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Some tips to help you get started:

It makes no difference to the health of the organism to 'cut' or 'pluck' a mushroom, mushrooms do not grow back in the exact same place regardless of how you harvest. This is a confusing and persistent myth. Harvesting practices were the subject of two long-term studies.

All mushrooms are safe to handle, no gloves needed! The only way to be poisoned by a toxic mushroom is to ingest one.

Information needed for most IDs:

1. Multiple specimens of the same species, at varying stages of growth if possible
2. Note what substrate they were found on (live/dead wood, conifer/hardwood, grass, dung, etc.) and what tree species were growing nearby
3. Photos 'in situ' or as you found them, before picking
4. Photos of the underside (gills, pores, teeth, etc.)*
5. Photos that show cap, stipe and base
6. Spore Colour (see how to make a spore print below)
7. Scent, if any

*Take photos or note colours in natural light and before the specimen has had time to degrade

How to take a spore print:

1. Cut the stipe off of the mushroom, so that the cap lays flat
2. Place the cap with the gills/pores/teeth facing down on a sheet of aluminum foil*
3. Place a bowl or towel over the cap to stop any drafts or air currents from disturbing the flow of spores
4. Wait 12-18hrs before checking under the cap and noting colour

*You can use paper or a sheet of glass instead of aluminum foil, but foil does a good job of showing dark and light spore colours that might get lost in black or white paper.

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Visit our Facebook Page to post your own photos and connect with other hobby mycologists in the Quesnel area.

Foragers:

Don't munch on a hunch. Never eat a wild mushroom unless you are 100% certain of it's identity and edibility status.

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