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Garlic scented mushrooms


1left

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I was going through my photo files and came across these pictures, I never did follow up and sent these mushrooms away back in 2012 for identification as it was August with plenty of good edibles keeping me busy. Anyway, these are a common little mushroom which may show up in very large numbers as early as June which makes them one of the few edible mushrooms available at that time in my area, so I'm kind of interested in finding out more about them. I suspect if I were to have these ID'ed they would likely be Mycetinis scorodonius as they seem rather large for Gymnopus perforans. All the mushrooms I collected back then appeared to be attached at their base to conifer needles in what was a conifer woods of spruce and balsam fir.

I am curious if anyone out there has dried these little garlic mushrooms and are using them as a condiment? I've read somewhere you may have to soak the dried mushrooms to revive their garlicyness? Of course I won't be trying any of these mushrooms until I send some away to verify their ID, I'm just preparing a bit for spring and may dry a bunch and store them safely away, prior to finding out if these are what I suspect. Anyone out there have any first hand knowledge on these little stinkers ( Mycetinis scorodonius ) which are often mentioned in guide books as an edible mushroom used as a dried condiment?

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1left, your observation that Mycetinus scorodonius resembles Gymnopus perforans is interesting. Not only do these two small white-spored types share a similar appearance, they occur in similar habitat and have similarly sized/shaped spores. MushroomExpert points out that M. scorodonius has a mainly smooth stem and G. perforans (called Micromphale perforans on this website) has a hairy stem. In your collection seen here, some of the stems look smooth and some seem to be at least a bit hairy. Photos I have found of G. perforans show stems that are grainy/hairy. Consensus seems to be that the garlic odor of M. scorodonius separates it from G. perforans, which is reported as having a distinctly unpleasant odor. But describing an odor can be subjective.

The link below shows a collection I IDed as M. scorodonius, based largely on the odor. This collection was made in leaf litter as opposed to the apparently more typical conifer needle litter. I have not tried eating this type. It's pretty common in my area. I should try it!

http://mushroomobserver.org/138364?q=1nMKJ

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Thanks Dave W, Nice to see your photo is from early summer ( July 1st) as I'm hoping to possibly gather some kind of mushroom in the June to early July period, as Chanterelle, Blusher and a couple others usually don't start appearing in my area till July 15ish. You make an interesting point about the differences of the stems of the mushrooms in my hand and though these mushrooms were all gathered around the same tree it is possible both Gymnopus and Mycetinis are in my hand. I notice different sizes and cap shades and stems in this small area though I thought it maybe different development stages of the mushrooms or some of them drying out more than others, though hairness shouldn't change :eyebrow:.

I'm glad you also mention how odor can be subjective especially with Gymnopus perforans as a Canadian website (Mycoquebec) describe its odor as similar to( standing water or garlic or rotten cabbage), as far as edibility goes they claim both Mycetinis scorodonius and Gymnopus perforans are edible as dry condiments though I don't think they have an open forum for discussion to verify any usage locally from their membership. Thanks again Dave W for responding and bringing up some helpful points.

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