Hi guys - as I understand it, mushroom season is approaching here in the UK; a couple of years ago - whilst visiting my family - I went out for the one and only harvest I've ever attempted and was able to half-fill a plastic shopping bag with (what I hoped were) liberty caps. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get them dried out in time for the cross-country train journey home, and by the time I got back they had gone gunky and sprouted an extended family of maggots. Too bad. Haven't had a chance to harvest since, but am intent on giving it another go this Autumn. Attached is a photo of some of the caps I harvested last time - could any of you guys positively identify them?

hello Xai

they don't look like Liberty Caps to me, they don't look the right shape or colour, I wouldn't eat those

wikipedia entry

they should look like this





be careful if you don't know what you looking for or you could get yourself into trouble.

Namaste,

As a long time hunter of the sacred fungi please heed the words of our fellow Nexian when they mention to be careful. Ingestion of bad fungus can cause anything from stomach discomfort, to blindness, to horrific painful agonizingly slow death.

Get a guide, there are some really good ones out there (book guide). Grab some jars and practice "printing" it is the safest way to identify your fungi (canning jar, a pushpin, some string and some white paper is all you need).

I have been hunting fungus in the PNW, as well as cultivating them, for years now. I have seen younger individuals harvesting fungus I knew was not cyanescens during hunting season and had to stop them to ask they heed my words and use caution.

Mushroom hunting is an absolutely brilliant and enjoyable pastime, but you need to know what you are doing because some mushrooms are deadly toxic.

Cheers.

those are deffo not Lcaps and its a bit early for them - normally sept/oct in the UK

I would like to add, do some research on how to identify mushrooms. Although I don't recommend relying on that specifically, there are a ton of things that you need to look for that a simple picture like that cannot tell you. Things like cap shape, gill attachment, gill type, stem length, cap color, gill color, spore print (important!) and even spore identification using a microscope, are usually required to identify what mushroom you have picked.

Even then unless you are experienced I wouldn't trust those things without atleast an experienced mycologists or someone with extensive mushroom identification experience to assist you as well. IMO.

Spore prints are def a must and are easy to do. Take a fresh mushroom and carefully cut/break the stem away as close to the gills as possible. Lay it down, gills facing a white piece of paper, in a dark cool place for a couple hours. Some times shorter works but you want a good print.

The color of the print usually tells you something. If its the wrong color it def is not what you are looking for.

Hello Cailieg,

Could you elaborate on that a bit or provide a good source on how to go about it. By printing I assume you mean getting the spore print? I thought this was done by taking the cap of the mushroom and placing it on a white paper and wait for the spores to drop.

Hi Xai,

Assuming you go hunting with a phone in your pocket, first load it up with good reference pics of the caps, like 3rdI posted. Sep/Oct as mentioned. Once properly identified, you won't forget what to look for.

There are other shrooms that sometimes grow in the same area with the caps, and look just like caps, but the gills are distinctly white, don't know what they are called but do avoid them.

I forgot to add placing a glass/cup/jar over the cap. I don't know what the string and pushpin is for. The way I do it works everytime.

Don't leave it too long or in a warm damp area. Keep it dark dry and cool. If you leave it too long it makes quite the mess.

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I don't know what the string and pushpin is for. The way I do it works everytime.

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That's what I was wondering.

I suspend my caps just above the paper.

This prevents smeared or overly moist prints. It also has the added benefit of making some very sharp contrast lines in your spore print's shape. Just the way I was taught to print, the mycologist who taught me thought it was bad form to let the cap sit on the foil or paper as moisture can also travel from contact.

Cheers.

I've found over my many years of shroom growing the best way to make a viable spore print you can store for years is this.

Go out and buy some gaze bandages, I like 4"x 4" but it really depends on the size of the mushroom cap.

Now, while wearing gloves as sterility is key to keeping a viable print. Remove the gaze and keep the the sterile waxed paper it came in.

Using the inner waxed side of the paper, place it on a flat clean surface. Put your desired mushroom cap on the paper and place a glass over this. We want the humidity to rise to encourage the cap to drop more spores.

Leave the glass over the cap for a few hours. Then remove the glass, the cap while being careful not to disturb your work to much.

