Should I eat these?

Should I eat these mushrooms growing on my lawn, I bought the house 5 months ago.

Do not eat them.
In fact you should not eat any mushroom that you see outside for at least another 18 months

Hi Andrew Winsor,

Mushroom on your photos looks like Common funnel cap (Clitocybe gibba). It is edible mushroom. However before consuming it you should make further enquiries with some mushroom expert, because photos can be inacurate.
I'm also surprised by S Bengi's reply that you shouldn' t eat any mushroom that you se outside for at least 18 months. Were there any nuclear explosions or some other environmental disaster near by? If not, you can eat all edible mushrooms provided you are 100% sure they are edible. If you are in doubt, please contact mushroom experts or don't eat mushrooms you don't recognize.

Best regards,

Banni

S Bengi wrote:you should not eat any mushroom that you see outside for at least another 18 months

Can you explain the "18 months" to me?
I'm definitely not suggesting eating random fungi, but I'm curious about the timeframe you state.
I feel like there's something unexplained or I'm just missing something

The 18 months is just a random number to give you some time to learn more about mushroom.

I am super cautious of mushroom and as of such found it very alarming that you posted a pic and said can I eat this.
In a way that is the same as saying which species of mushroom is this, which just sounds so much less alarming.

The mushroom does look like Clitocybe gibba, but it seems to be out of season (Sept to December).
Also quite a few mushroom in the Clitocybe is deadly poisonous (Clitocybe dealbata and Clitocybe rivolusa) and many of them will get you sick
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clitocybe

I personally only trust myself to identify and eat chicken of the wood. The rest I am pretty sure I know but will not risk it.
So perhaps that clouds whatever opinions I post on here.

There are bold mushroom eaters and there are old mushroom eaters, but there are no old bold mushroom eaters.

First rule of mushroom collecting is identify down to species exactly what you have. That probably won't take you 18 months. It's amazing what you can learn in just a one semester mycology course. If you can't find a course locally, there is always the Mycological Society of America. You may be able to find a local member to hang out with on mushroom hunts and learn from him (or her).

There are 6 mushrooms generally regarded as "safe."
Morels
puffballs
chicken of the woods
hen of the woods
shaggy main
Oyster

See this page for more info and remember, there are bold mushroom hunters & there are old mushroom hunters but there are no old bold mushroom hunters.

Stay away from LBMs (little brown mushrooms).

edit: I got ninja'd by John but let that reinforce the saying!

John Elliott wrote:

There are bold mushroom eaters and there are old mushroom eaters, but there are no old bold mushroom eaters.

First rule of mushroom collecting is identify down to species exactly what you have. That probably won't take you 18 months. It's amazing what you can learn in just a one semester mycology course. If you can't find a course locally, there is always the Mycological Society of America. You may be able to find a local member to hang out with on mushroom hunts and learn from him (or her).

Learn spore colors & take spore prints. This is the best first step in educating yourself IMHO.

Definitely work with an experienced mycologist and/or buy and reference at least one of the following books before eating wild mushrooms:

All that the rain promises and more

Audubon guide to mushrooms

Mushrooms demystified

Or another well reviewed guide.

I wouldn't feel good about telling someone a mushroom was ok from a photo on the internet. I like the above advice to make friends with knowlegable mushroom lovers.

The saying I go by is "All mushrooms are edible, some only once"

get a copy of 'edible wild mushrooms of north america' by david fischer. it was indispensable to me! it contains most of the choice edibles you will encounter.

if you're looking for an ID head on over to the shroomery- there are many PhD's floating around over there and they are usually prompt. http://www.shroomery.org/forums/postlist.php/Board/3

id also support the 18 month thing, not out of mycological paranoia (sorry bengi) but because mushroom fruiting bodies are notorious for concentrating toxins, and if you only bought the place five months ago, you likely have no idea what kind of chemicals were used in the lawn before purchasing it, and what subsequently may have been concentrated into those mushroom bodies
other than that, if you can identify it clearly and certainly and know its safe than go for it
i just got some beauties coming out of the ground at my place, after a bit of reading im tenatively suspecting they are C. dealbata but im nowhere near an expert or experienced mushroom hunter so im not certain, nevertheless i gave up on them and figure ill just stick to loving the way they look for now:)

Andrew:
There are mushroom clubs in Western Washington and there's one here in Portland. Go to some of the meetings, get to know the local experts. They will probably enjoy going with you. Your knowledge will grow. I've taken a couple of classes here and it's helped a lot. Start with safe mushrooms that you can identify regularly, then gradually branch out, keying them with ID books and bring them to meetings. Probably should ID a mushroom a few times before eating it. In the long run, you will learn many techniques for deciding which one it is.
John S
PDX OR