Identifying Mushrooms

     Mother always said to eat only mushrooms from the grocery store.  Mushroom identification is tricky business and should be left to the experts, she said.  How right you were, Mom.  I found a cluster of big, beautiful fungi around a tree stump.  I can't identify these specimens with certainty even though I have searched and searched the fungi guides.  If times were tough, and those spore factories around the tree stump were the only thing between me and starvation, at least I wouldn't poison myself.  Of the several varieties of mushroom these plants could be, all the possibilities are edible.  Check out these beauties.

They look like roses.

A closer view.

   
     So, what are they?  My best guess is meripilus sumstinei or black staining polypore.  I came to that conclusion because:        
          1. Location - they are growing at the base of what used to be an oak tree.
          2. Timing - meripilus sumstinei grows from July to September.
          3. Appearance - fleshy, gray/yellow, fan shaped caps grow in clusters.
          4. Bruising - meripilus sumsinei bruises black when it's cut or touched.
I made some cuts on one of the caps.  That area was black the next day.  This fungus also turns black at the end of its life cycle.  You can see that the second cluster from the left is blackening.
     A single meripilus sumstinei can weigh up to 30 pounds.  It should be eaten when it is young and tender, before it becomes leathery.  It is said that its flavor and texture is like steak, especially if it is liberally sprinkled with Emeril's® Essence.  One can fry it in oil, but it has to be simmered in soup or sauce for 20 minutes before it becomes fully tender.  So far, no one has proven any medicinal value for meripilus sumstinei.
     Meripilus sumstinei has look alikes.  Grifola frondosa or hen-of-the woods appears later in the season and is more tan or brown in color.  Bonderzewia berkeleyi or Berkeley's polypore is bigger and probably more yellowy orange.  Sparassis spathulata or cauliflower mushroom looks like cauliflower, not like a rose.
     The study of fungi is called mycology, and a biologist who specializes in mycology is called a mycologist.  Hats off to mycologists everywhere.  Your job is not easy.