Swims First Pick of the Season

[mrjfday]

Swim had his first pick of the season today, what you all think?

Swim managed to pick these in around 30 - 45 minutes, then had to go to work.

Swim will definitely going back when he has more time on his hands!

Reputation Comments on this post:

Do not ask for mushroom ID over the internet, do not make others responsible for your demise. Learn to do it your self ...

[Nature Boy]

They don't look like Liberty Caps exactly. Shouldn't there be a little nipple-like protrusion on the top? Some of them look a bit big too. The pictures aren't very clear though and SWIM's no expert. He's only ever eaten imported mushies. Do you know anyone who's tested shrooms picked from the same area?

[mrjfday]

That's what Swim was hoping to hear actually, Swim believe's half are liberty caps but half aren't. Swims friends think all are liberty caps, Swim will consume only half.

[Nature Boy]

Well, don't indulge quite yet. Wait for a few more opinions. You can dry out mushrooms and bag them so they don't lose their potency. I'm no mycologist. Try to get more pictures if possible and in higher definition. There are people on the forum who can identify mushrooms far better than I can. The problem with picking mushrooms is that mistakes can be made.

[fraaga]

Its hard to tell from the photos, all in photo one looks like them, but then I cant see the tops of all of them.
In photo 2, the one on the bottom right looks a bit dubious but the rest could be fine, again cause its only a photo, it is hard to tell.
The third photo is harder still, mmm... have they bruised a bit blue??

[Isambard]

I would certainly suggest being cautious. Some of those certainly look like liberty caps but many don't. Hard to tell through photos but I would put money on most of those not being liberty caps.

AFOAF went looking last week on the off chance the season had come early but only found 2 . Still very early though - he will certainly be keeping an eye out in the coming month.

[Potter]

Do not eat any mushroom you aren't sure of. Period.

Posting a photo to the internet is in no way a reliable means of mushroom ID.

Where are your spore prints? What substrate were they growing in? Were they growing individually, in clusters, in troops?

[Phungushead]

Until you have become more experienced, always check for bluing, spore
color (purple-brown or purplish black [key point here is a purple tone]
for semilanceata), and the presence of a separable pellicle, like this
(photo by Ivi), on all suspected liberty caps:



Once you get some practice with these basic identification techniques,
and learn more about this species' characteristics, you'll find that
semilanceatas are actually a relatively easy species to identify, but
in the meantime, be very careful, and be safe. Going with an
experienced friend who knows what they are doing is a plus at first as
well.

From the pics SWIY posted, Labrat says no on all in the second and
third at least. Possible on some in the first, but it is hard to tell from
that photo.

[Potter]

Just remember, that there are deadly look-a-likes, specifically those in Galerina. and deadly mushrooms aren't deadly like alcohol, where there's a safe dose, they are deadly in very small quantities, a single mushroom is enough to kill you.

I HIGHLY reccomend people start with learning how to ID common edible fungi, there are MANY that are safe in the sense they are unique looking and don't have look-a-likes. There's even a book, 100 Edible Mushrooms, by Michael Kuo, that's specifically aimed at newbies to mycology and offers an introduction to terminology and identification. Once you get a handle on safe mushrooms, you can venture towards IDing the more risky ones.

[mrjfday]

Thanks for the advice guys, swim went out picking today and got a whole load! Heres a few photos:

mrjfday added 306 Minutes and 0 Seconds later...

http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/pic...pictureid=5731

http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/pic...pictureid=5732

[port 21]

Whoa, theyre way long. :O

Never seen libs that long.

A friend of swims found a huge cluster of libs in the grass at a local park (way local, like 2 minute drive kinda local), must have filled 2 and a half ice cream tubs with them, if swim had pulled over driving home..... lol. Might have some serious explaining to do.

[mrjfday]

If swim wanted to freeze dry the mushrooms how would he go about doing it?

Drying them for a week or so then banging them in the freezer? It cant be that simple can it?

[Dspirit]

the ones in pic 2&3 are definatly not liberty caps, swim can easily tell by the photo, swim picks in a pasture where hundreds of liberty caps grow, and 2-3 more different species, now and again even someone who knows a liberty cap like the back of his hand can be fooled into bending down for one of those, they are quite easy to tell apart from a liberty cap if you actually have 2 specimens together, the pale ones you have the gills are a very light purple and the stems contain purple inside them and are not hollow, they dont bruise blue at all and tear apart easily, also when you find them they are very slimy in comparison to a liberty cap, dude dont eat em i dont know what they are but there not the rite ones. the ones in pic1 the only ones that look like liberty cap are the 5 to the top left of your bog roll,

dispose of them all and go out again after a good rain. even if the 5 were liberty caps you need a lot more, swim would also get 50+ on a bad day in that time. after a heavy rain swim can go to SWIMS farmers field and come back with over a thousand no prob.

[fraaga]

Originally Posted by mrjfday

If swim wanted to freeze dry the mushrooms how would he go about doing it?

Drying them for a week or so then banging them in the freezer? It cant be that simple can it?

No, there are machine you get to freeze dry stuff but my friend dont think it is necessary.
If SWIY dries throughly and then stores in airtight container in the freezer they will keep for months.
Even out of the freezer they will keep for months as long as properly dried and protected from air and light.

[anonuser30500]

The pics uploaded later look like them.

Be careful though, don't jump in the deep end and don't listen to people saying "you need at least 50".

As for five not being enough, five big liberty caps could be more than enough for many to start off. Some grow real big.

[mrjfday]

Just got back from picking again. swim is hopefully going to brew some up at the weekend, any general tips?

This is what I have:


mrjfday added 1274 Minutes and 5 Seconds later...

Thank you Phungushead, that was very useful.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	yeah, don't self incriminate and don't post poor quality pictures, people have told you this before
	Even in such a poor quality photograph, it's easy to see some of those are not psilocybe semilanceata.