Fungi: Toadstool or Mushroom?

This is such a weird looking mushroom, I had to snap a pic. I can’t figure out what kind it is, so I’m going to assume it’s inedible, but I was fascinated by the way it pushed itself out of the earth. There was only one that appeared and it was gone the next day.

I love to eat mostly all mushrooms except for truffles. I know they’re super trendy, but to me, they smell and taste like a combination of vomit, a public toilet, and old garbage.

I’ll stick to stuffed portobellos and the kind that are included in my daily supplements; Lion’s Mane, Reishi, Chaga, Turkey Tail, Shiitake, Maitake, and Cordyceps.

Studies show that regularly eating mushrooms can improve the quality of our diet, protect against heart disease, support immune health, and even extend our lifespan. They’re full of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fiber, and antioxidants.

I’ve never ingested the OTHER sort of magic mushroom like Alice in Wonderland, so I’m no expert on anything hallucinogenic that could cause me to shrink or grow or expand my consciousness in any way…

Here’s my recipe for Stuffed ‘Shrooms
I used cheese because I made it for my Angel Boy who loves mushrooms as much as I do, but to make it 100% vegan, eliminate the parm and feta or substitute a vegan cheese.
https://enchantedseashells.com/2014/07/15/stuffed-portobello-shrooms-recipe/

What’s Growing in the Garden

Mushrooms!

This is an indication of how much rain we’ve had in Southern California and just how soggy the garden is…and more rain is on the way.

Unidentified fungi appeared in the crevice of a split ficus trunk that was cut down a couple years ago because the roots were starting to come too close to the foundation.

I wanted to keep the stump instead of grinding it because I thought it was architecturally beautiful and now it’s decomposing exactly like I hoped it would.

These mushrooms are definitely not edible, right? They’re most likely poisonous and I’m certainly not going to find out one way or another. I’m not THAT curious or adventurous. Or dumb.

A day later, here’s how they morphed and darkened, plus it’s raining:

Fascinating!

I found a poem by Emily Dickinson about mushrooms…

The Mushroom is the Elf of Plants

The Mushroom is the Elf of Plants –
At Evening, it is not
At Morning, in a Truffled Hut
It stop opon a Spot

As if it tarried always
And yet it’s whole Career
Is shorter than a Snake’s Delay –
And fleeter than a Tare –

’Tis Vegetation’s Juggler –
The Germ of Alibi –
Doth like a Bubble antedate
And like a Bubble, hie –

I feel as if the Grass was pleased
To have it intermit –
This surreptitious Scion
Of Summer’s circumspect.

Had Nature any supple Face
Or could she one contemn –
Had Nature an Apostate –
That Mushroom – it is Him!