These mushroom pictures have been taken from our first River Cottage handbook “Mushrooms” by our very own wild food expert and Fun(gi) John Wright. In fact John is such a talent he took these photos himself and we spent a long time pressing him into picking his favourite four photos – he just kept changing his mind!
Printed in full colour on 300 gsm recycled board (A3 – 297 mm x 420 mm) in ozone free inks on an eco friendly press these pictures look very good on their own or grouped together.
Here’s what John says about identifying the varieties. For more details on many other species together with some wonderful recipe ideas look at River Cottage Handbook No. 1 – Mushrooms.
Cep with Crab Apples – Cap 12-25 cm. Hemispherical to rounded, flattening at maturity. Various shades of brown like the crust of a bread roll, the extreme edge is often paler. Irregularly dimpled, again just like a bread roll. Stem 6-15 cm by 2-8 cm. Usually very swollen, especially when young, grey/brown to white with a white network on the upper half. Tubes Fine, white at first, then yellow, then green and spongy. Flesh Firm and white throughout. Habitat Oak, beech, birch and coniferous trees. Prefers open situations. Frequency Common. Season Summer to autumn.
Green Cracked Brittlegill – Cap 7-12 cm. Rounded then flattened out and wavy, dull ochre green with darker scaly green patches all over. Stem 5-9 cm by 2-3 cm. White, rusty spots later. (Goes orange with iron sulphate, so a lot of fun to be had here.) Gills Cream, fairly brittle. Flesh White, firm. Spores White to pale cream. Habitat Broadleaved woods, chiefly beech. Frequency Occasional. Season Summer to autumn.
Scarletina Bolete – Cap 10-20 cm. Dark brown with a velvet texture and hemispherical when young, later convex to flat, more leathery and lighter brown. Stem 5-12 cm by 2-4 cm. Swollen at base. Bright orange/red made up of thousands of little raised orange dots against a yellow background. Tubes Yellow/green, turning bright blue on cutting. Pores bright red. Flesh Very firm when young. Yellow, immediately turning dark blue on cutting. The blue fades after a while. Habitat Woodland, mostly beech and oak, occasionally pine. Frequency Common. Season Late summer to autumn. Warning Poisonous raw, but perfectly safe when cooked.
Velvet Shank – Cap 3-7 cm. Orange, paler at the edge. Very slimy in wet weather. Stem 1.5-7 cm by 0.3-1 cm. Usually curved, yellow at the top, brown to black below and distinctly velvety when mature. Tough and fibrous. Gills Pale yellowish. Flesh Thin, pale orange/yellow. Spores White. Habitat On the dead stumps of deciduous trees, notably elm. In large, dense, tiered clusters. Frequency Common. Season Late autumn to winter.
