Wild Mushrooms of Polipoli Springs, Maui, Hawaii, 2016

We usually head out to a warm and tropical location during the middle of a New England winter, so we did a little research into the fungi of one of our destinations, Maui. A good deal of the fungi on Hawaii are alien, introduced with vegetation and soil from other places, therefore, many of the mushrooms are familiar to us. Only an estimated 17% of fungi are considered native Hawaiian species. Fungi can be found almost all year in the subtropical environments, but the more abundant season is from July through January. Fallen palm leaves and casuarina needles, along with dead wood, coconut husks, lawns, and compost piles of mulch are all good places to look for fruiting mushrooms. We purchased Mushrooms of Hawaii by Don Hemmes and Dennis Desjardin to help us identify the mushrooms we found. On Maui, we had to rent a Jeep to ascend to Polipoli Springs State Recreation Area.

Once a dense forest of Koa, mamane, and ʻohiʻa lehua, the Polipoli Spring State Recreation Area is composed of 10 acres of the Kula Forest Reserve. When the park was established many of the native trees were removed. However, in the 1930s the the area was reforested with pines, eucalyptus, tropical ash, cypress, China-fir, and redwood. Due to the elevation (6,200 feet), Polipoli Spring State Recreation Area can actually get pretty cold (temperatures can reach freezing at night). When we headed up at 9 am, there was frost on the grasses and trees, and the mud puddles were crusted with ice. The Jeep was for the clearance and 4 wheel-drive needed to get through some of the holes in the dirt road, and some of the switchbacks at elevation without anything but sheer mountain out the window were a bit terrifying for me, but Robert was laid back about it all, and even had fun driving. We walked a 5-mile loop around a few trails, passing through dense stands of eucalyptus, thimbleberry thickets, assorted conifers planted in rows, into low-hanging clouds that would white out the trail, and by hills heavily blanketed in moss.

Before we got to the parking lot at the top of Polipoli, we passed a couple of familiar fungi on the drive up. First was a Laetiporus gilbertsonii, a relative of our eastern choice edible Laetiporus sulphureus, growing on eucalyptus. Even though it exuded juice when cut, it was as hard as wood. Due to its condition and suspicion in causing upset stomachs because of substrate, we didn't collect it for consumption. Then we passed some Hypholoma fasiculare growing roadside in some wood chips, another we recognize from our cooler, wet autumn season in Connecticut.

Starting out on the grassy portion of the trail, we ran into this butterscotch-colored beauty, possibly one of the Gymnopilus species? Here you can also see the just-melted dew covering the grass.

This is another one we recognize from home, Tricholomopsis rutilans, common name plums and custard. It is usually found growing attached to underground conifer roots, even though it appears to originate in grass.

Plenty of down dead wood up at Polipoli to support saprobic fungi. The cooler temperatures at elevation provided us with some familiar fungi we find in temperate Connecticut, like these two crusts, Phlebia tremellosa and Stereum hirsutum.

This puffball appeared similar to one of our pigskin puffballs, except for the extensive pseudo-stem. Our Mushrooms of Hawaii book IDs this as Scleroderma verrucosum due to the pink staining when the peridium is cut.

This brightly colored and small (most specimens were about 1 cm wide) polypore is the highly photogenic Favolaschia calocera. First observed in Madagascar, it has recently spread around the world and mycologists fear that it may be displacing native fungi species as it spreads through the paleotropics. Once Robert first noticed it on decayed twigs and fern stalks and we knew what to look for, we all suddenly spotted it often.

Chroogomphus sp. is a fungi we found a few years ago when making our first attempt to ascend to Polipoli (in a regular rental car, we never made it past the first 200' on the dirt road before bottoming out and turning around). Known to be associated with conifers in winter in California, this was likely introduced with the planted conifers. This may be C. vinicolor or C. rutilans, we didn't collect a specimen and scope the spores (hey, vacation!).

There are not too many Boletes in Hawaii, beyond a few Suillus and the elusive coconut-associated bolete, Pulveroboletus (Buchwaldoboletus) xylophilus. This Suillus pungens was a big surprise, as it isn't listed in the Mushrooms of Hawaii book, but it IS listed in the Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast, another book we own. This mushroom is normally associated with Monterey Pines, and was likely imported by accident with the conifer plantings done in the 1930's as well.

And as we were heading out of Polipoli in the late afternoon, Gillian asked a question from the back seat of the Jeep as we were driving along the dirt road that was cut into the grassy embankment, "Hey, isn't that a morel?". Haha, very funny, you can't fool us. BUT IT WAS. The weather at Polipoli mimics our southern New England weather in May very well: cold nights, warm days, and plenty of rain, so it makes sense. Morchella are reported in Hawaii, but fruiting in a scattered manner and difficult to see because of the dense undergrowth.

