February 2015 – Anna's Blog

Mushroom Hunting Diversion Tactics for Beginners

February 26, 2015 annamary.mchughblogger@gmail.com8 CommentsJust for Fun, Mushroom Hunting, Mushroom StoriesBLM, forest service, mushroom hunting, mushroom poaching, mushroom spores, mycelium, NC Wildlife Resources Commission, wild mushroom hunting

A Quick Editorial Note From Your Fungally Obsessed Author I decided to take a brief break from my ongoing series on morel mushrooms. Earlier this week and last week, I posted three entries about the unparalleled morel mushroom: one about morels Read More

North Carolina Yellow Morel Mushrooms and Other Morels

February 24, 2015 annamary.mchughblogger@gmail.com12 CommentsMushroom Hunting, Mushroom Identification, Mushroom Stories, Mycophagy - Eating Gourmet Mushrooms, TaxonomyAmerican elm, black morel, morchella, morel cultivation, morel mushroom, mushroom hunting, North Carolina mushrooms, tulip poplar, wild mushrooms, yellow morel

Yellow morels (sometimes called blond morels) are among the most coveted wild mushrooms in the world, and their appearance each spring is a sight for sore eyes. Unlike most fungi that fruit in the summer and fall, yellow morels and other mushrooms Read More

Eastern U.S. Black Morels – Morchella angusticeps

February 20, 2015 annamary.mchughblogger@gmail.comLeave a commentCooking Mushrooms, Mushroom Hunting, Mushroom Identification, Mycophagy - Eating Gourmet Mushrooms, Taxonomyblack morel, morchella angusticeps, morchella elata, morel mushroom hunting, tulip poplar

The 2015 morel mushroom season is fast approaching in the United States, and here in my home state of North Carolina, local mycophiles have started to post previous years’ pictures to local forums and excitedly speculate about when the black morel Read More

Hunting Morel Mushrooms – Morel Species, Habitats, and Features

February 18, 2015 annamary.mchughblogger@gmail.com7 CommentsMushroom Hunting, Mushroom Identification, Mycophagy - Eating Gourmet Mushrooms, Taxonomyash, black morel, elm, green ash, morchella angusticeps, morchella elata, morchella esculenta, morchella esculentoides, morel hunting, morel mushrooms, spring, tulip poplar, yellow morel

Hunting for morel mushrooms is a springtime tradition in many parts of the United States and Canada, and few wild mushrooms inspire more avarice, secrecy, and excitement than the morel. If you’ve never eaten a morel mushroom, you simply don’t know what Read More

The Spring King Bolete, Boletus rex-veris

February 16, 2015 annamary.mchughblogger@gmail.com6 CommentsCooking Mushrooms, Mushroom Hunting, Mushroom Identification, Mushroom Stories, Mycophagy - Eating Gourmet Mushroomsboletus, Boletus Rex veris, mushroom hunting, mushroom identification, porcini, Sierra Nevada, Spring King bolete, wild gourmet mushrooms

Quick Editorial Note Before I dive into this article about spring king boletes (Boletus rex-veris), I wanted to quickly note that the comments on this blog are working again. I had a few technical issues over the past couple weeks, Read More

The Many Faces of Porcini Mushrooms

February 12, 2015 annamary.mchughblogger@gmail.com1 CommentCooking Mushrooms, Mushroom Hunting, Mushroom Identification, Mushroom Stories, Mycophagy - Eating Gourmet Mushrooms, Taxonomyboletus, Boletus edulis, Boletus Rex veris, cep, ceps, DNA sequencing, gourmet mushrooms, Leccinum, mushroom hunting, mushroom identificatio, phylogenetics, porcini, squirrel, steinpilz, suillus, Tylopilus, wild mushrooms

Ahh, porcini mushrooms. How I do dote on thee. The name “porcini” applies to a cluster of mushroom species in the Boletus genus, and they are all edible and quite delicious. I have a penchant for adding porcini powder to almost anything Read More

Cooking Porcini Mushrooms – Tips and Tricks

February 10, 2015 annamary.mchughblogger@gmail.com5 CommentsCooking Mushrooms, Mushroom Identification, Mushroom Recipes, Mycophagy - Eating Gourmet MushroomsBoletus edulis, Boletus Rex veris, cooking porcini mushrooms, dehydrated mushrooms, mushroom hunting, porcini mushroom, wild mushroom foraging

One of the most distressing experiences in mycophagy (the practice of eating exotic mushrooms while being a word nerd who makes up silly names for routine matters like lunch) is trying a mushroom that everyone raves about and being disappointed or Read More

Lobster Mushrooms – Hypomyces Lactifluorum

February 5, 2015 annamary.mchughblogger@gmail.com9 CommentsMushroom Hunting, Mushroom Identification, Mycophagy - Eating Gourmet Mushrooms, Uncategorized, Weird MushroomsCalifornia, lactarius, lobster mushroom, lobster mushrooms, mushroom hunting, North Carolina, Oregon, russula, wild edible mushrooms

The lobster mushroom, Latin name Hypomyces lactifluorum, is a delicious edible wild mushroom that fruits in the summer and fall in a wide array of habitats around North America. It has a signature fragrance and flavor that is very akin to seafood, and Read More

Elfin Saddle Mushrooms – Genus Helvella

February 2, 2015 annamary.mchughblogger@gmail.com8 CommentsMushroom Hunting, Mushroom Identification, Mushroom Stories, Taxonomy, Weird Mushroomselfin saddle, gyromitra, gyromitrin, helvella lacunosa, mushroom hunting, mushroom poisoning, pine mushrooms, pretty mushrooms, wild mushrooms

NOTE: It has been brought to my attention that Helvella lacunosa probably does not occur in North America, and instead we have a number of black Elfin Saddle mushrooms that are genetically distinct from Helvella lacunosa. For further information about the genetic Read More

Month: February 2015