When you think mushroom, what comes to mind? Portobello? Common white mushrooms? Shitake? There are several edible mushrooms that are not as common, but are edible. Like the horn of plenty or black trumpet mushroom. You can see where it got its name.
The Funnel Chanterelle or Yellowfoot looks like something out of Alice in Wonderland, but is also edible.
The next specimen doesn't even look like a mushroom, let alone edible, but it is - known as the lion's mane mushroom or hedgehog mushroom. I think you really have to use your imagination to see anything resembling a hedgehog.
This next mushroom certainly doesn't look like anything I'd want to eat. I mentioned shitakes, well, this is a maitake and grows at the base of trees, particularly oaks.
Maitake means 'dancing mushroom'. I don't think it looks like it's dancing. It's also known as Hen-of-the-woods. Who names these things?
And here's one that looks like something from Star Trek - a black morel.
Morels are especially used in French cuisine. Nearly every mushroom has many names depending on the area of the U.S. or country you're in. I've included several for each 'shroom, but certainly not all that are commonly used. Morels are also known as hickory chickens, merkels, sponge mushrooms, dryland fish, and my personal favorite, molly moochers!
All wild mushrooms should be cooked thoroughly before eating as they are indigestible when raw. And care should be taken in identifying them if you intend to pick your own because many can look similar to their toxic or poisonous counterparts. Only a few varieties are actually lethal, but many more can make you extremely ill.
There are some unusual UNedible species as well. Like ghost mushrooms, which are sometimes confused with oyster mushrooms. Not sure? Wait until dark because the ghost mushroom has bioluminescent gills.
It almost looks like a rose bud. Here's what it looks like in the dark.
Think this looks like a common white mushroom? Then you would be gravely wrong because this is one of the deadly varieties known as the Destroying Angel.
You can click on the link underneath the above picture to see the entire list of deadly mushrooms.
One of the next pictures is of the jack-o-lantern mushroom which is toxic and the other is a chantarelle mushroom which is edible. Can you tell the difference?
The top picture is the jack-o-lantern toxic one.
Mushrooms have uses other than eating. Some are used in traditional Chinese medicines, and mushrooms are being studied by Western medical researchers to see if they have benefits as well. In some countries, mushrooms extracts are given as a supplement to the primary cancer treatments. Mushrooms were also used as dyes for natural fabrics before synthetic dyes were invented.
I've never been much of a mushroom fan myself, but then I've never had the more exotic types. Mushrooms were just not on the menu when I was growing up unless it was something made with Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup and I can't remember that we had that very often. I think the texture has something to do with it, plus the fact that I don't think mushrooms have much taste. I'll leave it up to my chef friends and relatives to prove me wrong!
