Ringless Honey Mushroom, Armillaria tabescens, Photo by Green Deane

Do not eat any mushroom without checking in person with a local, live, mushroom collector.

The first time I thought I saw the Ringless Honey Mushroom was about a decade ago in November on my neighbor’s lawn. The only problem was this species of mushroom grows on wood such as stumps or on decomposing roots (not mulch.) I had lived in the neighborhood 13 years and didn’t remember a tree on the lawn … though maybe there was a stump there when I first moved in…

Notice a slight raise and more dark hairs in the middle of the cap. The cap’s flesh is also white (see inside crack) to help you distinguish it from the toxic orange-flesh Jack-O-Lantern. Photo by Green Deane

Next time I thought I saw it was 200 miles away in West Palm Beach growing on an Eastern Cedar stump, or Southern Cedar … much the same thing (Junipers.) Ringless Honey Mushrooms usually don’t like conifers (its the pitch I imagine. I’ve also noticed them growing on Camphor stumps — pass — and on banyan roots… maybe worth trying as that is the fig family.)  The third time, however, was a charm, about a mile from my house growing on oak stumps in an area that had been cleared a couple of years earlier. It was a mushroom mine, so to speak. When I later took a Mushroom Certification class in late August in North Carolina they were everywhere. It gets cooler there sooner. Locally Ringless Honey Mushrooms like October through December with November being the heaviest month. 

Gills are widely spaced, touch but don’t run far down the stem, and stain or turn brown or brownish pink when bruised or aged. Photo by Green Deane

The Ringless Honey Mushroom, Armillaria tabescens,  is a southern stand-in of a very common mushroom in North America and Europe, Armillaria mellea. which is also edible. The A. mellea, however, has a ring around the stem — an annulus — as almost all Armillaria do. The Ringless Honey Mushroom does not have a ring and there is also one ringless species in Europe, the A. ectypa. It’s rare and classified as endangered in some areas. I note A. ectypa only grows in acidic marshes and is listed as edible and non-edible…. not good form to list an endangered species as edible. A. mellea is an infrequent Florida mushroom in the spring. Though looking similar it has an annulus and the cap is tacky.

Ringless Honey Mushrooms grow on wood, in this photo around an oak stump. Photo by Green Deane

As mushrooms go the Ringless Honey Mushroom is one of the easier to identify. The mushroom grows on wood, preferably oak. But has also be found growing on Buckeyes, Hemlock, Hollies, Junipers, Sweetgums, Plums,  Apples, Perseas, Maples, Pines, Ash, Alders, Almonds and Walnuts. Ringless Honey Mushrooms found growing on Hemlocks and Buckeyes are known to cause digestive upset. I would avoid those growing on plums, apples, almonds and hollies. Those trees can have some nasty chemicals in them including hydrocyanic acid. However a mycology professor specifically told me these mushrooms should not pick up any bad chemicals from such trees. Oak is the most common and safest bet. You will find it on stumps, exposed roots, at the base of trees, and growing on buried roots. This is particularly common where a dead tree has been removed so there appears to be no tree but the mushroom is still living on the buried dead root. This is why one can find them growing in lawns without any trees nearby. Incidentally, if the tree you find them on is living this species will in time kill it. 

The spore print is white which helps separate it from the hallucinogenic Gymnopilus spectabilis (orange-brown spores) the deadly Galerina autumalis (brown spores) Pholiota species (brown spores) and Hypholoma fasciculare, “Sulphur Tufts” which are also cespitose and have purplish-brown spores. Photo by Green Deane

James Kimbrough in his book “Common Florida Mushrooms” says of the Ringless Honey Mushroom: “This is the most common late fall-early winter mushroom in Florida. It causes mushroom root-rot of numerous tree and shrub species, and is especially critical in the die back of oaks. It is seldom found in summer months, but appears in striking numbers as soon as late fall rains commence. It is a choice edible species, but because of its toughness, must be cooked longer than the average mushroom.” I would add one usually does not eat the stem (use them for flavoring.)  The mushroom is also a good candidate for drying. I fry them them in coconut oil until they are about half the size they started and thoroughly cooked. Some people have to parboil them first then fry them to avoid digestive upset. And a few rare folks can’t eat them no matter how cooked. I think they’re tasty. Younger mushrooms are a bit more springy than middle-aged ones. I think the best age/size is when they are between the size of a quarter and a half dollar. Their texture lends themselves well to dishes that require long cooking. 

