In the process of doing yard work, I have encountered several interesting wild mushrooms on our property. In order to identify them, I have consulted various websites and George Barron's
Mushrooms of Ontario and Eastern Ontario. Here are my best guesses at what they are:
 |
| Young mushroom |
 |
| Old mushroom |
Shaggy Mane,
Coprinus comatus
The gills of the Shaggy Mane are packed together so tightly that the spores cannot be dispersed into the air. Instead the cap digests itself into an inky dark liquid that contains the spores and insects visiting the mushroom get the job of transporting the sticky spores to new locations. This fungus often fruits where the ground is hard packed such as along trails and roadsides.
False Turkey Tail, Stereum ostrea
This widespread and common fungus fruits on dead wood.
This was a hard one to identify. Like with the Shaggy Mane, I think this mushroom might look very different when it is young versus old. My best guess is either a
Tawny Funnel Cap,
Paralepista flaccida
or a
Poisonous Paxillus,
Paxillus involutus.
I really cannot decide between these two, maybe it is neither? No idea.
I also have no idea what this one is. You would think being blue it would be easy to identify but it is not in my mushroom book. My best guess is some sort of blue variety of a
Cortinarius iodes. Mystery.
Identifying mushrooms is hard work. I am certainly not good enough at it to test my identification skills by eating any of these. The poisonous ones look way too similar to the edible ones!
References
Barron, G.
Mushrooms of Ontario and Eastern Ontario.
Ojibway Nature Centre
. Mushrooms and Other Fungi of Ojibway. Accessed from: http://www.ojibway.ca/mushrooms.htm
