After the Rains, a Mushroom Boom

And avoid, at all costs, that deadly duo, the death cap mushroom and the destroying angel. Both look innocuous enough -- the former a squat little toadstool with light brown caps, the latter a bone white beauty. Roger Phillips, in his book "Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America," calls the death cap "the most deadly fungus known." He says the mortality rate for persons consuming it is 50 to 90 percent "and any chance of survival depends on early recognition."

The seasoned foragers offer these tips: Learn from experienced collectors, have more than one field guide to double-check identification, keep a portion of any mushroom (for the emergency room doctors) and throw away anything you are not sure of. Mycologists have a favorite saying: There are old mushroom pickers, and bold mushroom pickers, but no old, bold mushroom pickers.

"In the field of natural sciences," said Smith, "it's like an extreme sport."

He says he is drawn to a half-dozen favorite culinary species and knows how to distinguish them from their inedible lookalikes. Most need cooking or at least zapping in the microwave, if only to kill germs that dwell on them, he said.

Ellifritz said that, in 24 years of collecting, he has sampled as many as 50 different species "and I have never gotten sick. I've always been cautious."

The group moves on, and finds a wet log that is sprouting small, spaghetti-like clusters of creamy yellow fungi. Ellifritz, a retired staffer at the Government Accountability Office, says it is probably the crown coral mushroom.

On other rotted stumps, Ellifritz identifies the clustered fans of the turkey tail and the related false turkey tail.

He finds a fawn mushroom, which is small and rather sinister-looking in its helmetlike cap, which is dark brown. The gills have a pinkish cast. "This is an edible," he says, but added that some people get ill from it.

Someone finds a small, bright orange mushroom, the first of the season's chanterelles. Yet to be found is the red species, which Smith likes to pile on top of angel-hair pasta. "Choice," he mutters.

Even with a once-in-a-century deluge, "it's very hard to find enough of these to make a meal," said Ellifritz.

The one to find, he says, is the delectable hen of the woods, which grows in clusters near oak trees and usually is found in large quantities. One of the finds of the day was a group of the plate-like mushroom known in Japan as reishi -- not a culinary variety, but used to make medicines that are reputed to boost the immune systems in people with HIV and cancer patients.

These are the jewels of nature that bubble up after a lot of rain. Or even a moderate amount. Then, Ellifritz says, it's great to go looking for mushrooms, "after you finish bailing out the basement and the backyard."

Books  on Mushrooms

"Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians," by William C. Roody (University Press of Kentucky, $35).

"A Field Guide to Mushrooms of North America," by Kent H. McKnight and Vera B. McKnight (Peterson Field Guides, Houghton Mifflin, $21).

"National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms," by Gary H. Lincoff (Knopf, $19.95).

"Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America," by Roger Phillips (Firefly, $39.95).