When I was very young, probably about eight years old, I used to explore the pecan grove around the agricultural workers shack that my father had rented on Magnolia Avenue in Yuma, Arizona (not one magnolia on this street, at least when I was living there!) One year they tried growing cotton under the pecan canopy and I wondered out to see the tall cotton plants. To my delight I found several pure white mushrooms growing under the cotton plants with neat little rings around the stems. I cannot know for sure because many years have passed, but I suspect that these were Amanita ocreata, although they should not have been in such a low elevation (they might have been brought in on the cattle manure used in the field). Still pure white mushrooms should certainly be avoided by amateurs who are foraging for edibles. I was intelligent enough to only look.
Mushrooms are the spore producing bodies of fungi that represent a reproductive stage in the life of masses of underground thread-like structures called mycelia. Forest soils are literally crammed with these structures and some are very ancient (See: www.scientificamerican.com/...) However, mushrooms are only one kind of fungus and also there are many organisms that in the popular knowledge are considered to be fungi. The other true fungi include molds, smuts, mildews, and some “aberrant mushrooms” like the stinkhorns and jellies. The not-fungi include the water molds, slime molds and a few others.
Mushrooms can be found just about anywhere, but the Pacific Northwest, where I now reside, is a prime environment for them. Here mushroom gatherers harvest several species, including the delectable chanterelles, and mushroom farmers raise others for market.
Identification of mushrooms can be a bit difficult and if harvesting wild mushrooms it is best to have an expert with you, unless you yourself are one. Mistakes can be very serious and sometimes even fatal. Many of the mushrooms and other fungi that I have seen I have not been able to identify, but some have been possible to identify or at least make a tentative determination.
I seldom ran into fungi during my university work in New Mexico and these were usually the desert shaggymane (Podaxis pistillaris), but one incident stands out. The state entomologist and I were close cooperators in outreach, identification services, and practical application of entomological research. She would often get some odd requests and at one point a couple called her about a problem with their lawn. They had decided to produce the most beautiful lawn in their neighborhood and had trucked in some especially fertile soil from the Southeast U.S. (I doubt that they followed proper legal procedures, but I really don’t know). They spread it on their front lawn area and watered it heavily. Unfortunately they had inadvertently brought a large number of spores of a particular fungus that is shaped like an erect phallus (Phallus impudicus) and they woke up one day to find their front yard festooned as it were with many apparent erect penises! My associate and I could hardly stop laughing! Unfortunately I got no photos!
A more direct memorable encounter was when one of the faculty and I discovered a small group of the iconic Amanita muscaria on Mt. Taylor. Unfortunately I did not have a camera with me and the opportunity was missed. These are among the easiest mushrooms to identify and thus are unlikely to be mistakenly ingested.
Mushrooms sometimes grow together like this specimen that rain brought up at the Mesilla Valley Bosque in New Mexico.
One desert fungus causes valley fever and the disease is contracted by inhaling infected dust. The disease can be very serious, but can also be asymptomatic or mistaken for the flu. Since I lived in the Southwest for over fifty years of my life it is quite possible that I had such an infection, but I really don’t know.
As my one claim to knowledge on fungi is in sitting in on a class in mycology at a university and my various attempts to identify those I have photographed, I am no expert. Fortunately there are a large number of books on the subject, some of which are listed below, including one on the non-fungus slime molds (a fascinating group on their own.) There are also many Internet sites, but I have not explored them much.
All photos are mine and I take responsibility for any mistakes in identification. If anybody is interested in foraging for fungi, please contact an expert or at least use a standard identification guide.
Arora, David. 1991. All that the Rain Promises, and More … Ten Speed Press, Berkley, CA. A quirky and entertaining guide to edible and non edible mushrooms. I highly recommend it!
Arora, David. 1986. Mushrooms Demystified. Ten Speed Press, Berkley, CA. A larger (almost a thousand pages!) and equally fascinating tome by the same author.
Buczacki, Stefan. 1989. New Generation Guide to the Fungi of Britain and Europe. University of Texas Press, Austin. Covers more ground that the mushroom books and full of elegant illustrations. Because many fungi are widespread it is useful in North America.
Davis, Michael, Robert Sommer and John A. Menge. 2012. Field Guide to the Mushrooms of Western North America. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA. One of a number of excellent guide books on various biota produced the UC Berkeley.
Kendrick Bryce. 2000. The Fifth Kingdom. Third Ed. Focus Publishing, Newburyport, MA. A standard text on the subject.
Stephenson, Steven L. and Henry Stempen. 2000. Myxomycetes: A Handbook of Slime Molds. Timber Press, Portland, OR. A good book on these non-fungi.
Trudell, Steve, and Joe Ammirati. 2009. Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest. Timber Press, Portland, OR. I use this and Davis et al. as handbooks. Both are excellent.