Knowledge of the world around us, being able to tell one plant from another, or one mushroom from another can cut through what would otherwise be a hazy picture, blindness, deafness, and add distinctiveness and features to a world that, in ignorance, just simply blends together in a blur. I don't claim to be an expert on any topic, but I do consider myself a perpetual student of everything; you can never know enough, there are no masters, only those who know more than most. Striving to soak up more, reaching our intrigue out at the world like tendrils ready to deconstruct knowledge and pull it into our mind and our being. I may attempt identification of wild plants, mushrooms, but I am merely an amateur Mycologist (one who studies mushrooms and fungi) please do your own research and consult resources before attempting to consume any mushroom you may find.
I highly recommend the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mushrooms. I am a human and we creatures have a history of being wrong or misinformed.
These squishy, springy little growths in this photo are Auricularia polytricha, the Wood Ear Mushroom. You'll find them primarily on dead hardwoods. They differ from Auricularia auricula-judae in that they are slightly fuzzy.Often, you can find a whole lot of them all in one place, look high, look low, they may be on a tree that is dead, but still standing, or on a log that has collapsed, sometimes they'll bulge out from between the bark and the hardwood.
Wood Ears are edible, so when I found these and identified them, the next step was to bioassay, which in Mycological terms means to test upon oneself. Eat a tiny bit of the mushroom, wait a day, see if you have any ill effects, if you do not, they're safe(r) to consume. This serves two purposes, if the mushroom is toxic, you'll only have ingested a portion, and secondly, you'll learn if you're allergic to it. Sometimes, even well-documented, instantly-identifiable fungi which may be known to be edible may still cause allergic reactions to some so you should always take care. Obviously, you'll want to consult a doctor if you end up getting sick from these experiments upon your body, but use your judgement. My bioassay went well. The next day, I cooked them up in beef stew in a crockpot. They have a very strange texture, springy, like gristle, and on their own, they are flavorless, however, soaked in beef and vegetable juices, they become filled with flavors they absorb. In the bottom right of this photo is Poison Ivy, tends to grow wild and thick in Georgia. I highly recommend that you avoid touching it or touching boots or jeans that have touched it as the oils can remain active long after you've trod through a patch of it. I've had a few run-ins with Poison Ivy in my day and it's bad news. Seriously brutal. A couple years ago I was renting a room in a friend's house and when he told me he'd knock fifty bucks off the rent if I mowed his lawn, I went outside in a rush, pushed his lawnmower all around his 2 acre property and then for the next few weeks, suffered unbelievable pain on my legs from the blisters and irritated skin, leaf-licked lesions. Some people are immune to it, but I am not and suffer greatly. My other experience with this awful leaf was when I was about thirteen. During a long day of fishing with my dad and brother, catching all manner of Bluegills and Catfish, we, at midday, pulled alongshore for a bathroom break. The rest of the summer was spent on a couch recovering from horrible rashes. I was placed on steroids to regain strength, wore oven mitts to mitigate the temptation to scratch anywhere and cause further agony.
Calamine-coated calamity. Price is Right buzzing on the TV and Poison Ivy buzzing through my brain with a call to claw at these itchy knees and ankles, it's a battle to halt your hand from indulging. A shower feels remarkably satisfying, though, if you take the sprayer off the dock and run the water over the area, it's like your nerve endings don't really know what to do, a wild sensory overload, your mind begins to buzz a bit. It's such a relief when the pain and rash and blisters go away and finally heal, though. Part of me never wants to go back into a forest at that point, but once I step back under the canopy, hear the crunch of pine needles and last year's leaves under my feet, hear the birds singing, and see the multitude of wild species, hundred different kinds of trees, random mushrooms poking up next to a fallen log, I feel at ease again, back in the wild where I belong, it beats me down but then pulls me back with a rejuvenating hand.
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