....Click ABOVE LEFT for a larger illustration of a typical mushroom, showing labeled parts, and ABOVE RIGHT for a recent (5/15/96) picture of Aderyn with a very nice Morel her father found in the back yard!
The idea of doing a page like this came in part out of the idea that Al Rogers had for a California Web Project, first announced at the Fall 95 CUE conference in Santa Clara. It was the concept that every part of our state has special qualities, and that we might want to have our students research those "gifts" and present them to the world as part our unique culture. Mendocino and the north coast is a spectacular location with many such gifts. This page is a beginning place for such a kind of project! Thanks Al, for the suggestion!
Last Update 12/23/95
....Click ABOVE for a larger (larger memory size too!) illustration of mushroom elves created by Liana Lindsay, 8th grade student.
<<----....Click here for image of The Wizard 
....Click ABOVE for image of a bunch of "FunGuys" --Lowell Brown, Justin Lewis and Chris Spacek--with chantrelles, corals and other species
<<----....Click here for image of Veronica Cox with another Boletus specimen!
....Click ABOVE for an image of Justin Lewis and Matt Lunsford with a handfull of Boletes, most of them Boletus Edulis--quite edible.
<<---....Click here for image of Giant Puffballs, one of them with Gabe Poehlman, who found this mushroom around his house--it can get as big a your head or even a basketball. This one was a little old, since it was all dark inside. When it is white inside and fresh it is considered quite edible!
....Click ABOVE for an image of Krista and Bohdy, who are holding several Amanita Muscarias of various size and maturity! These are all a bright red color and look like the typical mushroom picture above!
<<---....Click HERE for an image of JeNeel Miller with some more Boletus Edulis!
....Click here for the first of two images of Chris Spacek holding a Varnish Shelf fungus. The top is very shiny and smooth.--->>
....Click ABOVE for the second image of Chris and the Varnish Shelf, showing the pores underneath. This fungus grows on conifers.
....Click here for the second image of Solange Roberdeau and Mickey Colbert holding a relatively rare "Sulfur Shelf" fungi, which is a bright yellow-orange. This grows on trees as a conch, and is a "polypore" fungus. They have added some seasonal candy kisses as it is almost Winter Break here. Mushrooms grow mostly in the months of November through December, when its not yet too cold.--->>
....Click ABOVE for image of Mickey C. with a Stropharia Ambigua. This mushrom is usually known by the veil remnants which hang from the edge of its cap. This one didn't too many. But they tend to look like the flocking on a Christmas tree! It has a tan wet top with dark gills (lighter when younger) and a cottony stem.--->>
....Click here for an image of Zoe Colby and Ryan Birchard with a hedgehog, showing the teeth underneath the cap. There is another hedgehog somewhat similar to this with silvery teeth that bleeds red juice and it is known as the "Strawberries & Cream" mushroom!--->>
....Click ABOVE for a second image of Zoe and Ryan holding the hedgehog fungus. Hedgehogs are know by the TEETH that are under the cap. The top had dark brown shingle-like scales. This one is called the BLACK HEDGEHOG and is considered edible, but the smaller golden "sweet tooth" hedgehog is more often found in larger clusters locally.
<<------....Click here for an image of Ryann Entwhistle with an Amanita usually known as the Panther Amanita and considered deadly. It is somewhat like the Amanita Muscaria picture that is used for the icon on this page, but has a smooth, tan cap, and the veil on top doesn't break into warts but is clumped together in patches. This image shows the cap slightly broken so you can see the gill structure, plus shows the very distinctive Volva or cup-like structure at the base which gives away the Amanita group. This is why it is important to push a gilled mushroom up from the bottom in order to see if it has a Volva, since so many Amanitas are poisonous and if the stem is just pulled the cup will stay under the ground. Every year somebody gets very sick from Amanita poisoning in our county.--->>
....Click ABOVE for an enhanced image of The Wizard holding two rather larger Cortinaria mushrooms. I really thought these were Trichloma mushrooms, but was told by another expert that they were indeed Corts. One was purplish and the other was chocolate brown.
