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| Posted By,
geoff on
August 31,2010 |
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Hi Stephen,
The first one is an aging penny bun. I'm pretty sure the second one is another Lurid bolete - loads of these popping up at the moment it seems. The last one looks very much like a young horse mushroom, but I'd need to smell it to be absolutely certain. You have got to be a bit careful with these, because at that stage they look similar enough to death caps to have killed unwary people in the past. It's best to be familiar with the smell of a horse mushroom before you start eating self-identified buttons.
Geoff |
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| Posted By,
Stephen on
August 31,2010 |
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Thank you very much indeed.
Would more photos of the white mushrooms help? I jogged past them this afternoon and they looked like they had grown a bit (although not massively - but then perhaps the person who left all the broken stems last time has had a second visit). So if they are horse mushrooms they will ultimately grow to be 8-20cm across?
When you say the first one you mean the first two photos? (They're the same mushroom). I wouldn't have guessed it was a cep (this isn't to say I doubt what you've said), could you explain the basis of the identification to me please?
Best,
Stephen |
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| Posted By,
geoff on
August 31,2010 |
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Stephen,
These ones are horse mushrooms. I'm really just warning people to be careful about picking them when they are small.
Why don't you think it is a cep? Are you worried about the pores being yellow and the top being a lighter shade of brown? This is just what happens to ceps as they get older. I don't bother with them at this stage, because 99% are full of maggots.
Geoff |
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| Posted By,
geoff on
August 31,2010 |
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Stephen,
OK....photos can be misleading. That photo looks like an old cep to me, but it could also be Boletus impolitus. This is a lot less common, but there are some around at the moment. It is a lot easier to tell them apart when they are younger, but ceps are so much more common than B. impolitus I just assumed this was a cep. I'm still learning the ropes with this identify-from-photo malarkey. In real life there's not much chance of mistaking B. impolitus for a cep.
Geoff |
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| Posted By,
Stephen on
August 31,2010 |
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Geoff,
RE the horse mushrooms - do you suppose I should wait until they have reached their full size or take some to eat now - presumably the chance of finding them to be full of worms goes up as they mature. For that matter how long do they usually take to mature?
RE the cep - I was indeed thrown by the yellow pores, I had also thought that there should be a white line at the margin, but perhaps this goes in the late stages. Having said that, as my other posts have shown, I am a complete novice at this sort of thing, so I guess I may well be skipping past ceps all the time.
Thanks again,
Stephen |
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| Posted By,
geoff on
August 31,2010 |
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I guess a horse mushroom takes two or three days to reach full size, but I could be wrong. Yes, they are better to eat as buttons, just harder to identify, especially for a newbie. It is a case of whether or not you'd know it was a death cap if you saw one. Until you are sure you would recognise a death cap at that stage, be careful.
Why not let them grow, and watch the full cycle in the life of a horse mushroom? You'll find them again, and next time you'll be surer yourself what they are.
Geoff |
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| Posted By,
geoff on
August 31,2010 |
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| Regarding the ceps...just have a look on google images for boletus edulis. Yes, most of them are prime youngsters, with firm caps and white pores, but have a look at some of the older ones that appear a few pages in. |
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