Hobbies And Interests
Good to Eat
The white button mushroom can be easily found in the grocery store. They're grown commercially in trays, in caves and cellars. As the spores of this mushroom mature it turns into the portobello mushroom. The naked tricholoma, or wood blewit, has lilac flesh when it's young; the flesh turns to gray or brown when it's older. The cap has a 3- to 4-inch diameter and it grows from 2 to 4 inches tall. It has a thin cap with a wavy edge.
Colorful and Edible
The indigo lactarius is a meaty, purple mushroom with a silvery luster. The funnel-shaped cap has a 2- to 6-inch diameter. The fungus grows to about 2 1/2 inches tall and exudes "milk" when it's cut. All types of lactarius mushrooms are edible, but some may be bitter. The green russula has a green, warty, upturned cap and crowded white gills. The cap is from 2 to 4 inches wide and the fungus grows to about 1 to 2 inches tall.
Good When Young
The giant puffball, which can weigh up to 10 pounds, grows in fields. It's best eaten when it's young, otherwise it's not appetizing.
Not Good To Eat
Sulphur polyporus is a yellow fungus that grows in layers on a tree or on logs. Only the very tips of the fungus are good to eat when the plant is young, then it becomes too tough. It's about 3 to 6 inches wide. The pine cone fungus has a cap with protuberances that resemble a pine cone. It's 2 to 4 inches in diameter and grows from 2 to 5 inches tall. It's not poisonous, but doesn't taste good. The yellow cracked bolete, which has a brown cap with yellow cracks around the edge, is also not poisonous, but not edible.
Too Slimy or Too Small
The slimy armillaria has a white-grayish cap and grows on beech trees. Though the mushroom is edible, the slime on the caps causes debris to stick to it, and it's hard to wash off. The waxy laccaria lives in the woods and fields and the cap, from 1 to 2 inches wide, is depressed in the center. It's edible but doesn't taste good. The little wheel marasmius is also edible, but it's usually not eaten because with a 1/2-inch cap and 1-inch height, it's too small.