Planted conifers in Polipoli

Wild Mushrooms on Maui, Hawaii 2016

We usually head out to a warm and tropical location during the middle of a New England winter, so we did a little research into the fungi of one of our destinations, Maui. A good deal of the fungi on Hawaii are alien, introduced with vegetation and soil from other places, therefore, many of the mushrooms are familiar to us. Only an estimated 17% of fungi are considered native Hawaiian species. Fungi can be found almost all year in the subtropical environments, but the more abundant season is from July through January. Fallen palm leaves and casuarina needles, along with dead wood, coconut husks, lawns, and compost piles of mulch are all good places to look for fruiting mushrooms. We purchased Mushrooms of Hawaii by Don Hemmes and Dennis Desjardin to help us identify  the mushrooms we found. On Maui, we visited the very wet area of Hana, and took the walk to Honolua Bay through a very wet forest gully.

 

Some of the most stunning finds were boring old polypores! These Microporus affinis are found on fallen branches in wet, often tropical areas. This fan-shaped bracket has a velvety, ridged cap with concentric zones of brown, red, yellow, blue, orange, and black and often have a zone of green algae. On the underside of the cap are very small white pores, best viewed with a hand lens. Distinctive characterisics for this species are the saucer-shaped depression in the cap near the stem, and the very short, lateral, black "foot". We successfully collected and dried several specimens, and they retained most of their color. A few of these were as large as my hand.

This is another, albeit less exciting, polypore showing the upper cap surface and the pores. We don't really know where to begin with its identity.

These two black blobs on dead wood are Ascomycota, and look very similar to species we have growing here in temperate Connecticut. The round one is a species of Daldinia; we didn't bring along any KOH to test for staining to try to narrow it down further (darn TSA and all those liquid/chemical regulations!). The finger shaped one is one of the many Xylaria.

 This LBM is a sweet example of Gymnopus menehune. In Hawaiian mythology, the Menehune are said to be a people, sometimes described as dwarfs in size, who live in the deep forests and hidden valleys of the Hawaiian Islands, far from the eyes of normal humans. Their favorite food is the maiʻa (banana), and they also like fish. These gilled mushrooms are fairly common, and we came across many groupings of them in December.

It is easier to spot these bright polypore brackets in a forest than the duller brown ones. These were the very abundant Pycnoporus (Trametes) sanguineus, a tropical version of the Pycnoporus cinnabarinus we have in Connecticut. The pore surface is also bright cinnabar-red and the top surface of the caps is zoned in mixed shades of oranges and reds. Some folks collect these to dye textiles. From Wikipedia: Medicinal uses of P. sanguineus help relieve symptoms of the following diseases: arthritis, gout, styptic, sore throats, ulcers, tooth aches, fevers, and hemorrhages. P. sanguineus also displays numerous anti-bacterial properties against E. coli, K. pneumoniae, P. aeroginosa, S. typhi, and S. aureus by inhibiting specific metabolic pathways. Currently, P. sanguineus if being used in medicine for the absorption of certain heavy metals contained within the blood stream.

Here are a trio of jelly fungi. Even in Connecticut they pop out after it rains, and it certainly has been a rainy year here on Maui. We didn't identify he top, amber jelly. The second, white jelly is Tremella fuciformis. It is widespread, especially in the tropics, where it can be found on the dead branches of broadleaf trees. This fungus is commercially cultivated and is one of the most popular fungi in the cuisine and medicine of  China. Tremella fuciformis is commonly known as snow fungus. The third, orange jelly is likely Dacryopinax spathularia, another edible, yet small fungi specimen. We found it twice, once growing from a wooden rail, and again growing from the side of a wooden house!

This is a colony of small, crumbly fungi is Coprinellus disseminatus. They don't deliquesce like other members of the inky mushroom group, they just get darker and crumble up. One log section can hold thousands, in different stages of growth from pins, to babies, beautiful white caps, and older, darkening caps. Gillian calls them "ghost mushrooms" because they look like white versions of the ghosts from Pac-man.

Autumn Mushrooms Of Connecticut

Autumn bounty of hens, chickens, and spicebush berries.

Before we started studying mushrooms and fungi more than 6 years ago, there were many things I never knew about them: their mycorrhizal relationships with trees, that they could have pores, teeth or gills on the undersides, and that like plants, they are highly seasonal. Our fall fungi of southern New England are fruiting well after some recent rains, and woods are a riot of color, textures, beauty, and free edibles.

