Contemplating Time And Place
a.
Discover what foods you'd expect to find according to your place and time.
Explore what foods are obviously located in your part of the world; this is going to narrow your listing of potential species tremendously. Make note of the time of season and temperature. Some mushrooms are just located in a specific period (spring/summer/fall/winter).
b.
Locate exactly what the fungus is growing on:
• Organic thing
• Through foliage litter
• Compost
• Soil
• On timber:
- Live or sterile wood
- Hardwood or softwood
• Species of shrub
c.
Determine when the mushroom is located in association with one or several tree species. This may mean it's a mycorrhizal or even a parasitic fungus. Mycorrhizal fungi are related to the root system of trees and also will be discovered across the bases of trees, even extending out. This is sometimes tricky to discern, particularly if the number of specimens is reduced.
• Mycorrhizal fungi will increase in a normal, outward pattern in the tree's foundation.
• Mycorrhizal fungi can produce tethered fairy circles around the bottom of dead or live trees.
• Parasitic fungi will grow at the bottom of this tree, onto the timber.
• Know your place and types of mushrooms that grow there.
• Fungal networks may endure after a tree has died.
d.
Check what environment you are in as certain species need particular environments to develop.
• Meadow
• Wetlands/floodplains
• Moist or arid Field of woods
• What kind of woods they are in (deciduous/conifer/ mixed)
• Sandy or arid states
• Coastal areas
Assessing The Pileus Or Cap
a.
Examine the form of this cap. Notice the maturity of the mushroom.
•
Convex – A sleek, dome-like cap.
•
Hemispherical/Ovoid – just like half of an egg.
•
Campanulate – Bell-shaped.
•
Conical – Cone-like in look.
