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Mushrooms can be a
wonderful addition to your diet. There are however mushrooms that can make
you severely ill, or even kill you. It is therefore imperative that you
properly identify any mushroom you plan to eat. This page is in no way
meant as a definitive source for mushroom identification; But rather a
repository of
information I have learned over the years, interspersed with information
from mushroom field guides. Many of the pictures were found as copyright
free images from Wikimedia Commons.
The following list contains some of the most common and
easily recognized edible mushroom species. There is something distinctive
about each mushroom I have included on this page. Once you learn their
specific characteristics, you should not confuse them with any poisonous
species. Remember that there are a number of elements that go into
properly identifying a mushroom. If the mushroom you have does not satisfy
ALL of these elements,
do not pick it,
and definitely do not eat it.
This is by no means a complete
list of edible mushrooms, as there are literally hundreds of edible
species. Anyone interested in mushrooms should pick up
a good field guide. If I were to suggest one, it would be
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms. This
book makes it easy for the beginner to zero in on the identity of any
mushroom he or she may find in their travels afield. It also contains
enough detailed information that the seasoned mushroom hunter can still
glean useful information. This book has been and invaluable tool in my
forays into the realm of mushrooms hunting.
Webmasters Note: I chose the mushrooms below because
each is readily identifiable for some characteristic or other. I have been
doing this almost 40 years, and while I can easily identify each of the
mushrooms on this page, I am not 100% confident with my ability to
describe them to a novice hunter. The last thing I want to do is not
explain all of the characteristics of a mushroom adequately, and have
someone get sick; Therefore I have included my description under the
identifying characteristics section, then followed that up with the field
guide description, which is almost verbatim from the National Audubon Society Field Guide
to North American Mushrooms. I have given proper credits to that book on
each page. Again, I only did so, because I want the novice hunter to have
all of the necessary information while honing their mushroom hunting
skills. |