Cortinarius semisanguineus

 Some of our upcoming classes include a slideshow on Mushroom ID for Beginners, or The Edible Plants and Fungi of Autumn. We use our original photos and include some informational handouts for participants.

Lactarius deceptivus

Amanita crenulata, champagene Amanita

Sparassis crispa, cauliflower mushroom

Craterellus fallax, black trumpets

Suillus gravellii

Grifola frondosa, maitake

Plicaturopsis crispa, crimp gill

Boletus edulis group, porcini

Mycena pura

Lycoperdon perlatum, gem studded puffball

Amanita frostiana

Gymnopilus luteus, big laughing gyms

Laetiporus sulphureus, chicken mushroom

Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, false chanterelle

Amanita amerivirosa, deadly autumn destroying angel

Coprinopsis picacea, the magpie inky

Ramaria species, coral

 

Upcoming Educational Programs, September and October

Autumn is a time of bounty and harvest for woodland creatures and foragers alike: nuts are falling to the forest floor, fruits are ripening and scenting the crisp fall air, roots and tubers are thickening up in anticipation of sustaining the plants through the tough winter, and edible fungi can be found in astounding amounts. Learn how to identify, sustainably harvest, and prepare the wild foods of autumn, from acorns through minty wintergreen leaves, including golden honey mushrooms and maitake, the “dancing mushroom”. Join The 3 Foragers as they teach the edible plants and fungi of autumn assorted edible plant and mushroom ID programs. Most facilities require or appreciate a heads-up for registration purposes. Come join us, we will have copies of our book for sale.

September 25, 1:45 PM, Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center’s 15^th Annual Mushroom Festival, Mystic, CT. Slideshow: Edible Mushrooms of Connecticut, info at http://dpnc.org/calendar/wild-mushroom-festival/

 

September 25, 2:45 PM, Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center’s 15^th Annual Mushroom Festival, Mystic, CT. Slideshow: Mushroom ID for Beginners info at http://dpnc.org/calendar/wild-mushroom-festival/

 

September 26, 6-7 PM, Edible Plants and Fungi of Autumn Slideshow, Harmony Library, Harmony RI. Call (401) 949-2850 to register

September 29, 6-7 PM, Edible Plants and Fungi of Autumn Slideshow, Cross Mills Public Library, Charlestown RI. Call (401) 364-6211 to register

October 1, 1-3 PM, Edible Plants and Fungi of Autumn Slideshow and Walk, The Sanctuary at Shepardfields Land Trust, East Haddam CT. Call 860.319.1134 to register CANCELLED

October 8, 10:15-11:30 AM, Edible Plants and Fungi of Autumn Slideshow, Beardsley Library, Winsted CT. Call (860) 379-6043 to register

October 9, 1-3 PM, Mushroom ID for Beginners Slideshow and Walk, Ansonia Nature Center, Ansonia CT. Space is limited, call to register

October 15, 10 AM-1 PM, Mushroom ID for Beginners Slideshow and Walk, Northwest Park and Nature Center, Windsor CT. Call (860) 285-1886 to register

October 29, 10-11:30 AM, Walktober:  Edible Plants and Fungi of Autumn Walk, Goodwin Forest Conservation Center, Hampton CT. Call 860-455-9534 to register

Mushroom Recipe - Alboater Palmiers

Every summer is a different story for us when it comes to foraging wild foods or collecting fungi. We can try to be in the right forest at the right time, but still go home empty handed. It had been a terribly dry June and July, but a few very spotty rains have perked up the mycelium in a few isolated locations, bringing forth some magnificent flushes of edible and non-edible boletes.

Boletes have a standard cap and stem appearance of a mushroom, but instead of gills on the underside of the cap, there are elongated tubes that can look like a sponge. Boletes come in assorted statures, colors, textures, and can taste fantastically nutty, meaty, cheesy, or are inedible and bitter. Some species have bizarre staining reactions to being cut as well as chemical reactions to the reagent that Robert uses to test them for identification purposes. Bolete identification can be a study in frustration for some, but Robert loves the challenge.

photo by Beth Karwowski

The black velvet bolete (Tylopilus alboater) is one we don't often find in large quantities, and it is one of the few non-bitter Tylopilus. While out this past weekend with friends, we found more than three dozen of them, some incredibly large, most bug-free. The cap and stem appear to be very dark brown or black, lightening with age and sun exposure, and the pore surface starts out white and ages to brownish-pink. They will stain black when cut, and stain your fingers black when handled. Black velvet boletes are very firm and heavy mushrooms when young when the tubes are still shallow, and can be excellent edibles. 

