Christopher G Williams

RIP

Gene mentioned in an interview that this was one of the most challenging routines he ever performed.



Fosse!

Great story. That sure looks to be an Old Man of The Woods to me, and they aren't likely to be mistaken for anything else. The one thing that stands out as odd to me is that you found a number of them growing in the same place; I generally find them to be solitary mushrooms, but that is just in my limited territory. In fact I count it a lucky year if I spot one or two when I'm out looking for Black Trumpets- they are fairly rare in my area.

I shy away from eating boletes myself, but The Old Man is edible, if not choice.

I'm not that well acquainted with the mushrooms in your region, but if I had to guess I would say it is some type of Fomitopsis species, perhaps Fomitopsis officinalis or F. pinicola. I'm prepared to be wrong, but if I ran across something with those features in Northern Michigan, I'd say F. pinicola for sure.

Kate Koberle wrote:Thank you so much, Christopher! I appreciate the confirmation, quite comforting
I have not tasted them yet, but started on a tincture with one of them, and plan to try decoctions with the other mushroom. Do you have any herbal additions you like with the reishi that helps with flavor?

Happy to help. You could certainly add honey/sugar/sweetener of choice, to cut the bitterness, but to me the strong flavor is something I'd rather bare. Maybe I'm a masochist, but I feel the extreme bitterness/funkyness is an essential part of the reishi tea experience. Reishi seems to me a quite potent substance, and probably not something most people need to be consuming very often, so the flavor in a way acts as a disincentive for overuse.  

Kyle Hayward wrote:Just wanted to say what a beautiful Reishi, looks like polished mahogany, what do they taste like?

They taste strongly! It's hard to compare to any other type of food, since it is a very unique flavor. Bitter, acrid, and pungent are all words I would use... funky, mushroom-y. All Ganoderma species that I have tried share a certain flavor profile, but can range quite a bit in their particularities. I used to get two types of cultivated reishi from a Chinese supplier: high grade and low grade. The low grade were just about the worst tasting thing you could imagine, seriously funky. The high grade were grow using a relatively new type of cultivation that uses alfalfa or other types of hay as substrate and made a very pleasant tea, if a little bitter. The wild hemlock reishi in my area are pretty mild, much less bitter than any cultivated variety I've tried.

They are incredibly beautiful. I know of some old growth hemlock stands in Northern WI/MI that can produce dozens, if not scores, of massive conks on a single tree: they are a sight to behold!

You are correct that there are no deadly lookalikes, and I can say with confidence(as a former buyer/seller/collector of wild mushrooms) that the mushrooms shown here are Ganoderma species of some sort, that is to say Reishi. The darker specimen in your hand may be last year's fruiting; if the bottom side is darkened or has any green mold you shouldn't consume it. The picture of the mushrooms on the tree show them in their ideal state for collection; when the spores collect on the top side and the white margin has turned almost completely red. The slug eaten one with the large white margin is a little younger than ideal for harvesting.

Happy Summertime!

Years ago I grew a sort of Holy Basil that was the most exceptional type I've ever grown: dull light green, narrow leaves, with a taste almost exactly like 'Fruit Stripe Gum'. If I remember correctly the company they came from was Horizon seeds, but I ordered the same thing again a few years later and it was an entirely different sort of plant that grew. Anyone else familiar with this fruit stripe gum variety? I would love to get ahold of it again.

Johnny Washingtony wrote:I envy the other participants, I've had only depressive metal in my head for many years

I worked on a construction crew where this type of music was blasted non stop, it does have a way of sticking in your head.

A good antidote- the recently departed Astrud Gilberto and the sweet sax of Stan Getz: