 4-5 I have and use.

[Matt Breuer]

Lactarius...

The only milky caps (lactarius) I would eat are indigos and ones infected by hypomyces, aka, the lobster mushroom.

Lactarius is part of the russula family, and together they make up the largest family of muhsrooms in the world I believe. Very common, not very many are good edibles/safe edibles. A person needs to be a seasoned hunter to ID and separate most of them, as many look alike.

[pushbutton]

One thing Stick and I independently noticed when out the last few days....was the current lack of russulas in our part of the state. Hope things turn soon .....for lobster sakes. Honestly not a whole of anything going on yet. We are not experts, but suspect/hope it is a week or two early yet

[Matt Breuer]

The above could be a russlua bevripes too. Lactarius will "milk" when you slice the gills. Almost impossible to tell without lifting it from the ground though..

Lots of russula and lactarius popping up here. I think we're about a week away from some wicked lobsta's...

[Tom Sawyer]

Thanks Matt, I got about as close as some sort of Russlua also. Can you suggest a few beginner books....

[Portlis]

I'm a complete newbie when it comes to shroom hunting, sort of in the same boat as you it appears Tom. I just recently received the book already mentioned in this thread, 100 Edible Mushrooms by Michael Kuo, and I'd highly recommend it. It's a very enjoyable read and very informative.

I never really thought I'd just enjoy reading a semi-field guide sort of book cover to cover, but I'm almost done with it and it was very entertaining. By no means is it a complete field guide mind you, but it doesn't try to be either. It's perfect for someone like myself that just wants to know the basics when starting, then provides a substantial bit more from there.

[Stick in Mud]

Identifying particular species of russalas can be really, really tough, though it's easy enough to identify the genus. Without a better picture, Tom, it's almost impossible to know what you have there.

If it is a russula or a lactarius, wait a while until they start to turn into hard, red, misshapen lumps. Then it'll be a lobster, and you can eat away.

[Matt Breuer]

Thanks Matt, I got about as close as some sort of Russlua also. Can you suggest a few beginner books....

Books... The National Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms is one of my favorites. Very good color plates to go off of, and it's uber-easy to use. Lincoff is a great guy, and I enjoy his stuff more than Arora. However, Mushrooms Demystified is the bible. Pretty well covers the entire spectrum, and well once you learn how to read it/use it. Another great one is Arora's small pocket guide, What the Rain Promises and More.

As for hypomyces, I believe the attack happens somewhere in transition. I've seen lobsters that were just popping, just little nubbins. I have never seen a russula or lactarius that changed after it was flushed. I have however seen hypomyces attack boletes after they have flushed. Interesting parasite...

[pushbutton]

Do not know when the attacks exactly began, but have seen a few epic fungal battles with what were probably lactarius that were still very close to original form but apparent the hypomyces had taken hold. Jr. and I call them lobster donuts While probably ok....we still did not eat any.

[Stick in Mud]

Matt's suggestions are what I'd go with, too.

There's a new book out by Michael Kuo titled "Mushrooms of the Midwest." It's available online and in the St Cloud Barnes and Noble. I think it covers the majority of what grows around here (though there's no emphasis made on which mushrooms are edible). Each mushrooms has at least one color photo.

[JP Z]

If you happen to have a Kindle Fire the Mushrooms Pro app by Nature Mobile is VERY good. It has over 300 mushrooms and over a thousand pictures.