Tag Archives: Tan-oak Trees

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Turkey Tails, Trametes versicolor, are fruiting in the forest. They are quite beautiful as you can see by my photo. They are fruiting on a downed Tan-oak on our property in Anchor Bay.

Here I have cropped my photo so you can see the lovely patterns. These mushrooms are leathery to the touch. They are so beautiful people have used them for jewelry. They are found on hardwoods.

Turkey Tail mushrooms, found all over the world, have medicinal qualities. A soothing tea can release their polysaccharides. Studies are ongoing regarding their use as an immune system booster in breast cancer patients. There's a fascinating article about their medicinal qualities on Huffington Post at this link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-stamets/mushrooms-cancer_b_1560691.html  Could a mushroom growing in abundance in the forest be the answer to someone's prayer?

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The smaller Hedgehog, the Bellybutton Hedgehog, has begun to appear. Hydnum umbilicatum is a delicious, easy to identify mushroom. Rather than gills, or a sponge like boletes, it has tiny teeth. On our property it grows under Tan-oak trees. Rick and I were happy to find a nice bunch of them yesterday.

This morning I dry sauteed some of the hedgehogs to get the water out. Then I put them in scrambled eggs with a little cheddar cheese grated on top. Delicious!

There are lots more of these mushrooms to come. They don't seem to mind the very cold weather we've been having this past week.