1

Bellevue Park Fungi Walk

October 03, 2020 By James Watterworth & Ev Simon

Evelyn and James led a educational, mushroom

walk, not to be confused with a foray which gives

the guise of a edible walk. This was in no way a

session focused on edible fungi but instead an op-

portunity to look for and attempt to identify all fungi

that we happened upon including ones that are not

palatable and ones that could potentially cause

harm. Remember, every mushroom is edible

….once.

James gave a briefing on the collection and identifi-

cation basics. All senses are used including smell

and touch which are often diagnostic in mushroom

identification. Many mushrooms require a spore

print and potentially some microscope work for a

positive ID.

As Ev always says “There are old mushroom hunt-

ers and there are bold mushroom hunters. But

there are no old, bold mushroom hunters.” Caution

is paramount.

James & Ev make no claim to be expert mycolo-

gists. Instead they consider themselves mushroom

enthusiasts and are happy to share their

knowledge. They encourage participants to put the

effort into learning how to identify edible mushroom

species themselves using some of the excellent

resources available (see p.3).

Bellevue Park was relatively cold hovering between

1 and 100 C that day, however there were lots of

fungi to see. As there were no experts in attend-

ance, many people shared their knowledge. As a

group we got down to a Russula or Lactarius family

with the help of David Arora's book, All That the

Rain Promises and More .

Continued ….

Elfin Saddle—Helvella crispa

James (in yellow) in search mode

Pigskin Poison Puffball—Scleroderma citrinum

2

Our group of 18 managed to located an impressive variety of fungal species with the highlights being White saddle or Elfin saddle (Helvella crispa); Ravenel's stinkhorn & egg (Phallus ravenelii) and Dryad’s saddle (Cerioporus squamousus). See species list next page.

Dryad’s Saddle— Cerioporus squamousus

Ravenel’s Stinkhorn egg —Phallus ravenelii

Resinous Polypore— Ischnoderma resinosum

Shaggy Mane— Coprinus comatus Tricholoma sp. Ravenel’s Stinkhorn—Phallus ravenelii

Webcap—Cortinarius sp.

3

FUNGAL FORAY - BELLEVUE PARK OCT 03, 2020 Disclaimer: Species listed are identified by mushroom enthusiasts, not experts. There

could be errors. Never eat any fungi from the wild without multiple sources of positive

NAME COMMON NAME

Armillaria mellea Honey mushroom

Cerioporus squamosus Dryad's saddle

Clitocybe sp. possibly Club-foot clitocybe

Coprinopsis atramentaria Common ink cap; inky cap; Tippler's bane

Coprinus comatus Shaggy mane

Cortinarius spp. Webcap; cortinar; 2 species

Ganoderma applanatum Artist's bracket; artist's conk

Helvella crispa White saddle; elfin saddle or common helvel

Hygrocybe sp. Waxycaps

Ischnoderma resinosum? Resinous polypore

Lactarius sp. Milkcaps

Lepiota sp. possibly Stinking dapperling (L. cristata)

Lycoperdon perlatum Common puffball; Gem-studded puffball

Marasmius oreades Fairy ring mushroom

Marasmius rotula Pinwheel mushroom

Mycena spp. Bonnets; 2 species

Phallus ravenelii Ravenel's stinkhorn

Pluteus sp. possibly Deer mushroom (P. cervinus)

Psathyrella sp. Brittlestems

Russula puellaris Yellow brittlegill

Schizophyllum commune Splitgill mushroom

Scleroderma citrinum Common earthball; pigskin poison puffball

Trametes pubescens NA

Trametes versicolor Turkey tail

Tricholoma sp. Trick/Knight/Cavalier

Mushrooms demystified, all that the rain promises and more by David Arora

Mushrooms of the northeastern USA and eastern Canada by Timothy J. Baroni

Mushrooms of the redwood coast by Noah Seigel Christian Schwarz

Mushrooms of Ontario and eastern Canada by George Barron

Mushrooms and other fungi of North America by Roger Phillips

Audubon society field guide to North American mushrooms by Gary Lincoff

Mushrooms of the Midwest by Micheal Kuo and Andrew S. Methven

Mushrooms of northeastern North America by Alan Bessette. Arleen Bessette and David Fischer

Mushroom References: