Show me your fungus. (Mushroom Photos)

Christopher Weeks wrote:

M.K. Dorje Sr. wrote:I see the Dyer's polypore all the time. As the common name suggests, it is used to dye fabrics.

Very cool! I bought my daughter a copy of this book on using mushroom pigments for her birthday last year so after you mentioned this, I passed it on, she looked it up, and we dismantled the whole thing. It's in the dehydrator now and we're going to dye a skein of undyed yarn with it and a tin mordant and she'll make the rest into watercolor which is her real interest.

That's awesome Christopher, glad you two could find a good use for that one! Please let us know how it goes, cause I'm also interested in using mushrooms to dye fabrics.

M.K. Dorje Sr. wrote:

May, I'm not familiar with the black-staining polypore (Meripilus sumstinei), but here is an excellent description from mushroomexpert.com to help with your identification:

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/meripilus_sumstinei.html

Here is the wikipedia entry:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meripilus_sumstinei

Hope this helps!

Yes, it's Meripilus sumstinei. I trimmed off the tender edges for stir fry and my fingers stained black in minutes. Tasted like oyster mushroom but tougher. The base was too woody to handle and I saved most of mushrooms for stock.

Yes, it's Meripilus sumstinei. I trimmed off the tender edges for stir fry and my fingers stained black in minutes. Tasted like oyster mushroom but tougher. The base was too woody to handle and I saved most of mushrooms for stock.

May, I'm glad to hear that you have successfully identified that one.  I'm adding Meripilus to my "look for" list this fall!  I'm wondering now if I've walked right by it in the past...

Just had this HUGE mushroom show up on a cut maple chunk.
We took those trees down in 2024 and I innoculated some, but not that section as it was very near the base.

It appears to be Dryads saddle. Im going to go out and break a chunk off to check the scent.
From what Ive read, they often refruit in the same locations so I'll have to keep an eye out going forward to catch them young.

Some questions Dian:

1.) How big IS it?  

2.) Does it smell like watermelon rind?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerioporus_squamosus

Wikipedia says that pioneer botanist Sir William Hooker once found one that had a circumference of 7 feet 7 inches!!  :0

I took a measuring tape out with me and I had estimated a bit big since it came in at just over 14". Still very large!

I found the scent to be more cucumber skin than watermelon but it seems like it is hitting all the correct points for it to be the Dryads saddle.

Interesting how they smell like cucumbers or watermelons... I'm wondering what they taste like now. Like you said, sounds like you definitely need to harvest this one early before it gets tough...

After lots of dry heat we've had a couple of days of rain this week and the Shiitake are flushing.
This is the best one yet! (Inoculated in spring '24)

We love them so much I am considering buying some logs from our local tree guys this winter so I can do a bunch more stacks.

Mushrooms are back on the menu!