Gills are knife-thin, sometimes forked, stems are white or light yellow on top tapering downward to darker stems. Photo by Green Deane

As for the scientific names, Armillaria (ah-mill-LAIR-ree-ah) is Dead Latin for “little bracelet.” Tabescens (tay-BESS-sins) mean decomposing. One would like to think it is called “little bracelet” because it can embrace an entire small stump but no. It is because of a bracelet-like frill on the fruiting bodies. And I don’t know if tabescens refers to helping wood decompose or the brown-black pile of dried muck the mushroom becomes when reproduction is done. They are called “honey mushrooms” because their color is similar to honey. And it should be added that not all categorizers of mushroom like “Armillaria” for the genus and prefer “Desarmillaria.” The naming science is not settled.

Ringless Honey Mushrooms are cespitos, growing in a cluster. Also note how light-colored the young stems are. Photo by Green Deane

Kimbrough describes Ringless Honey Mushroom this way: Pileus is 2.5-10 cm, convex to plane, sometimes sunken at the disc with uplifted margins; yellow-brown with flat to erect scales. The lamellae are decurrent, somewhat distant, staining pinkish brown with age. Stipes are 7.5 to 20 cm long, 0.5 1.5 cm wide, tapering towards the base; off-white to brownish in color, lacking an annulus. Spores are white in deposit, broadly ellipsoid, 6.0-10 x 5.0-7.0 um, not staining blue in iodine. Basidia are clavate, 30.0-35.0 x 7.0-10.0 um, with four sterigmata. Normally I would translate those technical terms into plain English but with mushroom you should also learn the argot. But to give you an idea: The cap is one to four inches across, shaped like an upside down bowl to flat across the top with the edge turned up…

David Arora author of Mushrooms Demystified, describes the related Armillaria mellea as an edible spring mushroom then adds Armillaria tabescens is the same except no ring (annulus) and a dry cap.  He provides more details:

Mature caps can range from two to four inches across. Photo by Green Deane

Cap: 3-15 cm broad or more, convex becoming plane or sometimes broadly umbonate or in age uplifted; surface viscid or dry, usually with scattered minute dark brown to blackish fibrillose scales or erect hairs, especially towards the center; color variable: yellow, yellow-brown, tawny, tan, pinkish brown, reddish-brown et cetra.  Flesh thick and white when young, sometimes discolored in age; odor mild, taste usually latently bitter.

A young cap’s color is uniform without any brusing or aging towards brown-pink. Photo by Green Deane

Gills: Mushroom perfectionists can really rattle on about gill attachment, which are admittedly important. Start with the acronym F.A.D. meaning Free, Attached, Descending. Gills are one of those three but there are nuances. Do they touch with an upward swing or a square-on 90 degree connection? If they don’t attach the stem at all they are free.  Ringless Honey Mushrooms are “attached” more specifically  “adnate” meaning square on to slightly decurrent (running down the stem some) or sometimes notched — half adnate;  Just remember they are attached and can run down the stem. The gills are white to yellowish or sordid flesh-color, often spotted darker in age. Stalk: 5-20 cm long, 0.5 3(5) cm thick, tough and fibrous with a stringy pith inside; usually tapered towards the bottom if growing in large clusters, or enlarged below if unclustered and on the ground; dry, whitish (above the ring in the A. mellea) soon yellow to reddish brown below and often cottony-scaly when very young.  Spore print white 6-10 x -6 microns, elliptical, smooth, not amyloid.

