Agaricus campestris

Edible Mushrooms....

Agaricus campestris


It is widely collected and edible mushroom, even by those who would not normally experiment with mushrooming. This mushroom is not commercially cultivated on account of its fast maturing and short shelf-life.Culinary uses of the meadow mushroom include sauteed or fried, in sauces, or even sliced raw and used in salads. In flavor and texture, this mushroom is almost completely identical to the white button mushrooms available in grocery stores in the United
States. Be sure to rinse well to dislodge any sand, and also watch out for small, white larvae which tunnel through the stems and caps.

Among the Similar Species mentioned below, there have been cases where the deadly toxic Destroying Angel mushroom (Amanita bisporiga) has been consumed by individuals who mistook them for this species.
Edible Mushrooms..

Agaricus Bisporus

Agaricus bisporus,as edible mushrooms also known as table mushroom, portobello mushroom, cultivated mushroom or button mushroom, is an edible basidiomycete fungus which naturally occurs in grasslands, fields and meadows across Europe and North America, though has spread much more widely and is one of the most widely cultivated mushrooms in the world. The original wild form bore a brownish cap and dark brown gills but more familiar is the current variant with a white form with white cap, stalk and flesh and brown gills.

Some grocery stores in the Western world sell this mushroom in canned and fresh preparations. An agaric, its gills are often left on in preparations. It can be found cooked on pizzas and casseroles, stuffed mushrooms, raw on salads, and in various forms in a variety of dishes. Some mycologists, including Paul Stamets, have raised concerns that this mushroom contains trace quantities of a chemical agaritine known to have carcinogenic properties, though whether
levels are sufficient to cause harm in consumers is debated.
Edible Mushrooms..

Poisonous Mushrooms in Northeastern North America

It is important to know that there are at least 10 reasons why people get sick from eating EDIBLE mushrooms:

1. Too many mushrooms are eaten – mushrooms are hard to digest; chewing well is advised.
2. Mushrooms are eaten raw or undercooked.
3. Too much butter is used in cooking the mushrooms.
4. Alcohol sometimes causes an adverse reaction when eating mushrooms.
5. The mushrooms are not in good condition; they are in some state of decomposition.
6. Some poisonous mushrooms are inadvertently mixed in with the edibles.
7. A personal allergy can cause anything from GI distress to a rash.
8. A prescription drug (MAO inhibitor) can cause a reaction with particular mushrooms, such as polypores.
9. Edible mushrooms that are badly canned can cause botulism.
10. A GI reaction (cramps, diarrhea) or nausea may occur after a meal, not related to the mushrooms eaten. A pre-existing virus may cause this.

There is also the Fear Factor. Someone may be eating wild mushrooms at your table for the first time ever, and be petrified, and become, or imagine becoming, ill because of stress.

Mushrooms known to cause death in Northeastern North America:
1. Amanita virosa AG 551
2. Amanita phalloides AG 543
3. Galerina autumnalis AG 620
4. Lepiota josserandii AG 517
5. Gyromitra esculenta AG 336

Because of the very real possibility of misidentification (for whatever reason) and the very real consequences of severe mushroom poisoning, the following is advised:

Do not eat any Amanitas even though some are known to be edible.
Do not eat any LBM (Little Brown Mushroom).
Do not eat any small species of Lepiota.
Do not eat any large Lepiota without first finding out its spore color. Definitely avoid the green-spored Lepiota, Chlorophyllum molybdites -- it will make you seriously ill.
Do not eat any Gyromitra (False Morel), at least not when found east of the Mississippi River.
Do not eat Jack O'Lantern, Omphalotus olearius, mistakenly thinking it is a chanterelle. --
Always keep a fresh specimen in the refrigerator, in case identification is needed for treatment.

Mushrooms to be avoided because a few species in Europe have caused kidney failure and the toxins are found throughout the genus:
Cortinarius, all species -- AG 610ff.

