Turtle Way or Mushroom Alley

Turtle Way, also known as Mushroom Alley is the convergence of two idyllic paths that lead from neighboring gardens through the woods to a dock on Weesuck Creek. This trail, which marks the northern edge of our property is a right of way, used mainly by one of our neighbors to reach the dock where he keeps his boat (he is great fisherman and regularly disappears into the bay to compete with the Osprey in search of finney prey). The path is also used by me as part of my regular rounds. The forest is oak and hickory with scattered pines and cedars, particularly near the more open creek end. The overhead canopy is closed so the ground is shaded and covered with moss and lichen which give it a sort of fairy-tale look; these non-flowering plants are, no doubt, sustained by the regular fogs which float in from the bay and creek and the general high levels of humidity. After the rains, the non-flowering plant population is augmented by the appearance of fungi which in turn attract the Box Turtles. Box Turtles are very fond of mushrooms although they seem to nibble only a piece of each mushroom before moving on to the next. I often catch them in the act, their jaws covered with white mushroom crumbs. Sometimes every mushroom on Mushroom Alley seems to have been nibbled. The list of mushroom along here is a long one and varies with the season. So far this year, the specialties have been lactarius (Lactarious volemus or something similar; edible and excellent), the Red and Yellow Chanterelles (edible and excellent), several russalas (some edible, most not) and a beautiful purple, meaty, scrumptious-looking bolete which is absolutely inedible due to its intense bitterness. The turtles eat 'em all.

Eric Salzman

mailbox

One of the best things about writing a blog is getting feedback from readers.

Mike Bottini points out that my statement that Common Ravens were formerly rare in the northeast except in "rugged parts of New England and places like the Adirondacks" may be somewhat in error as most reference books state that the species was formerly widespread before the eastern forests were cut. That may be true but the sources for this common statement are obscure and, in any case, it must refer to a period before the 19th century (and there is no evidence that it ever occurred on Long Island except as a vagrant). The association with deep forest, although traditional, is also doubtful as Ravens are the most common bird in the arctic tundra and they also occur widely and commonly in areas of the west and also of Eurasia which are not heavily forested. Ravens are known as scavangers, carrion eaters and tricksters (they are highly intelligent); they also have a long history of interaction with humans (including native Americans) and they are prominent in the folklore of many peoples. None of this fits very well with the idea that they are a wilderness bird. What they do like are areas with mountains or high cliffs where they can put their nests (the Hampton Bays water tower is therefore a substitute cliff) and they appear to prefer habitat with open areas when they can search for food on the ground. In any case, the current expansion of Raven range southward is a striking exception to the overwhelming advance of southern species north in an age of climate change and warming. Mike tells me that he plans to write about the ravens in his Southampton Press column.

Carl Safina wants to know what the mis-identified chanterelles were in my story about trying to identify the mushrooms picked by a friend as described over the phone. They appeared to be chanterelles from his description but turned out to be much larger than Chanterellus cibarius when actually seen in the flesh; the one feature my friend forgot to mention was size (the edible chanterelles rarely open up to a cap size of even a few inches and are mostly less than an inch across; these mushrooms averaged considerably larger). What were they? At this late date, I am really not sure. They may well have been the infamous Jack O'Lantern, Omphalotus illudens, a bright yellow-orange mushroom that could pass for a large chanterelle (it grows on wood in clusters but can also appear on the ground). It glows in the dark (hence it's common name) and, yes, it is at least mildly poisonous. In my memory, however, they looked something more like a mushroom called Gomphus floccosus which actually IS a kind of chanterelle but not a particularly scrumptious one (it is reputed to cause stomach upset in some people). I consider the Golden or Yellow Chanterelle to be a safe mushroom, even for a beginner but as this example shows. there are some possible confusions if you are looking for chanterelles with just a mental image out of a book. Mushrooms like the chanterelle are a bit like people; if you just follow a verbal description or even see a picture, you can still make a mistake, but once you make your acquaintance in the flesh, you are unlikely to get it wrong!

Eric Salzman

'shrooms

A mushroom being beautiful doesn't mean it's edible. But, as it happens, three of our most attractive 'shrooms are also three of our best comestibles.

Mushroom season started early this year. The rainstorms of the past few weeks produced a bonanza of mosquitos but also early crops of chanterelles and chicken mushroom, both among the best and safest of edible fungi. The chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius; also known as girolles) have continued to emerge. These are those waxy yellow fungi with the gills running down the outside and no clear distinction between cap and stem (there is also a red or purple version, Cantharellus cinnabarinus, that often grows with the yellow and is equally good). Chanterelles are undoubtedly our most common A+ wild mushroom edible. These are quite easy to identify once you are familiar with them but, as with all mushrooms, you should know what you're doing. I once had someone call me on the phone and ask me if I could verify the identification of the beautiful chanterelles that he had collected. He gave me a perfect description of them but I still hesitated to give a confirmed diagnosis over the phone and asked him to bring a couple of them around to inspect 'in the flesh'. He did and the mushrooms turned out to be the size of brass-band trumpets; real Chanterelles rarely get much bigger than little tin horns and size was the one feature that was never mentioned in our telephone conversation! They have a fruity oder that is somewhere between ripe plums and raspberries and they are slightly peppery to the test when eaten raw (the German word for them is Pfifferling or Little Pepper) but the peppery taste disappears on cooking (recommended!). The classic way of cooking these mushrooms is in a cream sauce but they can be prepared in a lot of ways and they make a great accompaniment to many dishes.

The Chicken Mushroom has multiple names (Sulfur Shelf, Chicken-of-the-Woods, Polyporus sulphureus, Grifola sulphurea, Laetiporus sulphureus) but is one of the easiest of mushrooms to recognize and one of the best-known wild fungi. It generally shelves out from the base of a tree or a stump (it sometimes grows on the ground in the form of a rosette in which case there is almost certainly buried wood underneath). It is usually a brilliant orange-yellow looking more like an improbable cluster of giant candy-corn-colored coral than a mushroom. If it is fresh, the flesh is soft and moist to the touch and almost the whole mushroom can be eaten. If it is somewhat (but not too much) older, you can trim off the soft tips for eating purposes.

Another good edible mushroom that has started to appear is a very beautiful Lactarius with a velvety orange-brown cap, cream-colored gills and lightly orange stem. Like other mushrooms in this genus, it exudes milky, sticky drops -- white in this case -- when bruised or cut (hence the name). For a long time, I thought this mushroom was Lactarius volemus (Tawny or Weeping Milk Cap) but I now think it's more likely to be the similar Lactarius hygrophoroides or Hygrophorus Milky Cap; fortunately both are edible and equally good (in fact, hygrophoroides is said to be even be better than volemus which I have probably never tasted).

Eric Salzman

P.S.: My wife, Lorna Salzman, has a blog that concerns itself with such topics as politics, evolution, ecology and culture! It goes under the name of Snickersnee, its address is , it's published on Mondays and Fridays and there are archives going back to its start in March. Stimulating reading and highly recommended!