Where to find shaggy mane mushrooms

Once the shaggy mane mushroom grows to maturity and begins to age, the cap will break apart from the stem and will begin to resemble a puddle of black goo. This process turns the once full mushroom into a blackish inky mess. Stick to picking the younger ones, as they will last a few hours before liquefying. The older ones will begin the process in less than an hour. If you can get your shaggy manes home before they start to liquify, you can sautee or simmer them until they are soft, and then store them in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Another tip is to carry a canteen full of ice water with you. If you drop your shaggy manes into the ice water, it will slow down the liquefication process by 24 hours or so, giving you time to get the mushrooms home to incorporate them into a meal. Growing in the summer and fall, shaggy mane mushrooms are most common in North America. They are generally found growing in open meadows, grassy areas like lawns, and parks in more urban environments. Shaggy mane mushrooms also like rocky soil and gravel.

They tend to prefer areas that see foot traffic and disturbances to the earth. For this reason, you should clean them and inspect for bruises. You will see shaggy mane mushrooms growing individually or somewhat scattered, but are most often found in groups.

They can often be found flourishing after heavy rain. Shaggy mane mushrooms most commonly fruit in the fall, but you may find them fruiting in the summer and even the spring months. Like other mushrooms, shaggy mane mushrooms will continue to come back and grow in the same spot as previous years, making their location easy to return to over and over again.

With its very short shelf life, these mushrooms can be difficult to work with for culinary purposes. As mentioned above, once harvested, they will begin to turn black and inky within mere hours of being picked.

Not only do they not keep well, but they are also delicate. They can bruise easily — even just from bouncing around in your basket while on your way home from a successful day of harvesting. Take care not to confuse the shaggy mane mushroom with the common ink cap mushroom Coprinopsis atramentaria. Thankfully common ink cap mushrooms are edible too, however they come with an additional warning. These mushrooms must never be consumed at the same time as alcohol.

It is even recommended to avoid alcohol for up to 3 days after eating any common ink cap mushrooms. They interact and cause a syndrome which can make you highly sensitive to alcohol. Reactions range from a flushed red face and severe nausea, to strong heart palpitations and in severe cases, even a heart attack. Another slightly similar lookalike could be the Magpie fungus Coprinopsis picacea , which is poisonous. However this species lacks the distinctive peeled, and shaggy look of the shaggy mane mushroom, and is also not generally found in North America, only Europe and Australia.

The shaggy mane mushroom could also be confused with the similarly named lions mane mushroom Hericium erinaceus. Both are perfectly edible, and there is a substantial difference in appearance. As their name suggests, the shaggy mane mushroom has a characteristic cap that allows it to be easily identified. As a wild mushroom, they are among one of the most easily distinguishable, edible species.

It is important to note however that when young, both the shaggy mane mushroom and common ink cap appear similar when they first emerge from the soil. They both have a long, elongated cylindrical shape, before soon fanning out into a more recognisable cap.

They really are quite distinctive. The gills are another characteristic which should help you to identify a shaggy mane mushroom. They start off white, then turn pink, before soon turning black as the mushroom matures. They then begin to secrete an inky black ooze which contains the spores.

Another characteristic is that generally shaggy mane mushrooms grow in much smaller groups than the ink cap mushroom. However this can not always be relied upon. Shaggy manes grow in late summer and fall, appearing directly out of the ground. You can find them in lawns, wood chip piles, rocky soil or any patch of compacted and abused land. Shaggy Mane Mushrooms growing alongside a dirt road in autumn in Vermont.

Shaggy manes often appear singly, growing alone out of a patch of grass. If you do happen to find a large quantity at once, take care to only harvest as many as you can use that day.

The common ink cap Coprinus atramentarius or inky cap looks quite a bit like a shaggy mane. Shaggy manes usually grow singly, while inky caps are commonly found in groups.

Inky caps Coprinus atramentarius growing in a group. Note that though the shape is similar, they lack shaggy parts on the cap. Image Source. Inky cap is also edible, but it can cause adverse reactions in combination with alcohol. Drinking after eating inky cap mushrooms results in nausea, vomiting, heart palpitations, and gets worse if more alcohol is consumed. Keep in mind, that the issue can arise even drinking alcohol up to 48 hours after consuming inky caps. Inky caps past prime. This one sprouted from my lawn at the same time as the true shaggy manes.

Putting them in the refrigerator will slow the process and buy you a few more hours, but they still need to be prepared before the day is out. When fresh, shaggy manes have a very subtle earthy flavor. Once shaggy manes begin to age, their flavor changes.