Mushroom I.D.

[lairmo]

Went hunting for Chanterelles and Hen/Chicken of the woods today but all I found was a ton of these clusters on the top of a hill...

Any idea? Found in SWMO...no I didn't take them home but enough to fill a couple of wheelbarrows...

 

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[A2coins]

Crazy I find so many crazy looking mushrooms. Those take the cake lol

 

[lairmo]

Crazy I find so many crazy looking mushrooms. Those take the cake lol

Probably be a nasty cake...lol

 

[Kray Gelder]

I would call those not yummy looking.

 

[Kantuckkeean]

I’ve never seen that before. I’ll PM some members who replied to the Chicken of the Woods post.

Kindest regards,
Kantuck

 

[Kace]

I see those too in the KC and SWMO areas...I have no idea what they are...my neighbors started getting them after they had some oak trees taken out after ice storm damage. 4 Oaks in a straight line along their driveway.

They grow where their trees were and in between them. They never had them before. Weird.

Kace

 

[lairmo]

I see those too in the KC and SWMO areas...I have no idea what they are...my neighbors started getting them after they had some oak trees taken out after ice storm damage. 4 Oaks in a straight line along their driveway.

They grow where their trees were and in between them. They never had them before. Weird.

Kace

THAT is strange...These were found in an old fence row where I have lost 6 GIGANTIC Oak trees to bugs or disease and ice storm over the last 10 years and stop at a Gigantic Pin Oak tree....quite a cluster. The pic is about basketball sized.

 

[lairmo]

I never had them before this year and owned the land for 17yrs or so....

 

[ToddsPoint]

Tree roots are rotting and provide food for the mushrooms. I had an ash stump ground a few years ago and now the spot is a mushroom patch. Gary

 

[BIGSCOTT]

Those started growing all over the place after the meteor shower last month.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

ALIENS from SPACE!

 

[Greastart]

Went hunting for Chanterelles and Hen/Chicken of the woods today but all I found was a ton of these clusters on the top of a hill...

Any idea? Found in SWMO...no I didn't take them home but enough to fill a couple of wheelbarrows...View attachment 1643536

lairmo,
Without more info it's hard to even begin. I'm not an expert or even close to a know it all...First question would be what are they growing out of? Dirt, wood, dung, etc...Second question would be what color are the spores? Get a spore print from a young one and an older one if possible. https://www.namyco.org/spore_prints.php Then systematically examine the physical characteristics of the mushroom itself. Some examples: Does the stem break cleanly like a piece of chalk or does it tear unevenly when you try to break it in half? Are there gills or a spongy mass on the underside of the cap? If gilled, what shape? Closely spaced, tightly packed, or loosely spaced?

Ultimately, unless an experienced person familiar with the varieties in your immediate area chimes in, I believe it would be difficult at best to positively ID your mushrooms from the photo provided. I suggest you get the book "Mushrooms Demystified" by David Arora. It's a heavy tome of a book but covers most every mushroom in North America I believe.

And finally, try to locate a local group of fungi enthusiasts and tag along on some hunts. Likely you'll encounter some great people and learn a ton! Is there a university or community college near you? A good place to look for info.

Happy Hunting!

Grease

 

[DCMatt]

Do a search on "oak root fungus" and see if that shows your fungi.

Possibly Armillaria mellea?

 

[lairmo]

Thanks guys. I've been looking at buying that book Greastart. I'll try to get better pics as soon as the rain is over. I have no problem I.D.-ing a Morel....lol
It does sort of resemble Armillaria mellea DCM, thanks.

 

[Kace]

THAT is strange...These were found in an old fence row where I have lost 6 GIGANTIC Oak trees to bugs or disease and ice storm over the last 10 years and stop at a Gigantic Pin Oak tree....quite a cluster. The pic is about basketball sized.

These oak trees were huge too...When that ice storm hit those trees just shattered and broke apart, blocking the drives, limbs driven 2'-3' in the ground. But Never had those Mushrooms before..They are basketball size also.

Then..maybe a year after that the same neighbors started getting the big white dish looking toadstools all over their yard too.

My yard didn't get any of that but the morel spores took and every year there has been more than the year before. Happy About That!! The neighbors don't have any morels though.

I'd love to have a yard full of morels, hens and chanterelles!

Kace

 

[huntsman53]

Went hunting for Chanterelles and Hen/Chicken of the woods today but all I found was a ton of these clusters on the top of a hill...

Any idea? Found in SWMO...no I didn't take them home but enough to fill a couple of wheelbarrows...View attachment 1643536

Possibly Armillaria tabescens but you really need to have an Expert look at them. A spore print might help. Check out the link below and see if most of the clusters of mushrooms match but even then, have them checked before trying to eat any as there are many look-a-likes of many mushrooms and most of the look-a-likes are mildly to deadly poisonous.

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/armillaria_tabescens.html

 

[Trezurehunter]

That one, without a doubt wins the "Lifetime ugliest Mushroom award" ! Don't recall seeing any like that in my parts of Illinois.

 

[Rookster]

I had some in my yard this year that we're new to me. I posted them and was amazed at the knowledgeable people on the forum that helped with the ID.