hi there. i'm hoping someone can help me ID these mushrooms. they were found growing under western red cedars on burnaby mountain, and they produced a white spore print. any info would be very much appreciated. cheers!
Yep, that's what they are, also known as Chlorophyllum rhacodes and various other names. Look for orange to red staining where cut or bruised, to be certain. This is the season for this excellent edible; I picked some today during my lunch walk.
thank you so much . . . i really appreciate your response. i've been on the hunt for edible mushrooms growing near my home, and wanted a second, more experienced opinion before going ahead and sampling. i've been using two vintage mushroom id books and was also a bit worried that the toxicology info was out of date. do you have a favourite guidebook that you'd recommend for coastal bc?
All of my mushroom books are out of date. Perhaps some of the other members of this forum can offer book recommendations. To get up-to-date information about toxicology, as well as confirmation of a tentative ID, a Web search is very useful.
There are some good books posted here: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/local_links.php?catid=10 Also online resources here: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/local_links.php?catid=12 - the PNW Key Council's keys are particularly useful. If you've never used a key before it can be a bit daunting, but if you are up for it, I'd suggest starting with the "Key to Keys" and go from there. cheers, -frog