Mushroom Hunting!

It's spring time now! Serviceberry and Eastern Redbud have already come into flower, along with Flowering Dogwood. I have been seeing quite a few herbaceous plants such as Bluets, Wood Anemone, Wild Geranium, and Red Trillium out in flower as well. Another exciting activity I got into a little bit last year is discovering wild edible plants. I hope to make my own tea concoctions and make a master list of every plant i've eaten! I've already started munching down on dandelions and ramps so now I'm working on hunting for fungi! Not to mention right now is a good time for morel hunting and if you don't know anything about morels they only come out for a limited time each year and are valued for their taste. Mushrooms are really beautiful in my opinion and i've always been curious about identifying and eating them. I'm going to make a big list of all the mushrooms I've identify and eat this year too. Below is my first mushroom identified Polyporus squamosus or more commonly called 'Pheasant's Back' or 'Dryad's Saddles' which also grows around the same time as morels- both are edible but I need to read more into false morels.  

Please don't go by my pictures for identifying edible plants and fungi. You really need a guide to make sure you arn't mistaking one plant for another of a similar species. The growing conditions are based on both on my own observations and guide books. 

Polyporus squamosus- The genus Polyporus stands for 'many pores'. The name squamosis came from the word Squamules which refers to the scales noticed on the cap of the mushroom. From what i've heard most edible mushrooms will have pores- not gills. Usually you will see Polyporus squamosis growing on old logs in mixed forested stands of poplars, ashes, and oaks. I hear the trunk of elms are a good hosting site to find them on too. The species above was pretty young because it was so soft, while more mature species are found tough and woody. Some squamosus species can be more shelf-like in appearance but they all have a distinct pattern and are only found growing on wood (and we did find some more of the same species that were more shelf-like). It's good to find them young and soft if you're planning on eating them too although they're not as tasty as morels.  I hear its basically useless to try and eat them once they become too old and hard, but it's still edible and good to know for a survival situation. The picture below shows a better example of the scales on top which could be more common and easily identifiable.