Mushroom Identification

Is this one of those chicken of the woods mushrooms? In my back yard in north metro…

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Some more pics of the tree

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Yet more pics of the tree

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I am certain NO. But someone with specific knowledge will chime in but chicken of the woods look nothing like that. Google them.
Typically if mushrooms have gills on their underside they are NOT EDIBLE.

Looks like a box elder tree? compare the mushroom with Hypsizygus ulmarius (Elm Oyster) which is a pretty common find this time of year. Chicken of the Woods is an orange/yellow shelf mushroom with pores, not gills.

You’re right, I think a few years ago I found one like this and someone said it was most likely an oyster mushroom and I thought they were the same thing, obviously not…

tonys wrote:

Looks like a box elder tree? compare the mushroom with Hypsizygus ulmarius (Elm Oyster) which is a pretty common find this time of year. Chicken of the Woods is an orange/yellow shelf mushroom with pores, not gills.

I’m not good at tree identification either…

tonys wrote:

Looks like a box elder tree? compare the mushroom with Hypsizygus ulmarius (Elm Oyster) which is a pretty common find this time of year. Chicken of the Woods is an orange/yellow shelf mushroom with pores, not gills.

Not an expert either but would agree with the assessment of the tree and fungus in question. Elms oyster mushrooms have gills that stop at the cap vs running down the spine for a “true” oyster.

Based on a quick interwebs search, elm oysters are edible but people have differing opinions on them. Hope this helps, good luck.

Here’s a picture of a hen of the woods mushrooms aka hen and chicks mushroom. It grows quite close to the dirt line and they really like very mature oaks. I have found them on real old pines as well. Young they are a cream color with maybe some yellow edge highlights and then darken up as they mature like this one. Its still good just a little older. Its hard to get an idea of how large this one is but it gave up 5 real nice packages of mushrooms that weighed about a pound and a half each after cleaning and reducing the clusters to individual leaves. Sauted in butter these are one fine addition to a dinner table.

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Thats an oyster mushroom. I would eat those over morels any time of the day.

Sister sent these from Grand rapids

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I get them hens of the woods in my grass ??? About the size of bowling balls in about 2 days ?? I run em over with the mower… are they really edible and good ? Just snapped a picture… is this one ? (my yard is full of mature white oaks)

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yes those are good to eat big g. fry some up with butter and mix in scrambled eggs

You bet they are good eating. Drop that chunk in a sink of cold water and start separating the leaves into a colander to drain well. You can dip the pieces in egg wash as suggested by Mike or simply saute them in butter, but cook uncovered because the release a ton of water while cooking. The hens love a strong oak environment you lucky dog. By the way, you can freeze the washed, drained leaves for use later on and they’ll cook up almost like a frozen morel.

Pug, the mushroom to the left of the hen looks to be a shaggy manes. Very good eating if caught in the morning and iced immediately. They’ll go to ink if not use almost immediately. Very hard to handle but delicious sliced and sautéed in butter.

I found a young hen growing about three weeks ago but with the heat and dry it went south before I could get back to it. I checked on it this morning and it was mush.

big_g wrote:

I get them hens of the woods in my grass ??? About the size of bowling balls in about 2 days ?? I run em over with the mower… are they really edible and good ? Just snapped a picture… is this one ? (my yard is full of mature white oaks)

G you may have to put up no trespassing signs to keep out the foraging that will be happening in your yard ????