Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with mushroom

Mushroom Identification Help?

rmless — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:49:07 -0800

What are these mushrooms that are growing in my houseplant? Overnight these mushrooms seem to have sprouted in my Dracaena marginata plant. They are about 2 inches high and the caps are gray and ribbed with tan tips. They look a lot like limpets.
What are they and should I be worried about my plant?
Should I keep this one far from my other plants?
I am guessing this means I overwatered?
What should I do about them- dig them out or ignore them?
Can I eat them?

What is the minimum microscope strengh to view mushroom spores?

tweaqslug — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:25:22 -0800

How powerful of a microscope do I need to identify spores when mushroom hunting? Is 100x enough? I am looking into mushroom hunting as a hobby and it seems the most reliable way to identify mushrooms is through microscopic examination of their spores. I would like to purchase a compact portable microscope to do this with. I have seen 100x pocket microscopes for under $50 but it seems like I might need something stronger. Any advice?

Where do fly agaric umbrellas exist?

wo — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:15:13 -0800

Where can I find a mushroom umbrella for sale on the internets? More specifically, an umbrella that looks like the fly agaric. So it is a rainy day today, and I see a bunch of children with umbrellas. And I think to myself, teehee, they look like little mushrooms! Then a glorious thought occurs: wouldn't a fly agaric umbrella be the coolest thing ever?? So I get home and search the internets for mushroom-themed umbrellas, but they don't seem to exist. Surely someone has had this idea before... I mean, it's brilliant! At the very least, I'm sure Japan has them.

Thus I have come to seek assistance from the hive mind. Has anyone seen such a thing for sale, or is there a place that does custom umbrellas for cheap? Thanks!

Fungal lovin', havin' a blast...

Asherah — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 13:10:26 -0800

What are your most flavorful and amazing recipes for a wild mushroom pasta or saute? I'm visiting San Francisco and have wandered across an amazing wild mushroom selection at Rainbow Grocery. I'm looking for recipes to use these beauties in a simple, flavorful saute or some type of olive oil based pasta dish to highlight the flavors of the mushrooms.

All recommendations welcome!

What has mushrooms, garlic and oil and little else?

davathar — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:04:49 -0800

What simple pasta dish has just mushrooms and garlic and olive oil and some spices? I used to go to a small Italian restaurant in Richmond, VA that had a dish called Penne Karl that I absolutely loved. I've tried to duplicate the recipe many times by experimentation. And I've tried to find recipes online for it. But all to no avail.

All I know about it is that it's got some small sliced mushrooms, tons of minced garlic, and it's sauteed in olive oil. I think it's also got some green spices and maybe salt. But I don't know. It was usually served tossed with Penne and with a dish of Parmesan cheese to add at the table.

Does anyone know a recipe like this that actually has some flavor unlike my attempts? Maybe it's all in the choice of ingredients. Maybe roasted garlic? Maybe a particular kind of mushroom? Infused oil?

Taste like chicken, but with poison

Toekneesan — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:29:49 -0800

Should-I-eat-it-Filter?: It's not bad or old, but it was growing in poison ivy. It is a wild mushroom. One of my favorites. Chicken of the woods. It has both the taste and texture of chicken. On the way home I spotted it on the side of the road. I told my wife and then after her night class, she stopped and harvested it. When she brought it in I noticed bits of poison ivy poking out of it Mostly stems but also a few leaves and berries. I'm sure this was poison ivy.

So, we've gotten rid of the ivy, but should we just throw away the mushrooms? Did growing amongst poison ivy make it inedible? One stem was actually growing through the mushroom, and it obviously touched the leaves. We would obviously cook it, sauteed in butter, but does it even matter? Eat it or don't eat it?

Legal Mushrooms?

thedoctorpants — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:25:47 -0800

Magic Mushrooms? I live in Europe. I want to have a legal mushroom experience with my wife. What countries are magic mushrooms still legal?

If I can't eat shiitake, what else should I avoid?

adamrice — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 15:32:51 -0800

FungusFilter: I have an unpleasant intenstinal reaction to shiitake mushrooms. A nibble off of one is enough to set it off. This is a fairly new thing for me (I used to be able to eat them, though fortunately for me, I was never a big fan). Regular cap mushrooms and portobellos are fine. This leaves a lot of other mushrooms (porcini, etc) in the twilight zone. Based on this limited knowledge, are there other mushrooms I should avoid? Experimenting with every mushroom that comes along could get pretty ugly.

Getting rid of fungshrooms.

DrSkrud — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:04:17 -0800

There's a mushroom growing from the grout under our bath tub. How do I effectively get rid of it (are there fungicides I can use?) and how can we prevent it from coming back? How did it get to be there in the first place? I imagine it has to do with water splashing out of the tub when people take a shower, but there's got to be more to it than that. Our bathroom is not particularly dirty, either. We keep it quite clean.

(Google has revealed other people with "fungshrooms" but no clear steps on getting rid of them)

Do mushrooms need peeling?

These Premises Are Alarmed — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 07:41:13 -0800

My wife, and her family, insist that "white" supermarket mushrooms must be "peeled" (or, barring that, washed) prior to eating. I always ate the things right out of the package, possibly using a brush to get the black stuff (dirt? mushroom grower poop?) off, if I think of it. Do mushrooms need to be peeled or cleaned?

What is this mushroom?

Mmothra — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 22:38:34 -0800

Can anyone help identify this mushroom that has emerged in our garden? We are in San Francisco and since these shots were taken, this critter has grown to approximately 13" across. Neither of us has seen anything this big here before... And critically, might it be edible? Mycophiles, your thoughts?

I like to call it Gus, the fun fungus

adamrice — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:21:02 -0800

FungusFilter: Can anyone identify this fungus, spotted in my back yard? Each one is about the size of a pea. I'm in central Texas, where we've been getting unusually heavy rainfall lately.

Please help ID these fungi

maxwelton — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 02:01:00 -0800

Mycology: My dear bride would like to know what these mushrooms are. To quote her:

"These mushrooms were found under a cedar tree. The photo is pretty true to the real color (on my screen, anyway). There have never been mushrooms in this area of the yard before. The cedar tree is huge.

"These are just about 1-2 feet or so in from the drip line. Two horses live in a pasture just 2-3 yards away. Raccoons, squirrels, and deer are in the area frequently. The location is on the Quimper Penisula in Washington State."

Things to do with Shitake and Oyster mushrooms?

You Should See the Other Guy — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 17:36:10 -0800

Fave things to make with mushrooms (specifically, Shitake and Oyster, but open to more). Also, how do these compare with Cremini? So I have a recipe that asks for Cremini mushrooms. I was at the market and no one had any. So I bought some Oyster and some Shitake. Can I use these instead? What will the difference be? In addition, can these suckers be eaten raw? Do I eat the whole thing? Just the head? Just the stem? (Yes, I'm a complete mushroom newbie.)

Also, since we're on the Fungi... what are your fave recipes for mushrooms?