Early Season Finds

Tremella lutescens, Witch's Butter


Lenzites betulina

Took a stroll in the woods to see what's up. It's still early in the season and not unusual for night temperatures to dip down to freezing. The top photo is Tremella lutescens (= T. mesenterica). It is edible but tasteless. I've heard some use it in soups. You usually find it on dead wood in damp weather.

Thanks to the 1st comment ever to this blog, the bottom picture is identified as Lenzites betulina. L. betulina is actually a Polypore, but it has gills as seen in the picture. Tough as shoe-leather and just as edible, some research indicates possible medicinal uses (antitumor, immunosuppressive). Might be able to grind and use in a tea?

Where I Forage

Above is a radar topographical image (courtesy of NASA/JPL) of the region where I forage for mushrooms. Fort Valley runs diagonally from the bottom left to the top right across the middle of the image.

Passage Creek is the drainage basin for Fort Valley. "The Fort" is bordered by the roughly parallel ridges of Massanutten Mountain. The North and South Forks of the Shenandoah River can be seen meandering along the base of Massanutten Mountain on either side. Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains are in the bottom right corner.

Luray, Edinburg and Woodstock, Virginia are towns found in the region pictured. Interstate 81 runs through Shenandoah Valley, on the left side of the image. Most of Massanutten Mountain is forest, and is a good place to find mushrooms.