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Thursday, Sept. 29, 1988


Mushrooms
Drought dries up supplies

By C. Mark Sakry
For the Duluth News-Tribune

Anyone who scoured the pine mats and forest debris for edible wild mushrooms this summer found the prospects for meal fixin's feeble.
    Few were lucky enough to find the highly prized morel, one of the first mushrooms to appear in the spring.
    It was just too dry.
    Mushrooms are very sensitive to changes in natural conditions, such as temperature, moisture and habitat.  Morels, especially so.  Wild fungi will lie dormant until conditions permit adequate propagation.  That usually means lots of rain.
    Actually, what we call a mushroom is the reproductive fruiting body that emerges from a web-like network of mycelium—the true "vegetative" portion of the plant—growing beneath the ground or inside rotting wood.  A "button" is sent up through the substrate periodically, when conditions are right, to produce spores and release them into the air.  A mushroom may be likened to a flower blossom, or fruit, in which seeds are produced and distributed to ensure propagation of the mother plant itself.  Mycelium is the mother "plant" in the case of the mushroom.  In most
cases, the mold-like mycelium won't produce the button during extremely dry conditions.
   That's what we saw over the summer.  Except for a few species of fungi that grow from trees or logs, where some inherent moisture remained, few wild mushrooms were available to even the most diligent forager.
    But then we had rain.  Lots of it.  And oh, what a boon we are in for now.  All those minute webs of mycelium lying dormant in the substrate are coming alive.  Small events can be seen happening everywhere:  in moss, on logs, around rocks and stumps, in fields … even on lawns!
   Fall is, of course, the most prolific time for mushrooms anyway.  But this year we are witnessing a sort of "slingshot" effect.  Many of the fungi one normally sees earlier in the summer are emerging now.  For many species there's little time left this season for propagation and—following the recent heavy rains around the Duluth-Superior region—they are getting right to it.  Noted among them are the fairy ring mushroom, smooth lepiota, platterful mushroom, fawn mushroom and various species of the corals, boletes and russulas.
   Unfortunately, the morel, the one mushroom aficionados would especially like to see, won't be making an appearance this fall.  It's among the fungi that have it in them to simply wait it out until next year.
    Yet mushroom pickers who limit themselves to harvesting the morel alone are missing out on a wonderfully fruitful experience.  The autumn forest is literally bursting with culinary delights—an endless array of colorful, odd-shaped mushrooms just beckoning the forager to wholeheartedly indulge.  And indulge you should, as long as you know how to identify those varieties that are safe to eat.
    Mushroom harvesting requires extreme caution, and a newcomer attempting to do so without the help of a dependable field guide and a seasoned expert is begging for trouble.
    Actually, few mushrooms cause bona fide life-threatening illness.   Most wild fungi are considered edible.  But you should never eat any mushrooms that you cannot identify with certainty.  You must be absolutely positive your harvest is safe to eat.
    Following are some fine edible mushrooms available in our area this fall.  Don't use these notes as a substitute for a field guide and advice from someone experienced in mushroom harvesting.

Chanterelle
    This eminent edible ushers in the fall mushroom season in much the same way that the morel signals the early inklings of summer.  The most commonly sought wild mushroom in the world, it rivals the morel as a choice edible.  Its season is, for the most part, finished.

Russulas
   These are the first to appear in great numbers at the start of the fall mushroom season.   They seem to spring up everywhere, in almost infinite variety.  Some of the varieties are not edible.  Experienced mushroom hunters look for the short-stalked white russula after it has been parasatized (and grotesquely disfigured) by the bright, orange-red lobster mold.  The mold renders this otherwise unpalatable edible into one that is among the most choice to be found anywhere.

Boletes
Look for the chicken-fat suillus, common scaber stalk, and aspen scaber stalk found, respectively, beneath eastern white pine, birch and aspen.  Boletes have pores on their undersides instead of gills.  Most are edible but some are not.

Corals
   All varieties of this group of easy-to-identify club fungi in Minnesota are reportedly edibleand make for superb eating. Anyone who has seen a coral will confirm that the name is apt.

