Missed Opportunities: Chicken of the Woods

My wife and I went camping last weekend on the Spring River near Mammoth Springs, AR. Beside our campsite was a dead tree.

As I helped her climb down, we noticed a mushroom at the base of the tree. Now, I have always thought it would be cool to forage for mushrooms, but the idea scares me too much to actually try it! I haven't even taken the time to try to learn to identify any of them. I now regret that decision, because here is the mushroom that we spotted.

I had no idea what kind it was. In fact, the orange coloration had me completely convinced that it must be deadly! I mean, animals with bright colors generally tend to be warning predators to leave them alone because they are venomous/poisonous - a phenomenon known as aposematism. I just figured it would be the same with fungi. Then, I ran across this post (https://steemit.com/mushrooms/@ryczar/chicken-of-the-woods-or-front-yard-laetiporus-sulphureus) earlier today by Hive account@ryczar, and I realized my mistake. I am pretty positive this mushroom was Laetiporus sulphureus, more commonly known as Chicken of the Woods. It is supposed to be one of the more delectable of the edible mushrooms. Not only that, but it is very easy to identify! If I had only done a little bit of research at some point, I would have known to take this yummy morsel home and cooking it up.

Oh, well. There's always next time!