As the fall air moves in, mushrooms begin to make their way to the surface. Although spring is the most popular time for mushroom hunting, other edible mushrooms start to appear in late September.
Puffballs, usually found in lawns and open woods, appear rounded with no stalk. The size of the white or brown fungi ranges from one inch to a foot in diameter! If squished, a powder of thousands of tiny spores is emitted, earning the name “puffball”. Bearded tooth, also known as lion’s mane, makes a fall appearance too. Its bear-like white spines hang off of tree trunks and fallen logs. After a good rain and mild weather, oyster mushrooms can also be found. With fall just around the corner, consider hunting for these common Missouri mushrooms.
If you’re collecting mushrooms to eat, some of them could be deadly poisonous. The only way to tell if a mushroom is edible is by positive identification. If you’re interested in eating wild mushrooms, learn how to identify them. Field guides will have pictures and descriptions of mushroom anatomy, cap shapes, surface textures, gill spacing, and other features used to determine what species it is. Take your time, and use common sense: If you’re not 100 percent positive of the ID, don’t eat it!
One fantastic beginner mushroom to consider hunting for is the black trumpet mushroom. The black trumpet has a pale grey/black exterior with a hollow stem and a dark brown interior. This mushroom has no poisonous lookalikes.
More information can be found by going to https://mdc.mo.gov/.
Information on this article was aggregated by the Missouri Department of Conservation, and gardening.org.
