Fungus

Coming up to Alaska I was excited to eat so many wild blueberries and see wildlife. The biggest surpise to me so far however has been the diversity and abundance of Mushrooms! I have always wanted to learn more about mycology and especially how to identify and use edible mushrooms. It is safe to say that in our culture mushrooms have been villified and although the majority are not poisonous commonly they are assumed to be. I found a good book on the coffeetable here, Alaska's Mushrooms: A Practical Guide by Harriette Parker (1994), a well written introductary field guide with photos and explanations of some of the most common mushrooms found in alaska, most of which are also found in the mixed deciduous spruce forests of this Matanuska Valley.  This book has inspired me and given me needed confidence to accurately identify and safely consume wild mushrooms, with the internet as a useful secondary reference.
These guides, together with me coming here right around the time of the first rains after summer - a time ripe for mushroom fruits has been the catalyst I needed to make the step into becoming a more confident and experienced mushroom hunter. One thing which makes it interesting and different from harvesting wild plants and fruits is that the life cycle is often very specific, such as in the fall or spring or after rains, and the window of ripeness is very short, usually only a few days before the mushroom fruit goes bad.

Here are a few I have seen (I am missing photos for the Boletes, in particular the Orange Birch Bolete - Leccinum scabrum which is cool looking and edible when not rotten which happens quickly):

Gemmed Puffball - Lycoperdon perlatum

This is a puffball mushroom growing out of soil in these forest. Puffballs are considered a pretty safe wild mushroom to harvest as there are no poisonous look alikes. The key is to slice open the mushroom lengthwise, and as long as it is consistently white and firm throughout it is good to eat! So that is what I have done, sauteed with butter, which seems to be the extent and favorite method of preparing wild mushrooms. Fry in butter.

Tumbleball - Bovista plumbea

The tumbleball or common puffball is another puffball found in these forests, and another easy one to ID. If they are opened on top and puffs of spores shoot out then they are past, and not good for eating, but like the above gemmed puffball if you cut it open and it is white and not rotten on the inside, fry it up in butter! This is a small one, I found another one along the trail from tents to farm. At the state fair which we went to on opening day there was a 20 pound tumbleball someone found. The flavor and texture is definitely "mushroomy" in nature, but something about picking up a mushroom and eating it is satisfying to me. 





The Deciever - Laccaria laccata

Considered poisonous, called the deciever due to its highly variable forms. Very common in the woods and always small, gilled, and orangish colored.

The Sickener - Russula emetica

Another poisonous mushroom, and one which captures your attention in a dark forest. As with most of these mushrooms, they are found growing along footpaths, as this is where I have spent most of my time.

Fly Agaric - Amanita muscaria

This mushroom commands your attention in the forest, and when fully mature stand tall and seem to shine bright against the darkening and dying plantlife. I see them in groups busting up through the forest floor. This is the mushroom from fairy tales and Alice in Wonderland. Apparently containing many psychoactive compounds this mushroom is poisonous and should not be eaten. But it sure is beautiful!

Liberty Cap - Psilocybe semilancealata

A small brown mushroom they are hard to see at first -but once you see one you will see thousands, coming up from dung or the soil around it. It radiates a consciousness that tells you it has theraputic value. A medicinal mushroom not to be taken lightly. The psychoactive psilocybin compounds are why this mushroom is dangerous to powers at be, as it can promote consciousness and unity among all living things. 

Artist Conk -  Ganoderma applantum

 A shelf mushroom found growing on the sides of standing or fallen dead trees, both conifers and hardwoods.

Inedible to humans, these mushrooms are thick and heavy, and the white underside has been used as a pallete for artists giving it its common name. There are several different conk or shelf mushrooms in this forest, including the Birch Conk, found only on dead Birch wood.

Dung Dome - Stropharia semiglobata

Another small mushroom which exists in relationship to grazers, horses and cattle. It is not recommended to eat, although it is not outright poisonous. Mushrooms which fruit from cow or other animal dung are very important in "closing the loop" as it converts waste into something usable again.

Bolete:

Other mushrooms to be identified:

The above mushrooms I feel confident about their identity, the following are some other common ones which have caught my eye...

Some small gilled mushrooms hanging on the trunk of hardwood tree, a healthy looking population



I think this one is the Meadow Mushroom - Agaricus campestris, which is edible and actually one of the most choice mushrooms found here. This individual however is growing in the forest and not in the pasture, which makes me question its identity. I had one that I found in the pasture fried in butter and it was yummy. It is a close relative to the white button mushroom sold in supermarkets, and according to my Alaska's Mushrooms Book "A mushroom consumed by those who would otherwise not eat wild mushrooms"


Another fungus on dead hardwood, although gilled unlike the Conks



(photo: Possibly the 'Fried Chicken Mushroom' Lycophyllum decastes or 'Angel Wings' Pluerocybella porrigens, both edible with caution but very appealing, as they resemble the oyster mushrooms.)