And now there’s even more reason to work mushrooms into your diet. It’s the first Psilocybe mushroom named after Paul Stamets, who himself discovered two new species of psychoactive mushrooms in the mid nineties and has dedicated much of his life to studying them. The first of his six books on mushrooms was published back in 1978. I either use it just to look through mushrooms for fun, play the quiz, to help identify mushrooms I find on my ‘shroom hunts, or to help someone else identify their mushrooms.
Others produce poisons that can make you mildly ill…or cause organ failure. If you want to learn how to ID and harvest wild mushrooms, it’s best to join a local mushroom club and learn from experts. Ten layers may mean the shelf is 10 years-old if there is only one growing season (spring). If there are two growing seasons per year (spring and fall), it may only be 5 years-old. These mycelial networks allow plants and fungi to not only exchange goods between each other, but also help different plants in the forest to communicate.
Some mushrooms fruit optimally during hot humid weather; others prefer cooler temperatures. Yeasts are unicellular, yet eukaryotic, making them an important group of organisms for scientists. Although his restaurant keeps him busy, he still finds time to hunt some of his favorite mushrooms like hen of the woods and chanterelles. Garry has learned that tree identification helps him hunt mushrooms. Jack-o’-Lantern
(Omphalotus illudens)
These bright orange mushrooms can be confused with chanterelles, but jack-o’-lantern mushrooms grow on wood, which might be buried roots, and the chanterelles grow from soil. The inner tissue of jack-o’-lantern mushrooms is orange instead of white.
Some mushrooms are commonly found in the diets of many people around the world. These edible mushrooms are rich in nutrients such as vitamin B, C and D, fiber, minerals including potassium, phosphorus, calcium and they are also a good source of protein. In fact, many mushrooms rank above vegetables, and it comes to their protein content. For that reason, edible mushrooms are considered a good substitute for meat in vegetarian/vegan diets and in diets of people who don’t have access to meat. Mushrooms are considered a type of fungus because they do not contain any chlorophyll, which is needed for photosynthesis.
Other striking discoveries included a vivid orange, salt-tolerant mushroom from the Andes in Chile. Further new discoveries include two new species of the black musk truffle from Hungary and 33 new species of Agaricus from China, Thailand, Brazil, Spain and Italy. The Agaricus genus includes the commonly eaten button mushroom, also sold as portobello mushrooms when the caps are fully expanded or chestnut mushrooms when the caps are closed. Symbiosis is the ecological interaction between two organisms that live together, however, the definition does not describe the quality of the interaction.
A group of beneficial chemicals found in raw produce, phytochemicals have been shown to impart anti-aging and anti-cancer benefits. Some of the phytochemicals found in mushrooms include alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, and phenols. It is believed that these phytochemicals help the body ward off toxins, recover from illness, and alleviate pain. Welcome news for diabetics or those with sugar-related disorders, mushrooms contain a large amount of potassium. Potassium is involved with many processes within the body, including nerve signals, muscular contractions, and internal fluid balance.
Mushroom tea is widespread in Asian traditional medicine and a common way to ingest psychedelic mushrooms, but there’s no need to stop there. At camp I tried cordyceps tea, matsutake sake, and guava and hibiscus-berry kombucha fermented with stinkhorns (I skipped the cannabis reishi limoncello). Fungi was an invention by Michelle Harris, a designer who was inspired by seeing dried stinkhorns, which she hadn’t realized were edible, for sale in San Francisco Chinatown. It’s been two months since I got back from mushroom camp, and I still can’t stop thinking about the wild cast of characters I met there. A former professor offered me a bump of pine pollen and suggested listening to fermenting herbal syrups as a sleep aid.