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Welcome to the Celtnet guide to wild mushrooms and fungi. As this recipe site has grown it has become necessary to split out and make more readily acessible various sub-sections of the site. The number of mushroom and fungi described on this site has not grown large enough that they warrant their own page, as well as being described amongst the other wild foods on the site. These pages are an attempt at bringing all links to the fungi described here into one place. To use this guide simply click on the image or the name of the fungus described below. This will take you through to a page describing the mushroom/fungus and which also provides links on this site to recipes describing the means of preparation of that mushroom or fungus. If you scroll down you will also find a handy guide on how to make spore prints from a mushroom or fungus. If you are picking your own wild mushrooms then this is an essential techique that will help you identify mushrooms that are safe to eat. |
Below, you will find an example wild food entry produced randomly from our database:
Mushroom Guide Entry For: Shaggy Ink CapThis is the description page for Shaggy Ink Cap (Coprinus comatus) and includes a description as well as an image, if available and a selection of recipes from this site that relates to the wild foodstuff: Shaggy Ink Cap.  The Shaggy Ink Cap, Coprinus comatus (also known as Lawyer's Wig, or Shaggy Mane) is a species of basidomycete fungus (filamentous fungi composed of hyphae that reproduce sexually) and is a member of the Agaricaceae (agaricus) family that have black spore prints. It is a fairly common species in and around towns, often on mown verges. It is typically gregarious in nature and is found on the wooded verges of parks and common ground. Globally, it is widespread in temperate regions (it is commercially grown in China) and typically friuts initially in September but is most common October and can continue fruiting through November. This is quite a large mushroom (it can grow between 10 and 25cm tall) and initally they look like pale fingers sticking up from the ground. At this initial stage (when they should be picked) no stem is visible. As the mushroom matures they resemble a rugby ball in shape and the outersurfac breaks up into shaggy scales (the top will be a muddy brown). As the mushroom opens further the base of the cap reveals the gills which begin as white then turn pink and then black. At this stage the cap pulls away from the stem and the dge of the cap begins to deliquesce, releasing the spores in a black liquid (the ink). Mature, open, specimens should not be picked. The stem is smooth, white and hollow and tends to shatter when picked. It is broader at the base and bears a single movable ring (which may have been rubbed off). The gills are crowded but free, begin white then turn pink and finally black. The flesh is white and thin and when young has a mild and pleasantly mushroomy aroma. The spore print is black. The mushroom must be picked young and should be eaten as soon as possible (at least within an hour of picking) as enzymes withing the mushroom will quicky lead to its liquefying, though keeping the stem intact will help keep it a little longer. There is only one species with which the shaggy ink cap can esily be confused and that's the Common Ink Cap (Coprinus atramentarius) which tends to be smaller and more bell-shaped in form. The cap is more pointed and bears small fawn scales rather than shaggy scales. Common ink cap contains the amino acid coprine, which reacts badly with alcohol leading to vomiting and diarhoea. It's best to avoid the common ink cap completely. For other edible mushrooms, see the guide to edible mushrooms Recipes Utilizing Shaggy Ink Cap Shaggy Inkcap Mushroom Catsup |
If you are picking your own mushrooms from the wild, then one of the key identitying features of a mushroom is what's called the 'spore print'. This is a way of capturing the spores (effectively the seeds) released by mushrooms so that you can see their colour.
Many authors suggest that you do this on black paper, but over the years I have found that it's best done on a clear sheet of clean glass. That way you can place white paper under the glass to make dark spore prints stand out well and you can put dark paper under the glass to make pale spore prints stand out clearly. Glass is also slightly statically charged which helps the spore prints stay in place.
In order to get a spore print you need a mature (well opened) specimen of the fungus or mushroom you are trying to identify. Buttons mushrooms, young mushrooms, and mushrooms with some kind of a covering or velil over their gills or pores are not likely to drop spores, and you will not get a spore print. When you get the mushroom or fungus home, remove the stem. If the mushroom is small, place the whole cap, with the gill or pore side downwards on top of your glass sheet. If your mushroom is large then use a sharp knife to slice off a reasonably-sized section of the cap and sit this on top of the glass. Cover the mushroom with a glass, mug or cup (this prevents any moving air and ensures that the spores relaesed by the mushrooms drop straight down). Some mushrooms of fungi will yield a spore print within a few hours, but in general it is best to leave them aside over night for the spore prints to develop.
The following day, remove the mug or glass covering the fungus. Take hold of the fungus itself and try and pull it straight upwards so that you disturb the spore print as little as possible. Now you can use a bright light and an appropriately contrasted shet of paper to reveal the colour of the spore print you have made (if wished, you can also photograph it). Done this way, the sprore prints will tend to have the same pattern as the gills or pores of the fungi that produced them. You can now compare the colour of the spores with and appropriate filed guide or description of the mushroom. This technique ensures that, no matter the colour of the spore print you can always observe it.
For mushrooms belonging to the Ascomycetes (such as the the morels and false morels) it is a little more difficult to produce spore prints and these fungi have tiny spore jets that forcibly eject the spores into the atmosphere. As a result, you need to cut out a section of the cap and place this with the outer surface downwards onto your glass sheet. Cover with a mug or cup and leave over night. The following day, when you examine it, expect the spore print to be most pronouced around the mushroom section (though some will also be visible underneath).
If you are looking for mushroom-based recipes, then you will find several hundred of these on this site's mushroom-based recipes page.
You can also use the search box below to find the wild food, fungus or mushroom of your choice. You can use the common name or the scientific name or any text you choose:
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