Shelf fungi
   A generic term for any "shelf-like" mushroom that grows from tree trunks, stumps, or logs.  Most easy to identify are the brilliant blaze-orange sulfur shelf and the eminent, cream-colored oyster mushroom.  The oyster is incomparable for all-around culinary use; it is perhaps as versatile as the domestic (store-bought) Agaricus bisporus.

Puffballs
    This group consists of a wide range of sizes and textures, but all are spherical and are edible.  Most famous is the giant puffball, which has been known to grow as large as three feet in diameter!   But the smaller varieties, such as the gem-studded puffball, are far more common to the north woods.  Puffballs have no pores or gills; they are all "meat" inside.  Caution:  Do not mistake potentially poisonous mushroom buttons for puffballs.

Honey mushroom
   This is an unusual favorite for fall mushroom hunters.  It is commonly found growing beneath hardwood trees such as oak, maple and ironwood.  While the honey mushroom has caused mild gastric discomfort in some individuals, many claim that it is one of the best-eating of all wild fungi.

    When picking any mushroom, be sure to cut the stem near its base rather than pluck it.  That ensures future propagation of the plant by not disturbing the mycellum in the substrate beneath.   The only exception is when you must extract the entire mushroom whole for purposes of identification or study.
    If you find a mushroom that's infested with insects (and you can't stomach the "extra protein"), leave it near where you found it.  It will continue to produce and release spores for future generations of fungi in your picking area.
    A wicker basket works well for collecting mushrooms because it prevents crushing, but cloth bags are less cumbersome for packing into a day pack.  Plastic bags are out; they promote condensation and rotting.
    Clean mushrooms with a damp cloth and paring knife if you can get by without immersing them completely in water.
    Ensure a safe harvest by using a dependable field guide for positive verification of all mushrooms and engage an expert to help you make identifications.   Be sure to read all appendices in your field guides before attempting a wild harvest of any kind; they provide extremely valuable information—possibly life-saving!
    Following are some excellent guides:
    "The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms" by Gary Lincoff (Alfred A. Knopf, $13.50).
    "Edible Mushrooms" by Clyde M. Christensen (University of Minnesota Press, $7.95).
   "The Mushroom Hunter's Field Guide" by Alexander Smith (University of Michigan Press, $14.95).


Sakry is a freelance writer living in Two Harbors.   He has taught classes about wild mushroom hunting and written a number of articles on the subject.


EDITOR'S NOTE:
Don't take chances

Caution is advised when eating any wild mushroom.  Unless you can identify it with 100 percent certainty and know it's safe to eat, don't.
    So says Clyde M. Christensen in the preface of his pamphlet, "Edible Wild Mushrooms," available by writing to the Minnesota agricultural extension service (addresses follow).  Christensen, professor emeritus of plant pathology at the University of Minnesota, warns against taking seriously any folklore about safe and poisonous mushrooms.
    A kind of mushroom mythology has been passed from generation to generation.  Admonitions persist that poisonous mushrooms tarnish silver spoons, won't peel, congeal milk and turn onions blue.  Such tales have no basis in scientific fact.
    The simple truth is, there is no simple truth.  There is only one way to be able to distinguish good from the bad—by studying and learning about mushrooms themselves.
    For the amateur, that means time spent in the field with a good field guide and an expert.
    Finally, should you become ill from eating wild mushrooms, contact your physician or the nearest hospital or call the Poison Control Center 1-800-222-1222.
    The pamphlet "Edible Wild Mushrooms," is available free of charge to residents of Minnesota and Wisconsin by writing to one of the following Minnesota Extension Service offices:
St. Louis County:
   Washburn Hall, Room 109, 2305 E. 5th St., Duluth 55812.
Carlton County:
    P.O. Box 307, Canton 55718.
Lake County:
    Courthouse, 601 3rd Ave., Two Harbors 55616.
Cook County:
    Courthouse, Grand Marais 55604.


THE DULUTH NEWS-TRIBUNE / THURSDAY, SEPT. 29, 1988
Copyright C. Mark Sakry 1988

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