Japanese Parasol (Coprinus plicatilis)

 

 

These mushrooms, one of the groups of mushrooms commonly known as ink-caps, are all over the garden now. They are actually edible, but taste like nothing. They also must not be eaten when festivities are in the planning, because they contain a substance that encourages vomiting and accelerated heart rates when taken with alcohol. Once you pick them, they will quickly turn black (hence the name). You should try to cook them before they do, as they then begin disintegrating into a mush.

The name Japanese Parasol is derived from the graceful shape of the cap. Incidentally,they sometimes turn outward like an umbrella in the wind. From the ground, they resemble a head of garlic.

Elusive Fungus Identity

I've died and gone to mushroom identification hell. I eat about 4 varieties of mushrooms from the garden, including the one pictured above, said to be edible by our helper. It turned out to be tough and spongy, but it makes a good "soup bone", tossed in a pot to make broth, and later removed. Don't judge me for eating strange mushrooms, please.



















I stayed up all night last night looking for its identity, saw many that resembled it, but none with its underside!

Arid Mushrooms

Kurakdot grows on driftwood, on an arid beach. Quite a surprise!

Singapore Fungi

I had fun in Singapore. Now, is that shocking? Most everyone says Singapore is as boring as a day at the snail races, but I appreciated the plants and the company. It's a breakthrough in my consciousness that I can be in a tropical urban setting and feel like I can breathe deeply.



Here are some pictures of fungi at Fort Canning and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Incidentally, I recently "forgot to return" a book (written in Singapore) to a restaurant in Makati about tropical fungi. So probably a visit later this week back to this post will yield identification data.

Tenga ng Daga (Auricularia polytricha)

I have a soft spot for tenga ng daga or tainga ng daga mushrooms, because of their charming name (means "rat's ears") and, in addition, because they once grew on my bathroom door. They have made brief appearances here and here on this blog. In English, they are known as cloud ear fungus, black wood ear, or tree ear. They are called bukni in Cebuano.

I have, in the past, collected them mostly at the stage where they still do resemble ears, like the photo below.



Only during the past month's rains and floods did I get to collect those that look like the dramatic hem of a flamenco dancer's skirt-- one with an overzealous seamstress.



Outside my window is the side of the house, one area that is always moist, mosquito-filled, and full of branches. Early this year, we began pruning the eucalyptus, mahogany, is-is, and balete trees, and their branches dumped by the wall. These branches have now compacted a little bit, retaining enough humidity to welcome the tenga ng daga, which grow well in the heat but can survive a little bit of cold.



I have also removed some from rotting things like stools and benches. I was sorry to delay a bit the decomposition of the broken furniture, but confident that they will get there soon enough. If the sun comes up and your mushrooms dry up, worry not, as I have seen them seem quite dried up and dead when the rains stop, then start to come alive and grow plump once it starts pouring again.




In the Philippines, we often eat them as relatively chunky pieces, like the Chinese. In Japan, a close relative is sliced neatly into strips.These mushrooms have a quality accurately described by many sources as cartilaginous, providing some kind of crunch followed by an interplay of tiny squeaking and... jellyness against your teeth. I say tiny because the mushroom is quite thin, and you are likely to notice the crunch aspect more, but move it around with your tongue while it is still whole, and you will see what I mean. Anyway.

Most of the tenga ng daga that we eat comes dried from China, and some say Indonesia. I have not come across fresh ones being sold here. They are cultivated commercially on sawdust. We have the capacity to forage and cultivate much more. I am, at this point, a bit too lazy to get into mushroom cultivation, as it seems very technical and maselan to me. I get "wild" ones just fine.

The mushrooms are supposed to be good for circulation, for menstrual problems, sore throats, and more.

Fungus

I came home to a rainy season in full force, with smatterings of sun. Well, if I turned my head upside down and wore my clothes inside out, I could also say that it's sunny with bits of downpours. In any case, I'm pretty much thoroughly confused.

I've been gardening some but with barely any time to record what's happening. This is because my sleep schedule is messed up and I don't get up early enough to massively garden before the "real day" starts. I sometimes garden at night. Thank god for the wild-growing plants that can be eaten.

But anyhow, here are a couple of fungi photos from the cloud peepee.

Mushrooms

My friend saw mushroom photos on my laptop and told me that the white, fan-like ones that grow on our logs are edible. Called kurakdot in Bicol, it is cooked in coconut milk (as is everything there).

I was able to gather a fair amount when I got home, as there was a light rainy spell. I got a couple of tenga ng daga (rats' ears), which I discovered, are called monkeys' ears in Negros. Here is how they look on the logs:



So they were altogether sauteed with onions and mixed with olive oil and rice... Mmm.

More Current Visible Fungi

Current Visible Fungi