Two Kinds of Hedgehogs -- Hydnum repandum and Hydnum umbilicatum

Last weekend while collecting Hedghogs near Nanaimo I came crashing out of the bush onto a trail and saw two people bent at the waist looking intently at the forest floor. I recognized the stance -- mushroom hunters. I then spent a few happy hours chatting with Chris and Victoria about mushrooms and related topics and wandering through the forest with them looking for mushrooms. I really enjoyed their enthusiasm and it was nice to share tips and observations with folks who clearly enjoyed hunting for mushrooms as much as I do!

Victoria recommended an app she uses called, Roger's Mushrooms. I went home and found the product on the net right away. http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/   The names comes from Roger Phillips, the man behind the project, and he is someone well known for his photographs and films about plants and gardening. 
If you have found a great resource like this one, I would love to hear about it. comment on this post or send me an e-mail at quietlake at stillinthestream dot com. 

Here is a video from last weekend with a tip about collecting fragile mushrooms like Hedgehogs and getting them home in good shape: 

Yesterday, after a trip to Cathedral Grove to look at the big trees with friends, and three separate specimens of Bears Head (Conifer Coral Hericium) which I showed great restraint in not picking, I returned to the Nanaimo area and went into a piece of forest with fairly dense Salal that I have been interested in exploring for some time. I found a large patch of Lobster Mushrooms, only two of which were in good shape, some small thin Golden Chanterelles, and a number of small Belly Button Hedghogs scattered across about an acre of forest. Not terribly exciting. 

Today I went a little further afield to a location I knew to be good for Hedghogs. I found a lot of Hedghogs,  a bunch of Golden Chanterelles still in good shape (and a good number past there prime too!), and Winter Chanterelles at various stages of development. Here is my video from today:

The Bleeding Milk Caps are almost past their prime and the Golden Chanterelles are declining in numbers and quality, so as the frost threatens to knock down the Hedghogs, it seems likely that we soon will be reduced to collecting Winter Oysters, Winter Chanterelles, and Matsutake from the woods of Vancouver Island. 

But, until the frosts hit hard, we still have a couple of good weeks for picking for those varieties. So, happy hunting!

First Chanterelle and Califlower in Nanaimo Area

Last weekend I walked in local parks and saw only one mushroom, a Shaggy Mane (Coprinus comatus) which was in a public area, so I did not pick it.

My finds today were a Cauliflower and a few small Chenterelles.

Here is the Cauliflower:

 Note the blue mold on it. I saw mold on several Chanterelles too, which leads me to think they came out earlier in the fall, and have been sitting here for quite a while.

Here is a Chanterelle completely covered in the blueish mold:

I walked for several hours and checked out a few spots that I know have had Chanterelles two years in a row.  Finally on a low spot where a creeks flows in the winter, in near some exposed bank, I found a few fresh ones, peaking out:

They were really small and I didn't pick them. A little further down the gully I found some more and took a picture with my headlight to show the size:

Then, finally I found a few worth picking:

No Slippery Jacks or Gomphidius or any of the common non-edibles. Did see a few Fir Cone Cap and some LBMs.

Some folks are saying we may not get the regular flush this year, and maybe not with the long Indian summer and no rain. Still, with all of November before us, I'm staying optomistic.

Cantherellus subalbidus (White Chanterelle) and Cantharellus formosus (Pacific Golden Chanterelle)

Mike Orr's video from the 23rd motivated me to get in the vehicle and drive to some spots where I have found Chanterelles in the past. The first 1/2 hour was disappointing, and then I stumbled upon a patch of tinny golden Chanterelles.

Interestingly there was evidence that someone else had been there before me -- I could see the neatly cut stipes of larger mushrooms beside the small ones I found. I wandered around in a wider circle, went up the hill a ways, found nothing, so circled back and proceeded downhill from where I had found the small ones. Then I came across a patch of White Chanterelles and picked a bag full.

I walked quite a while after that but did not find another patch.

I did, to my great joy, find a red legged frog. Quite unexpected in the forest. And she sat still so I could take some photos with my iPhone.

After leaving her to her -- I'm not sure what -- burying herself in the mud for the winter??? I went down the road to another place I have had luck in the past and found one small Golden Chanterelle in well over an hour of tramping through the wet salal and deep woods.

It was a lovely spot with the sun streaming through the trees and just before I gave up I came around a big old stump and found this:

The fungus had an unpleasant smell.

 But was impressive in heft and detail.

 A little further on I found some polypores:

I'm going to guess that this is Coltricia perennis (Tiger's Eye). There were several lovely speciments:

Gymnopus dryophilus 76%

I collected a sample and did a spore print overnight. Then I ran all the variables through Matchmaker. it came up with only one option: Gymnopus dryophilus, or common Collybia.

Here is the spore print:

I've interpreted this as cream, pale yellow, yellow-brown, or orange brown. The photos doesn't really look like it does with the naked eye. I would say it is more cream than anything.

Matchmaker is a very interesting and complex program. I can't believe all the variables. The algorithms must be "gnarly dude."

It is a nice looking fungus, with a pleasant fungusy smell.

When I use the little option in Matchmaker for reducing the percentage match it gives me other choices.

1. Lepista inversa*  63%
2. Paxillus involutus*  61%
3. Gymnopus confluens*  61%
4. Cortinarius semisanguineus*  61%
5. Clitocybe albirhiza*  61%

Of these, Lepista inversa and Cortinarius semisanguineus also look like good candidates. Except that my specimen does not have "decurrent gills that become cap-colored." Well, they are cap-colored, but not decurrent (extending down the stem below the point of attachment).

Cortinarius semisanguineus looks more like my specimen in some ways but mine is probably not as brown and with a thinner stipe, and definitely not red to brown spores.

So, based on the information I was able to enter, this is probably Gymnopus dryophilus. It sure smells nice, but it will take a few more years of learning about identification before I will even consider eating one!