Lookback: Mushroom Mania

Herewith some mushrooms that sprang up in the jungle, aka our garden. I'm a dab hand at mushrooming in France and Britain, so long as the mushrooms I pick are only edible boletus, aka penny buns or ceps, which are wonderful fried with onions and scrambled eggs. I don't touch anything else. And I don't touch anything in America.

 The other day, though, the Pfeiffer Nature Center nearby offered a "Mushroom Mania" experience. Here's the expert, Garrett Taylor, with regulation basket and in the backround,a quaint old wooden house with a hatstand with a genuine pith helmet on it and fabulous views where he gave us a preliminary briefing.

I'm not going to tell you what all these mushrooms are - I didn't manage to take notes but this was one that eats insects - a carnivorous mushroom.

 And these are Indian pipes, which are really a kind of flower.

I just enjoyed the way they look. It's been a fabulous late summer for mushrooms with all the rain we've had. The forest literally smelt of mushrooms, a comforting woody smell.

They complement their surroundings beautifully.

 This below was a coral mushroom - waxy when you rub it with your fingers.

 

 And these looked like icing flowers on  a cake.

The purple jobs were everywhere in all shapes and sizes.

 I liked this one, popping out a tree. It looked as though it belonged as part of the decor of a house from Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles - one of my secret pleasures.

This was almost like a stone sculpture.

All the yellow blobs were chanterelles - definitely edible. A veritable goldmine. They like to hang out near oak trees.

 

Here are the contents of Garrett's basket.

And one he says is good to eat - though please don't take my word for it.

Here's some more of the haul spread on the ground.

As for these little ones on the tree bark. They allegedly do funny things to you. If you pick them up, it's a felony. If you leave them on the ground it's not. Be warned.

We didn't take any home but compensated with a sack of chanterelles which we were still enjoying several days later.
  But I was right to be wary. Ceps in America aren't exactly the same as the European ones and many have the reputation of being bitter and not good to eat. In France they're mostly all good, unless they're bright orange or red. I think I'll stick to just looking.