Well friends, my excitement about finding a "wild" chicken of the woods mushroom may have been for naught. I'm posting these photos so that my Steemit friends who know mushrooms better then me can have a better look.
The shelf seems to be thinning out along the edge, and you can see a ruffle beginning to form. It has rained for the last two days, so the bottom is dripping (hopefully resulting in the spores being planted along the rest of the trunk!) It also seems to have a "baby" on the bottom left side. The top feels a bit fuzzy.
As I said in the original post, I am not a mushroom expert and we will not be consuming this specimen until I get an official nod that this sucker won't kill us dead. So here's some more pics, and I'm wide open to suggestions as to the species. We consider this a great learning moment!
We are on the west coast of Central Florida and the growth is on an oak that is dying but not completely gone yet. Hope that helps!
Pleasing Fungus Beetles?
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/beetles/pleasing_fungus_beetles.htm
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Hi @farmandadventure, it is definitely one of the bracket fungus :
But I don't think it is the Chicken of the Woods :
This page suggests some of the bracket fungus are deadly poisonous - so beware :
We get bracket fungi regularly on our birch and sycamore trees - but I haven't eaten one yet 😵
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Thank you for your great comment! I braved the mosquitos to take a video:
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It doesn't look like a chicken mushroom to me. The bottom does look like the right color. Chicken mushroom is a late summer early fall mushroom for us. I usually find them in early October
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Unfortunately, it isn't. Dber has identified it in a comment above. Check it out if you have a minute, it's really quite a good read! Still hoping we've got CotW somewhere out here....
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Phones dying but ill take a look more closely when i get home. Mean time how firm was the flesh
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I didnt press on it, too afraid I might break it off and the whole family be mad at me Lol.
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This post received a 3.4% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @dber! For more information, click here!
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lol, I meant to randowhale the post - here comes another!
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@dber got you a $3.72 @minnowbooster upgoat, nice! (Image: pixabay.com)
Want a boost? Click here to read more!
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Took a video:
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Im here with it now. VERY spongey, not firm really.
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got chickens and mushrooms plenty here on The big island. also wild goats and pigs..hungry..It's hunting season.
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Go get em! We are very fortunate to live in the tropics where there's wild food all year. Hope you're following me, there will be more on foraging! (following you too, I'd love to see your area!)
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Of course I am following you!! You are welcome to come see me anytime..what area are yo in?
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We are in West Florida...sounds like you're in Hawaii??
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Yes, on The Big Island
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Really cool post @farmandadventure. Thanks for sharing. I'm an aspiring mushroom connoisseur as well. 😊 🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄 out of 5
Following you too!
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I might get outta hand with this mushroom thing! It's too much fun scouting for them. I will def be posting more finds and hoping the community helps me solve the mysteries. Dbers comment is the bomb-diggity! Check it out if you have time.
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I'm no mycologist(sic), but it doesn't look like it has the usual characteristics of a toxic shroom.
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And according to my research, there are no toxic look-alikes to the chicken mushroom. Still hoping!
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Nope, just the tofu mushroom. That's toxic in my book.
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Haha!
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Interesting shroom, I don't know what this could be, but I do know we got eatable mushrooms growing on tree's also, think it's best to ask an expert, thanks for sharing #keepsteemin
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I believe that dber has found our shroom! If you have a minute, take a look at his comment above. This is a learning experience for us all and I am happy to share🌻
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This post received a 4.2% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @dber! For more information, click here!
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Ah dang! Keeps searching!
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Ohh really interested
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It looks like your mushroom mystery has been solved! I hope you can find a Chicken of the Woods some day. I think they are definitely worth eating. But this Inonotus is definitely a fun mushroom to watch. Thanks for posting an update!
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Thanks for the update, @farmandadventure! You've got a very interesting mushroom, even if it's not for eating. At least you have a nice subject for photography out there in your woods.
This post and your first discovery of this mushroom show how we can use Steemit to help each other out with identification and questions about foraging. Happy foraging!
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