Hello, traveler! Come along on a virtual mushroom walk and see what fantastic fungi we find today :)

Thread:

Fairy fingers (Clavaria fragilis). "Edible, but insubstantial and flavorless," according to wiki.

Purple laccaria (Laccaria ochropurpurea). Very abundant in NC lately, often in fairy rings. Edible, but has some poisonous lookalikes, particularly Cortinarius spp.

Some sort of Russula? Looks like a pink English muffin.

Ooh, exciting! Bear's head tooth (Hericium americanum). Edible, same genus as lion's mane. One of these bears is hiding in a den :)
Unfortunately, looking a few days too old and buggy to eat.

Right near the bears, I found a hedgehog (Hydnum spp.). Tasty edible, easily identified by the teeth on the underside.

Jack-o-lanterns (Omphalotus illudens). Spooky! Also, poisonous.

Coral mushroom, probably Ramaria spp.. Some Ramaria edible, some not. Corals are notoriously difficult to ID.

This one was purpler in person. Cortinarius spp. You can see a little webbing on the edge of the gills, but the bigger giveaway is the rust-colored spore print visible on the stem. Likely poisonous.

Sad oysters (Pleurotus spp.)?

Another purple laccaria. I told you they were everywhere.

I was excited about this one! Albatrellus spp., probably A. ovinus, the sheep polypore. Edible, but again, these sheep were looking kind of old and sad to me.

OK, these ones are definitely oysters. The big single one I think is veiled oyster (Pleurotus dryinus), the smaller ones I think summer oyster (P. pulmonarius). Again, a few days past prime. Maybe I'm too picky?

Turkey tails (Trametes versicolor)! Too tough to eat eat, but they can be brewed into a tea.

Mystery polypore ???

Milkcap (Lactarius spp.) Some are edible, others poisonous.

Big ol' Amanita. I don't think it's destroying angel (A. bisporigera) because it lacks a ring, but still maybe poisonous?

A very pretty milkcap. Is it the poisonous golden milkcap (L. alnicola) or the presumably delicious saffron milkcap (L. deliciosus), or something else?

Blewit (Lepista nuda) - edible. There were a bunch of these in the area. As with Laccaria, has some toxic Cortinarius lookalikes, so wise to do a spore print before eating.

Definitely indigo milkcap (Lactarius indigo). Edible and tastes like froot loops to me, but I think that's just a psychological trick of the deep blue color.

Sad indigo milkcap.

Clavulinopsis spp., I think golden spindles (C. fusiformis). Apparently listed as edible in some places and inedible in others. Does not seem to be poisonous, probably just insubstantial like Clavaria fragilis.

Common bonnet (Mycena galericulata). As above, listed both as edible and inedible, but seems not-poisonous at least.

Clavariadelphus spp., probably C. truncatus but maybe C. unicolor? Funky little club fungus. Edible but not very good imo.

That's all the mushrooms for today! Now go on your own neature walk and show me the mushrooms you find :)