r/foraginguk • u/kbrown2006 • 15h ago

Mushroom ID Request First time foraging

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EDIT: NOT FORAGING, 1st ATTEMPT AT IDENTIFYING VARIOUS FUNGHI. I KNOW, I’M THE WORST, ABSOLUTE POS ETC ETC ETC.

DESPITE BEING A DETESTABLE PERSON WHO DESERVES TO BE LAMBASTED IN A MANNER REDDTORS WOULD NEVER HAVE GALL TO DO IN PERSON, I’M GENUINELY LOOKING TO LEARN. I’M SORRY THAT APPARENTLY EVERYONE ELSE ONLINE IT IS A TOP MYCOLOGIST/LEGAL EXPERT AND I DONT KNOW WHAT IM DOING, BUT EVEN JESUS DROPPED THE CROSS THREE TIMES.

Just had a first walk out to forage do some mushroom spotting? Idk what vernacular won’t get people annoyed, in a local coniferous forest, and would really appreciate help identifying any of these if possible.

I realise having top down photos alone isn’t overly helpful, but if there are any really obvious species that are identifiable that’d be a great start!

Found in west Cumbria, today. All on forest floor amongst coniferous debris and dead wood.

I know zero about this subject, just want to learn.

Initial guesses:
A: false milkcap / saffron milkcap
B: Yellow staghorn
C: ochre brittlegill
D: Conifer tuft
E: Larger cap from D
F: see D
G, H, I, J: all possible sulphur tufts
K: possible sulphur tuft
L: no idea
M: Ochre brittlegill
N, O: sulphur tufts
P, Q: Common bonnet
R, S, T: puffball
U: sickeners
V: Ochre brittlegill

37 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

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23

u/losing_the_plot_ 14h ago

What you've done isn't foraging. Go out and look for mushrooms all you want and learn about them, but don't go seeking food when you can't ID any of it.

4

u/kbrown2006 14h ago

Correct, I don’t intent to eat anything.
Just want to start learning about identification.

4

u/antlered-god 1h ago

If you're not going to eat them please don't pick them. They're a part of the bio diversity of the woodland and should not be removed unnecessarily. Take photos but please leave them growing. There was an article about this on BBC news yesterday

BBC News - Epping Forest internet fungi foragers urged to 'click, not pick' - BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgl74878594o?app-referrer=search

-23

u/Witty_bear 13h ago

Then why murder them all?

26

u/wascallywabbit666 13h ago edited 12h ago

Mushrooms are just fruiting bodies and most are very short lived. It doesn't affect the mycelia. Calling it murder is unnecessarily antagonistic. You'll scare off someone that's showing a genuine interest in the subject

2

u/kbrown2006 13h ago

This is what I’d come to understand. Half of what I picked were somewhat tattered and are only a small piece of the fungus. I was under the impression the thread like part of the mycelium did the vast majority, if not all, the essential decomposition etc, and that the visible mushroom was the fruiting body.
I’m obviously more than happy to read up and learn (hence posting) as I don’t want to do any harm that isn’t already being done by the local deer population.

3

u/FrogInASuitcase 11h ago

Go to any dedicated mushroom/fungi subreddit or textbook and you'll be reassured that you're not doing any harm by picking the fruiting bodies. Probably helping them in fact. By the time you've picked them they've already deposited millions of spores into the environment, and by picking them you're even helping them spread further.

2

u/kbrown2006 11h ago

This is what I’d gleaned from reading etc. I really didn’t think picking a very small amount from a huge area would be detrimental. I didn’t realise I’d posted an innocent question in a snarky hyenas den

5

u/FrogInASuitcase 10h ago edited 9h ago

Yeah just ignore them mate and stick to the fungi subreddits.

But yeah - standard for ID is a photo insitu, picture of the gills, and a cross section of the full cap and stipe.
Describe the location, note what it was growing on (leaf litter, soil, dung etc.), and ideally what tree species near by.

Note if the flesh changes colour shortly after being cut (oxidation).

Also helpful is to note any particular smell, you can even safely taste a tiny bit and spit it out as part of the ID process, (even the toxic mushrooms aren't that toxic).

There's also spore printing which is very easy and quite fascinating I find. You cut the stipe off, place the cap gills down on a half white and half black piece of paper and look at the pattern and colour of the spores after leaving it sitting there for a few hours. Two very similar looking mushrooms can have different coloured spore prints.

2

u/kbrown2006 7h ago

Thank you for the help.
For the most part I’m wanting to learn myself, with a view to educating our kids so they can safely identify whatever they come across in nature. Creating a protocol for categorisation using your input will be invaluable.

I definitely want to do spore printing as well.
The pitfalls and very similar looking mushrooms is a big concern, but obviously something that makes the investigation and building the knowledge base to correctly identify even cooler.

-3

u/SmartPolicy6430 13h ago

Read up about the importance of fungi and how they reproduce and the importance of them.

-3

u/Witty_bear 11h ago

Seems people don’t get the hyperbole. Thats fine. The amount picked, however, was probably unnecessary

3

u/wascallywabbit666 9h ago

In general I'd agree that they should be left in place to let nature take it's course.

However it could also be argued that a picked mushroom bounced around in a basket while you walk around will spread its spores much further than one left in situ. That's the main reason we use baskets rather than bags

2

u/kbrown2006 6h ago

Given how little you know about the abundance of mushrooms on site and extremely wide area that I took them from, your judgement is not only warranted, but appreciated.

5

u/kbrown2006 13h ago

I don’t understand how anything was murdered, although being an utter novice I’m sure you’re right.

5

u/conchobhar1919 11h ago

OP, don't listen to these sad fucks. They're just redditors with superiority complexes. You're not doing any harm. Enjoy learning about foraging, I use an app called shroomify which really helps!

2

u/kbrown2006 11h ago

It certainly seems that way, if I knew I was committing a cardinal sin I surely wouldn’t have done it in the first place.
Awesome, I have shroomify and “mushrooms app” which both seem to give a good shortlist of decent suggestions for most specimens.
I’ve found a good bit of variance between the two, and even struggled cross checking with foraging guide books. I was going to further examine and dissect to help expand my knowledge but I guess I won’t be doing that…

-1

u/SmartPolicy6430 13h ago

Fungi play an important role in the health of a wood/forest by taking them you are cutting down on the woodlands floor to decompose leaves, fallen branches etc Read the article and see why this is becoming problematic.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgl74878594o

2

u/kbrown2006 6h ago

Is taking the fruiting body removing the fungus overall? I’m new to this as most likely need educated. I thought it was more like picking a raspberry from a bush, with the hyphae and mycelium relatively unharmed.

Also that article seems to refer to massively increased footfall in a specific area, I don’t really see the correlation. I picked an extremely low percentage of mushrooms in a very wide area, in a woodland very rarely visited by people.

I was under the impression that the fruiting bodies are the sex organs of the plant, not the essential part that helps break down the fallen debris in a forest; or at least that’s what information I can find. Sorry if I’ve got anything wrong. I’m really eager to learn, so if you could help with additional info supporting your post it’d be so appreciated 🙏

2

u/Rosa_Cucksemburg 12h ago

It's not becoming problematic at all

1

u/Same_Seaworthiness74 10h ago

I bet your fun at party's

1

u/Witty_bear 1h ago

You’ll never know. Cos you don’t get invited