Mushrooms known to cause muscarine-like symptoms [profuse sweating, tunnel vision] in Northeastern North America:
1. Clitocybe dealbata AG 745 --
2. Inocybe, all species AG 626ff. --

Mushrooms known to cause a reaction when alcohol has been consumed up to 72 hours after eating the mushroom:
1. Coprinus atramentarius AG 596
2. Clitocybe clavipes AG 745

Mushroom known to cause disorientation, GI symptoms, muscarine-like symptoms:
Amanita muscaria AG 538

Mushrooms known to cause transient hallucinations:
1. Psilocybe caerulipes, and other blue-staining species of Psilocybe AG 719
2. Gymnopilus spectabilis AG 623

Mushrooms known or suspected to cause mild to severe GI distress:
Gilled Mushrooms:
1. Agaricus meleagris AG 507
2. Amanita gemmata (= A. crenulata) AG 537
3. Armillaria mellea AG 736
4. Chlorophyllum molybdites AG 509
5. Entoloma, many species
6. Hebeloma, all species suspected
7. Lactarius, many species
8. Lepiota naucina AG 519
9. Naematoloma (= Hypholoma) fasciculare AG 709
10. Omphalotus olearius AG 787
11. Paxillus involutus AG 671
12. Russula, several species
13. Tricholoma, several species
14. Tricholomopsis platyphylla AG 807

Boletes:
1. Boletus huronensis (in Bessette, North American Boletes)
2. Boletus (= Chalciporus) piperatus AG 571
3. Boletus sensibilis AG 567
4. Boletus, some species with red pore-mouths
5. Suillus luteus (can be laxative) AG 586
6. Tylopilus eximius AG 592

Other Mushrooms:
1. Morels eaten raw AG 326
2. Gomphus floccosus AG 396
3. Ramaria formosa and possibly other coral fungi AG 408
4. Scleroderma citrinum AG 839
5. Calvatia gigantea, occasionally reported. AG 823

black-truffle-tuber-melanosporum.

Mushrooms for Good Health?

Mushrooms for Good Health?

Mushrooms are favorites of mine, but if you're just starting to learn about their medicinal properties, I don't blame you for being confused about which ones are, or aren't, good for you. In general, I advise against eating a lot of the cultivated white or "button" mushrooms found on supermarket shelves throughout the United States (portobello and crimini mushrooms are the same species). They are among a number of foods (including celery, peanuts, peanut products,
and salted, pickled, or smoked foods) that contain natural carcinogens. Just how dangerous these natural toxins are is unknown, but we do know that they are not present in other kinds of mushrooms that offer great health benefits. If you do eat these varieties, never eat them raw and cook them thoroughly over high heat; that will break down some of the toxins.
Related Weil Products

Instead of button mushrooms, I recommend seeking out the more exotic varieties, which are becoming increasingly available in the United States. Some are edible mushrooms and can make a delicious addition to your diet, but some are strictly medicinal mushrooms available in dried, liquid extract or in capsule form.

Here's a brief guide to my favorites:

* Shiitake: These meaty and flavorful mushrooms contain a substance called eritadenine, which encourages body tissues to absorb cholesterol and lower the amount circulating in the blood. Shiitakes also have antiviral and anticancer effects. Dried shiitakes, available at Asian grocery stores, are also effective. Fresh ones are readily available thanks to domestic cultivation. (To prepare, remove stems or slice fresh ones thinly; they are often tough.)
* Cordyceps: A Chinese mushroom used as a tonic and restorative. It is also known for improving athletic performance. You can buy whole, dried cordyceps in health food stores and add them to soups and stews, or drink tea made from powdered cordyceps. You can also
get cordyceps in liquid or capsule form. To treat general weakness, take cordyceps once or twice a day, following the dosage advice on the product. For health maintenance, take it once or twice a week.
* Enoki: Slender white edible mushrooms that need only brief cooking and have a very mild taste. They are good in soups and salads. Enoki mushrooms have significant anticancer and immune-enhancing effects.
* Maitake: This delicious Japanese edible mushroom is also called "hen of the woods" because it grows in big clusters that resemble the fluffed tail feathers of a nesting hen. You should be able to find it dried or fresh in Japanese markets, gourmet foods stores, or upscale supermarkets. Maitake has anticancer, antiviral, and immune-system enhancing effects and may also help control both high blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
* Reishi: Strictly a medicinal mushroom, not a culinary one, reishi is woody, hard, and bitter. Like maitake and other related mushrooms species, reishi can improve immune function and inhibit the growth of some malignant tumors. It also shows significant anti-inflammatory effects, reduces allergic responsiveness, and protects the liver. You can buy dried, ground mushrooms and use them to make tea if you don't mind the bitterness. Otherwise, buy reishi tablets, liquid extracts or capsules, which are available in health food stores and follow the recommended dosage. Take reishi every day for at least two months to see what it can do for you.