...The mushrooms are generally classified by AMATEUR mycologists not by microscopic inspection (the shape of their spores etc) but by their gross/macroscopic characteristics: The shape of the cap, overall color and texture, size, spore color, stem details, habitat, and related features. This Mushroom Tree is for a beginning use of dividing up these species in a reasonable manner, noticing how they branch off in different directions.
...A King Bolete by Naomi and Krista (normally the top is a little more tan and less red--the Queeen Bolete often is redder).
...Rozites, by David Klingman
...Russula Emetica
...Lepiota
...Destroying Angel...VERY Toxic! By Linka Rowland
...True Morel (like the one Aderyn is holding!)
...Slippery Jack, by Felicia Gealey
...A Parrot Mushroom Drawn by Kiva Myers and Sara Williams
...Another Parrot Mushroom Drawn by Aderyn Hurni
...A Stinkhorn fungus drawn by Lena Stavely and Pippen Kent
...Another Boletus
.......You can send comments or questions to:
cwisnia@mcn.org. Click here to get Back To Wizard's World
To The Mendocino Community Network Home Page
....Click here for image of Jenais Zarlin with a Shiitake Log, plus a picture she and Dana Boddy drew about Shiitakes---->>
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<<----....Click here for image of Ruby Anderson with two "Shaggy (or Wooly) Chantrelles". These can cause liver damage! Not ALL Chantrelles are edible!
....Click here for image of Veronica Cox & Morgan Sassen with and edible Gomphidius--not many are. This one is called a "Pine Spike"!---->>
<<----....Click here for image of Jesse McCoard with one of our most popular mushrooms, the King Boletus, Boletus Edulis! This one is quite small as they can grow as big as your head!
....Click here for image of David Klingman with a somewhat rare Star PuffBall! And another closeup of it may be seen below!---->>
<<----....Click here for image of Bryan Hass with a very valuable "White Matsutake" Mushroom (it is really called Amillaria Ponderosa) worth up to $40 per pound. There are mushroom buyers who will actually pay students to find mushrooms which are used in restaurant here and in Japan!
....Click here for image of Jimmy Coupe, a student who has helped a lot to put this web page together, with an Amanita Muscaria, or red amanita, which is mildly poisonous and hallucinagenic.---->>
....Click here for another image of Gabe's Giant Puffball, plus an illustration with info about Gabe and Giant Puffballs ----->>
Here is an image of JeNeel with her Mom, Sam, showing some Boletus Edulis Mushrooms. They took them home to cook them up but they were a little too old.--->>
<<---....Click here for an image of Sara Williams pretending to chomp down on a Red Russula mushroom. "Not a good idea!" Sara says, since this is a poisonous mushroom, as are most Russulas. These mushrooms are know by having waxy gills which break easily
<<---....Click here for an image of Amy Stinnett, Amber Latoof & Fern Tahja with Amber holding a very lovely Cortinaria mushroom she found on a mushroom walk. This one had a red velvety top with dark reddish brown gills and a yellowish staulk. Most cortinaria mushrooms are toix, and many are used for dyes by local artisans, including a World-reknown mushroom dye writer/practicianer named Miriam Rice. Her book "Mushrooms for Color" is known by weavers all over the world.
<<---....Click here for an image of Wesley Thurston and Chris Spacek holding abunch of highly sought after "Pigs Ears", a variety of Chantrelle coveted by local mushroom gatherers. This chantrelle is a light brown color on the top with a lilac brown on the ridges. It must be used ealry because it is susceptable to worms!
....Click here for an image of Eli Maddock, with Fern, Krista, Solange and Amy. Eli is holding a mushroom known as the "Queen Bolete". It has a rough flatter top than the King Bolete, and yellow pores, which stain dark. It is also known as Boletus Zelleri.---->>LATE NOTE: I have been told this isn't a correct ID by a mycologist! It is a Boletus but not Zelleri(editor). 