Above is the view of the ranch from Grandma's house. The lens my camera won't completely retract at this point. I like to think of it as an asymmetrical vignette. Anyway, here are the details from the mushroom hike at the ranch:
Delicious milk caps (Lactarius deliciosus) - These are fairly common. Supposedly they are edible but I've never tried them. They bruise green which is a bit of a turnoff:
Cowboy handkerchief (Hygrophorus eburneus) - these guys were all over the place. The are SO slimy (hence the name). Mykoweb says: "Edible, but too slimy to be of culinary value."
Yellow staining milk caps - I found a ton of these all under oaks and madrones. Boring.
Blewits (Lepista nuda) - These are common in Davis too. I found these growing out of a cow turd:
California giant chanterelle (Cantharellus californicus) - Uncle Alec found this impressive specimen. I might try to eat it. It's pretty big! YUM!
Western Jack-o-lantern (Omphalotus olivascens) - poisonous, glows in the dark, and very impressive! Bay Area Mycological Society has a funny description of the poisons: " The toxins, similar to muscarine, present in a mistaken meal of Omphalotus may produce hallucinations (a plus for some), but will also open you, prodigiously, at both ends, for a not so fun time with fungus."
Bitter Brown leucopaxillus (Leucopaxillus gentianeus). This is an inedible, classic-looking mushroom:
Amanita ssp. - not sure what this is either, but it's very likely that it is poisonous:
Witches butter (Tremella aurantia) - This stuff is pretty cool. It looks a lot like snot stuck to dead tree branches. It parasitizes another fungus, the wood rotter, False turkey tail (Stereum hirsutum).
Pine spike (Chroogomphus rutilus, or C. vinicolor - I think). I've found a bunch of these in the Berkeley hills and in an area south of Santa Cruz. They are edible and I've eaten them.
Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor), or false turkey tail (Stereum hirsutum). These are edible, but they don't taste like much. I think some people chew on them like gum:
Fried chicken mushroom? These are supposed to be found in disturbed areas, but I found them on a rotting stump, which I guess could be considered disturbed. Anyway, I took a picture:
Here are two more I'm uncertain about:
Finally, the Madrone trees are AMAZING this year. I have never ever seen them so covered in red berries. Glorious.
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