Allergies to edible mushrooms are rare, but some people do find them hard to digest. To learn more about the health-promoting effects of mushrooms, check out www.fungi.com, the web site of Fungi Perfecti, an excellent source for information about medicinal and gourmet edible mushrooms, as well as dried mushrooms and extracts.

history-of-edible-mushrooms.

EdibLe Mushrooms Gallery

Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulfureus) There are a few things to be aware of when picking this mushroom. Firstly, there's some evidence that if it's growing on either yew or eucalyptus, it might be poisonous. Secondly, you really only want it when it's young and juicy; it gets old and woody later, and it isn't good eating any more. Thirdly, there are some extremely rare examples of children hallucinating after eating this mushroom. So don't feed it to any tiny tots. Other than that, munch away. It's remarkable just how much this mushroom really does taste like chicken, so I recommend making the most of that by adding it to chicken stews and curries. I like to keep some in the freezer, ready to be diced up and marinated in olive oil and herbs, making an ideal barbecue treat for vegetarians."

Fairy Ring Mushroom (Marasmius oreades) "Be careful with this one. Really careful. You could mistake one of the toxic Clitocybe species or it, and that wouldn’t be good. Could be fatal. But once you get the eye for this mushroom, it’s a cracker, it really is. A lot of people write books on wild foods that you can find in immaculate woodlands that you never ever get to. They tell you about chanterelles, ceps, morels and the like. What they don’t tell you about is this little mushroom that forms most of the fairy rings in parks, football pitches, school playing fields, etc. And it has an almondy, mushroomy flavour as good as any other mushroom. It’s not big, so you want to pick plenty for a meal. This isn’t a problem; you might find rings that are ten yards across or more, with hundreds of mushrooms on them. You get them from Spring through till Autumn, but in May they’re at their best because there is less chance of them being full of maggots. As you pick them, pull the stipe (stem) out and look at where it joins the cap; you want there to be no maggot holes there. And best of all, they dry very well. Thread the caps onto cotton and hang them somewhere warm to dry."[/img]

Giant Puffball (Langermannia gigantea) The giant puffball is a mammoth amongst mushrooms. It is a near spherical fungal fruiting body, somewhere between a few inches and a yard or more in diameter. It is attached to the ground by a thin stem, which breaks upon ripening allowing the puffball to dry out and release spores (sometimes for a year or two) as it rolls about in the wind. If you are lucky enough to find a young, fresh specimen (it MUST be white all the way through; as it yellows, eventually turning green and brown, it will make you sick) then you are in for a real treat. Take it home (laughing maniacally as you do so), slice it into half inch steaks, and fry it (battered or covered in egg and breadcrumbs if you like). It’s kind of like a strongly mushroom flavoured marshmallow. Or dice it for stews and soups, slice it up and add some olive oil, put in a pot and bake it... Even stuff it with mince and its own chopped innards before baking (the smell it gives out when you cook it that way is almost overpowering!). Whatever you do with it, it is a fine tasting mushroom. Different guidebooks will give different habitats for the giant puffball, but I personally think that it grows where it likes. I’ve found them on muddy lake banks that are covered in water for two months of most years, I’ve picked it from a pile of waste soil next to a rugby pitch, and I’ve found a ring of a dozen football sized puffballs in a patch of scrubby woodland by a railway track. The only linking thing I can find is that the soil must be relatively undisturbed for a few years. I can’t really offer definitive advice on what habitat it prefers, but I will stick my neck out and say that sooner or later, if you keep your eyes open, you’ll find one. Can’t easily be misidentified, unless you find a football in the woods."

When the pics aren't from Downsizer, it might be worth mentioning where the pics are from or including a link. Always a polite thing to do Or ask for pics from Downsizers of course. Here, for example, is a chanterelle from Wakefield:

Deceivers... (Laccaria laccata) Thats from outside the chemistry department of Cambridge University, right on Lensfield Road... Very pretty but I didn't eat them! October '01. And the similar purple species, the amethyst deceiver, Laccaria amethysta Thats from Thetford forest, same roll of film as the other pic so only more or less the same time as the deceivers. They're both slight little shrooms, only a few of centimeters across and the shape is very variable. But when found in profusion they're really nice and tasty, well worth having.

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 06 10:43 am Post subject: Agrocybe cylindracea "...cream at first, darker brown with age, with persistent ring which soon becomes dusted brown by the spores. Flesh white in the cap and stem, brown in the stem base. Taste nutty, smell of old wine casks. Habitat in tufts wood especially willows and poplars. Season all year round."