Since Tylopilus alboaters cook up black, I decided to use that characteristic in a black and white palmier cracker. This could be used for any bolete really; we might try it again with Baorangia bicolor which might exhibit a more orange-colored filling.

Black Velvet Bolete Palmiers                yield: 48 palmiers

2 sheets puff pastry, thawed but still cold
flour for dusting
3 Tbsp. oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
12 oz. roughly chopped Tylopilus alboaters, or any other firm Boletes, tubes removed if too large
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 c. dry white wine
4 Tbsp water
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. Panko bread crumbs
non-stick spray oil or melted butter
Kosher salt or large flaked salt for sprinkling

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat and cook the garlic, shallots, and chopped boletes for 15 minutes, stirring often, until soft.
2. Add the dry white wine, water, thyme, and bay leaves, and simmer over medium-low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid is evaporated. Remove from the heat and remove the bay leaves.
3. Place the cooked boletes in the bowl of a food processor, and add the salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and Panko crumbs, and pulse until blended. Puree for about 1 minute, there will still be visible grains. Allow this filling to cool to room temperature; it will thicken considerably.
4. Roll one of the sheets of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface until it is 9" x 15". Spread half of the bolete filling on the puff pastry all the way to the edges. Starting on one of the longer edges, roll up the puff pastry tightly, stopping at the halfway point. Turn the puff pastry around and roll up the other long side until it meets in the middle with the first rolled edge. Wet your finger, and rub it between the two rolls, pressing them together to stick.
5. Flip the rolled puff pastry over so that the rolled edges are on the bottom, and gently squeeze and stretch the log until it is 18" long. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry and remaining filling. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for one hour. At this point, the logs can be stored frozen for 6 months, and allowed to thaw slightly before slicing and baking.
6. Heat oven to 400º F. Cover a sheet pan with parchment paper. Remove the puff pastry log from the freezer and using a thin, sharp knife, cut off 1/4" slices. Place them about an inch apart and either spray with cooking oil or lightly brush with melted butter, and sprinkle on some Kosher salt. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until lightly browned and crispy. Cool and store in a dry place.

Program Dates, August through October

Holy cow, where did July go? Summer vacation is half over, and the first day of school is less than a month away! We have programs coming up, and add more occasionally. The best place to see our events listings is on our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/The-3-Foragers-118852208201771/ . Most programs will include a PowerPoint with original photographs, educational handouts, and Nature Center locations include outdoor interactive walks. We will have copies of our newly released book, Adventures in Edible Plant Foraging: Finding, Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Native and Invasive Wild Plants, available for purchase.   

We still have many Saturdays in the autumn, or weeknights available for programs for YOUR organization, nature center, land trust, or library in Connecticut, Rhode Island, or southern Massachusetts. Contact us directly at kraczewski@comcast.net

 

 August 13, 10am- 1pm, Mushroom Identification for Beginners, Flanders Nature Center, Woodbury, CT. Contact Flanders to register, 203-263-3711, cost: $10 members, $15 non-members

August 27, 10am-1pm, Edible Plants and Fungi of Autumn, Goodwin State Forest, Hampton, CT. Contact Goodwin to register, 860-455-9534

September 3, 1pm-4pm, Edible Plants and Fungi of Autumn, Bushy Hill Nature Center, Depp River, CT. Contact Bushy Hill to register, 860-767-2148 x604, cost: suggested donation $5

September 10, 1 pm-4pm, Edible Plants and Fungi of Autumn, Pratt Nature Center, New Milford, CT. Contact Pratt to register, 860-355-3137, cost: $5

September 18, 1 pm-3pm, Mushroom Walk, Friends of Hopkinton Land Trust, Hope Valley, RI. Contact Hopkinton Land Trust to register, space is limited, 602-730-7263

September 21, 6:30pm-8pm, Edible Plants and Fungi of Autumn, Farmington Library, Farmington, CT. Contact Farmington Library to register, 860-673-6791

September 26, 6pm-7pm, Edible Plants and Fungi of Autumn, Harmony Central Library, Glocester, RI. Contact Harmony Library to register, 401-949-2850

October 1, 1pm-4pm, Edible Plants and Fungi of Autumn, The Sanctuary Land Trust, East Haddam, CT. Contact The Sanctuary to register, 860-319-134, cost: donation

October 15, 10am-1pm, Mushroom Identification for Beginners, Northwest Park, Windsor, CT. Contact Northwest Park to register, 860-285-1886, space is limited