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With regret I have to pass on the bad news, concerning the passing of Joe Knapik aka Dufferin Shroomer. His brother called April 20th, letting me know Joe had passed away, due to natural causes. Joe was a great person and an avid mushroom hunter! His cheerful and well thought out discussions will be sorely missed. Hopefully all the , long time, members of this site can recall his thought full and entertaining comments. I certainly will. RIP Duff.

Here, in Ontario, eastern hemlock is a common host tree. I've read about the same concerns, you have, and after further research found that eucalyptus is the host most notable with stomach issues. I brought up the conifer issue, at a foray meeting, and was greeted with blank looks. Apparently no one has had problems. Best to try a small portion then wait to see if there are any side affects.

They're certaintly not "jack o'lanterns". Appear to be associated with buried wood/root structure, perhaps honeys? The pic doesn't zoom in closer for a more positive i.d. As Brendan, posted, anything you spat out won't effect you. As far as, I'm aware, even the most toxic fungi may be tasted and then spat out with no ill effects.

That would be my guess. Just doing a quick peek, at the site, tonight. Don't have time to give a "researched" answer however they are NOT OYSTERS. You replied at the same time. No they don't always glow. I think I've only seen it two or three times.

Greyish wood, straight grain, little branch nub, bark sloughed off. Looks very much like an aspen log.

Same question. Lobster looks like it may take some cleaning!

Interested to find out myself. A huge berkeleys or black staining fruited, where I take the dog, last year. It was to old to bother with but I'm hoping to catch a younger growth this year.

I actually am kind of fond of these. The young ones or (as Dave mentioned) the rims of older specimens are certainly edible. Would I call them "choice" not really. On the flip side they're common, easy to i.d. and have varied uses. I enjoy them, sliced, in in a soup, stir fry or stew. Floured and fried much like a chip. Many people seem to like them pickled. At times I've even chosen to look for them over morels. Part due to their availablity and also that they can stand up to being tossed in a pan on a campfire and hold up with other flavours and textures. The one point, I should add, is if you don't fully cook them they retain the watermelon rind taste and may be slightly bitter.

No morels here yet. Frost Sunday morning. Been trying to get my buddy a bird for years (his property) but young kids and a chance to sleep have limited his chances. We were out Sat morning and I put him in the choice spot and set up behind. Long ridge out into a field, he was at the tip and I set well back in the trees, dekes out in front. Things lit up at sun rise, we ended up seeing at least 14 birds with half being males. I worked a box call to start then went to a mouth call when they were in eye shot. Hens kept pulling the boys back until, wouldn't you know it, two toms came in through the trees from the side. I had to shoot or be busted, the second tom ran out in front but he couldn't tell the sex or (eyes rolling) hear me saying "shoot it". Sounded like Troy Landry on swamp people. Next morning (bow only) set him up on the tip of a small rise looking at a roosting area. Frosty and foggy with a big tom and hens coming out just out of range. As the morning progressed brought in a big tom from 500 yards behind us (had a shot) and a jake from the treeline. The jake walked right in on the decoys and I heard his crossbow twang, then the bird was in front of me. Brought up a fogged scope... centred the blob in the middle and shot. Then watched the jake and tom walk away. No feathers or blood and saw him walk for a long while. Lots of beautiful sites and excitement, wished he could have got his first bird but the chance was there. The kids were very involved wanting to see where the shot hit, help pluck and watch the cleaning. I expect this from my friends kids but they had three guests (7 to 9) who are city kids. Very impressed when one of them said "that looks just like a breast at home" when I took a breast out for lunch. Cubed ,breaded and fried one breast on the campfire and the kids inhaled it along with the leeks and dandelion greens they picked. No shrooms yet but some morels or dryads would have fit right in. BTW small tom 17 lb, 8 in beard 1 1/4 spurs.

I did some last spring. With my friends kids. Took and thin sliced them then dusted in seasoned flour, fried till crisp and added to fried potatoes. Kids also picked leeks, violets, dandelion greens and cattail shoots. Sauteed those and served with some fresh wild turkey on the campfire. Big hit!. Good easy to i.d. mushroom that is suprisingly useful in a variety of ways. I like the fact that pretty much anyone can i.d. dryads and if cooked, pickled, dried etc they can be a decent edible.

Nice off season find. Certainly appears to be a hericium. I recall that, several years ago, we had a weird weather spring. I think I posted of finding hericiums at the end of May and the odd huge morel in mid June. Little north of your area, so no doubt that they fruit when the conditions are right.

Thanks Dave!. Appears that I was hasty on the cons and not the pros. Just wanted to make sure a new poster understood the potential risks and forgot to encourage the excitement of a great find.

Yes, that is a morel. Quick caution, however. They seem to be in a cultivated area. Before eating any mushroom it's best to ensure that herbicides/pesticides weren't used in the area. I believe some of the morel varieties can be found in bark mulch, perhaps transferred from another area. Just a word of caution. Great find. Below freezing and snowing here!

Bowguy, for some reason your question stuck in my head. I do recall a similar conversation, here or on another site, that dealt with spores. This topic, as I recall, dealt with stomping on dried puffballs (probably scleroderma citrinum) while picking blueberries. I believe this resulted in gastric upset from the spores drifting onto the harvested blueberries. This was some time back and I think I recall the circumstance correctly. Anyhow just wanted to follow up as your question was rolling around in the back of my head.

WHAT! a mushroom falls in your pocket? I carry a firearm, with a dog, most of the fall and it's seldom I see a conservation officer. If one was to "accidentally" have a fruiting body (much like a tree fruit) fall into ones pocket I don't feel the ecosystem would be disturbed 😁