Show me your fungus. (Mushroom Photos)

Christopher Weeks wrote:It’s hard to get a picture that captures all the weirdness. It’s growing in my garlic bed, and has encompassed a couple of the garlics and a bunch of weeds. I have no idea what it is beyond pretty cool and kind of hard-surfaced.

That one looks a lot like the Dyer's Polypore (Phaeolus schweinitzii), a common parasite on Douglas-fir in the Northwest. See what you think:

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

Mushroomexpert:

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

I see the Dyer's polypore all the time. As the common name suggests, it is used to dye fabrics.

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.

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...