Fungi Friday - Midwest Reishi and Others

Here are this week's sightings for #fungifriday

I found a reishi mushroom right in my neighborhood under some evergreen trees.

Given its red lacquered appearance and it growing near the ground I believe its Ganoderma tsugae.

Here is a white version growing right nearby. As it is gray in color I think it might be another type of reishi.

I suspect it is Ganoderma applanatum, this may look like an old mushroom but it is a fresh one. As it gets older there will be rings appearing with a really tough wooden interior.

Now for some fresh dryad's saddle. This might be a bit too small to harvest but within one day it will be at least twice the size a perfect time for harvest. Wait one more day and it will be a bit too tough and spongy to eat.

Here is a dried out looking lactarius mushroom. Perhaps it is a Lactifluus piperatus or peppery lactarius.

The peppery lactarius is a bit too spicy to eat but you can dry them out and turn them into a powder and use it like a black pepper spice.

Now for some really dried out mushrooms. They have a stem ring and dark brown gills, perhaps they are a meadow mushroom? Theoretically one could be harvested and some spores could be cultured and regrown in some auger then transferred to a wood block. Maybe one day I'll do this as a science project with my daughter.

Here is a strange looking grayish blue crust fungi.

It even grew up the side of a stump. It kind of resembles turkeytail but I suspect it is something closer to a Plebia species.

that's all for now, hopefully the fall rains will start again so more species can emerge and some nice edible ones too.