You now have a sterile spore print that can be used right away or stored for many years.

To store your print take the top half of the bandage paper place it waxed side down on the printed side of the other paper. Use scotch tape to seal the edges then place in a emptied and sterilized film canister seal this with electrical tape and put in the fridge.

If anyone wants me to explain how to make a syringe from that print, just ask.

Hope it helps.

I believe the first thing with mushrooms is to learn about the most deadly mushrooms, so as to avoid them.
Amatoxins are scary as all hell.
Then, look to the mushrooms you seek, and learn about the identifying characteristics to pick the likely suspects.
Once have picked the likely suspects, cut the mushroom caps, and place on-top of paper and leave for 12-24 hrs.
This will create a distinctive spore print that can be used for verification processes.
It's best to go with friends who have been to spots before, rather than starting from scratch.

Thanks for all the information!






Any in particular you would recommend (for a beginner)? May be one that includes spore print IDs?

The Uk is pretty much void of poisonous shrooms except in forest areas, the ones you shown are edible as are 99% of those grown in fields. L Caps always look like the pic so nothing to add - look for 'fairy circles' as they grow in that form a good circle can provide up tp 50-100 sometimes.Never hears of taking prints - IMO no point L caps are instantly recognisable and in the UK there are no other shrooms that look the same i.e as per the pic.
BTW there is nothing like eating fresh ones and tripping where you find them : )

Def not liberty caps but I do see these growing in the same places. If you look at the gills they are always dark on liberties and the flesh is usually less transparent. Liberty caps will bruise blue like all psylocibin mushrooms while no other British shrooms will do this. Also if you pop a couple of caps gill down onto some white paper look for purple spores as they dry these are a tell tale sign and look like dry powder paint. Once you have found a few they become real easy to identify. I find em all over when the season is right I think it needs to be below 5 degrees for a bit for them to fruit.

below 5? 5 what?

I heard that they grow when it's between 5-15 Celsius.
I'm pretty sure there are no poisonous mushrooms that resemble Liberty Caps in my area, but I agree you should know how to identify the bad ones first to rule them out.
I will go for the first time as well this season, any advices, personal advices I could not find in a book but are important?

Please do not post information you do not FOR SURE KNOW AS FACT.

You say europe is "pretty much void of poisonous shrooms". This is an irresponsible assessment and could be taken in the wrong way by people reading your post.

heres a link to libery cap look alikes. HERE <-- do not use this as a guide to ensure safety!

There are def LBM's that you should not eat and misidentifying them could mean your life.

MYCENA HAEMATOPUS - looks like libery cap, and is spread through the US and EUROPE.

Please be responsible when posting. And if you knew what you were talking about you wouldnt direct OP to the fact you think they are libery caps. Those have white gills and liberties DO NOT. ALways take a print as this is sometimes the deal breaker. I bet you those would have printed white, which could mean they are poisonous but def are not liberties, as well as the white gills proving so.

Liberty caps are real easy to identify and once you know em you can spot them a mile off. Check for the blue bruse and purple spores. No other uk shrooms do both these. Even better go picking with someone who knows. Let them show you. The pic above is really accurate but when they are wet they can look a bit different. I do agree that for the most part the lookalike a are harmless but if you are not sure don't eat them. You have a good 3 or 4 months to polish up and research what they look like. I find a field with sheep or horses and a bit of a slope is usually the best bet. They even grow in my local park and I have seen them in school playing feilds.

I think he was referring to the pic posted in the 2nd post of the thread of a real Liberty Cap, but it was unclear.

Is there something like a rule when looking at the color of a sporeprint? Like for example all white sporeprints might be poisonous? From what I have gathered from other sources is that the sporeprint of the liberty caps is purple/brownish. But would it be possible to get another LBC look-alike with the same color sporeprints or would that be very unlikely?

I would not like to say about worldwide but I have read that in the uk only pilosibin containing mushrooms will leave a purple print.

I will try and find a reference but I believe it to be true. The blue bruse in conjunction with spore print is supposed to be how a lot of different species were identified. The mycelium also bruses blue this colour is the actives oxidising.