Here are some spring fungi finds from last year for this #mushroommonday
A mushroom as big as your hand.
A mushroom as big as your head.
This is dryad's saddle aka Polyporus squamosus.
Here's the underside. Nice evenly spaced polyores.
These are the pores of a smaller specimen that is worth harvesting for eating.
Some baby dryad's growing. I like to look at these in spring while I'm looking for morels. You can collect younger sized specimens for cooking, but if you find them as big as your hand or head they are too tough to eat. They are like tough sponges at that size.
This is amber jelly roll aka exidia recisa.
And more exidia recisa. I collect this stuff for spicy soups. You can dry it and save it for later then rehydrate it by soaking it in water. So collect this stuff over time and you will have enough for a meal eventually.
Here in Illinois I find the fungi above once I start hearing the spring peepers making their loud songs.
Now for some eternal mushrooms. This is thin walled maze gilled polypore. Not much use for medicine or for eating but it has a trippy look to it.
Once you see spring popping in the moss that is the time to start looking for the best mushroom around.
Morels will be out soon, lets hope this spring will be bountiful with them.
