If I’d been sure of my tentative ID, I’d have taken home a cluster for closer examination and possible freezing for future meals. Frankly, I’d only seen Hen-of-the-woods in pictures, especially lately when comparing it to Chick-of-the-woods, the yellow shelf fungus we purchased at the Community Market a few weeks back.
It doesn’t look anything like it’s poultry-relative mushroom but its flat fans of spore-bearing fruiting body do look like hen’s tails. This specimen was one of several around the base of a dead maple.
Here again, there are pharmaceutical compounds from this mushroom being investigated for treatment of a number of human illnesses.
And here again, caveat emptor.
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in Italy and France one can take funghi to the chemist who is qualified to identify the edible varieties and, probably, dispense antidotes for those unwise enough to ignore their advice.
But then funghi foraging is a national pastime in such places
Great looking mushroom, whether or not it is edible! I’m thinking that one would of been great in black & white too.
Spent the past 4 weeks with a Russian Phd biologist, identifying and consuming mushrooms.
Unlike the Pacific N/W and Eastern Europe, collecting wild mushrooms generates fear by the locals.
We picked and consumed many ,and I am still alive.
If you are TRULY interested in the edible wild mushrooms of this part of Virginia, drop me a line.
I offered a lecture to the Jacksonville Center, but they never replied.
I am from Franklin county Virginia and am very interested in foraging for edible mushrooms in this area….help please.