Suillus luteus & some kind of coral fungi ID help please

[Jox]

Hey guys, found a couple of these today & was wondering if they are Suillus luteus? If they are I would like to know if they are ok to eat & the best way to prepare & cook.

I also came across this cool looking coral fungi & was wondering if anyone knows a name for it? I have come across two that look similar in an ID book Aphelaria sp & Ramaria sp.but not sure which one I found.

Thanks for taking the time to look, any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

Jox

[Fenris]

The first ones look very much like slipery jacks aka Suillus luteus, a mate of mine is Polish & his parents collect & cook them up, from memory fried with butter was the way to go. I tried some once and the texture was horrendous. For reference I don't find the texture of oysters off putting, but I couldn't even bring myself to chew these things, it got to the center of my tongue and I had to spit it out.

It must be a cultural thing.

Don't know what the coral looking pics are sorry.

[Leaves]

First ones are Suillus subacerbus (short stemmed slippey jack) or granulatus. I can tell this because no veil present on the stipe. I love cooking these up in pasta. Young ones are much better in texture and flavour. They get contaminated by a white mold quickly once they open up fully and it's still raining.

They don't bruise much at all do they?? Did you find them under Pinus radiata (Radiata pine)?? If not found under P.radiata then don't eat them because they will not be what they look like.

When I first found my Suillus sp. I cooked a small one up for 10min in the pan and ate it and waited a day to check for any reaction.

Tip - The young Suillus sp only cooks up nice for me if I use a non-stick pan (I am not a fan of these pans usually) with olive oil. If you used a steel pan the mushrooms react a change to a black colour and I hate the taste of them then. If cooked in a non-stick pan cook pretty hot till you get a nice browning showing, then they will have a texture like cooked Shitake and a normal mushroom flavour with a hint of chestnut.

Also when picking Suillus use your thumb nail to scrap the sponge like pores out and leave them under the Pinus radiata or if you want to spread them put it under another 35 year old or more Pinus radiata. The slippery when wet sticky when dry skin is peeled off by most people also because can cause indigestion.

edit - actually the more I look at the cap the more I think it does not look like Suillus granulatus/subacerbus because it looks a bit furry the one you have. Was the cap slippery or sticky? It could be S. brevipes or S. salmonicolor also. S.granulatus will weep when the pores are cut, seeing the stipe is dark and reddish looking is a bit wrong unless it is just old and rotting. Need to see if the younger ones have yellow/pale stipes.

Here is a pic of some of the Suillus subacerbus (confirmed by mycologist QMS) I have been finding in large numbers in SE QLD this winter -

They grow at least 5 times this size when plenty of rain is around but the texutre of ones like this that have come up after light showers is excellent.

Dont let them get WET, something happens to them after they soak up water like a sponge and they then smell different.

This newsletter could be of interest https://www.fungimap.org.au/newsletters/NL41.pdf

Edited August 9, 2013 by Leaves