Scotland Fall 2017

Last three weeks I was in Scotland, more precisely Edinburgh, getting to know my first granddaughter Josephine Rae Redmond.  That was one of the best experiences of my life.

 



 

Of course, I could not help myself and snooped around checking for mushrooms. My daughters family lives near Edinburgh in somewhat country setting with lot of green areas. I was quite surprised how different mushrooms are. Before trip I did check several websites and some literature. They were all dealing with usual suspects: oyster, meadow mushroom, fairy ring mushroom, blewit, chicken of the woods etc. I did not find any of them (OK, maybe one blewit, one horse mushroom and several shaggy manes)

Predominant environment is probably meadow, but I did visit some quite wooded areas with mature trees and river. In the meadows I found a number of waxcaps and great quantities of what I think is some species of paxillus.

In the woodlands, under white birch I found great quantities of birch bolete (Leccinum scabrum). Edible mushroom, but nothing of high quality.



The other common find was assortment of puffballs, including some quite spectacular earthstars.

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Probably  the most interesting was great abundance of gray mushroom that I am quite convinced is Lepista nebularis. That particular mushroom does not grow in my area, or anywhere in North America, at least as far as I know. It is usually listed as poisonous, but a variety of sources claim that at least 50% of people are eating this mushroom with no issues. The other 50% gets mildly sick. Mushroom itself is quite beautiful, very meaty and grows in great numbers.

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