Habitat: In small or massive clusters on stumps, logs, and living trees, or scattered to gregarious (occasionally solitary) on ground — but growing from roots or buried wood; common on a wide variety of trees and shrubs… on oaks trees the mycelium (mushroom roots) can frequently be seen as a whitish fan like growth between the bark and wood.

Whether young or middle aged select only firm caps for cooking. Stems are tough and fiberous. Photo by Green Deane

Arora says (of the A. mellea which he also says describes the A. tabescens) is eminently edible. Use only firm caps and discard though stalks (which are used for stock.) It is an abundant food source, crunchy in texture, and a very passable substitute for the shiitake in stir-fry dishes. Arora recommends because of its various  forms beginner should pick only those growing on wood.

There are three or four similar-looking mushrooms which are toxic. The Galerina autumnalis has a ring, is smaller, and has brown spores. The Pholiota species also have brown spores. Gymnopilus have rusty-orange spores. The Sulphur Tuft, Hypholoma fasciculare, which likes to grow on wood, has purple-brown spores. That leaves Jack-O-Lanterns, Omphalotus.

Jack-O-Lantern mushrooms, above,  look similar but the cap’s inner flesh is orange or yellow, not white like the Ringless Honey Mushroom. The Jack-O-Lantern can cause severe gastric distress.

“Jacks” are similar but in age can become vase shaped. More importantly their color is shades of orange or reddish-orange, occasionally yellow orange or one species olive orange. The cap is smooth, the Ringed Honey Mushroom has small black hairs. Also the gills run down the stem strongly on the Jach O Lanterns whereas in the Ringless Honey Mushroom the gills meet the stem or run down only a little. The flesh of the Jack-O-Lanterns is about the same color as the cap whereas the Honey Mushroom cap is tan/brown and the flesh is white.  If you’re healthy Jacks won’t kill you but will cause severe gastrointestinal illness. Fresh Omphalotus gills can glow faintly in the dark. I’ve seen this several times. As the mushroom ages it loses the ability to glow so don’t rely on it. Some folks mistake Jacks for Golden Chanterelles but Chanterelles when cut are white inside (like the Honey Mushroom) and do not have true gills but rather ridges.

From the kitchen of James Kimbrough: Mushroom Meatloaf.

Young Armillaria tabescens. Photo by Green Deane

2 pounds of Armillaria mellea or A. tabescens
1 Large onion
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 Cup of dry bread crumbs
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 Butter melted
1/2 Teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper

Saute half of the onion in two tablespoons of butter until golden brown. Save several large mushroom caps for garnish. Chop remaining mushrooms, including stems and remaining onions; mix with bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and remaining butter. Stir in eggs and sauteed onions. Press entire mixture in a well-greased loaf pan. Arrange mushrooms caps on top and press slightly. Bake for one hour at 350 F. Let stand several minutes; slice and serve with mushroom gravy.

Ripe and unripe Kousa Dogwood fruit. Photo by Green Deane

 Cornus kousa: A Dog-gone-good Dogwood

The Kousa Dogwood is one of those plants that makes you ask: What is it?

Kousa dropping fruit in Boone North Carolina.

Its large, bumpy, red fruit looks like a raspberry on steroids. Very eye catching and exotic, which it is in North America. Planted as an ornamental reports say it is naturalized only in the New York city area. But I have personally seen it growing on its own  from there south and west. You can also find it in protected or warmer areas farther north. Look for it in landscaping or as a potted plant. In the Carolinas, where I go for a busman’s holiday, it’s a common ornamental. In fact where I stay in Boone, North Carolina, there’s one at the bottom of the hill. In Ashville where I study mushrooms it’s an escapee. In late August it and the ground beneath it are covered with fruit.

The Kousa grows to 15 to 20 feet, has flakey bark, and long-lasting white “flowers” which usually come out about a month after its cousin, the Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida.)  Actually, its flowers are quite small. The shrub’s showiness comes from large white bracts that dwarf the true flowers. The bracts are two to three inches across, sometime off-white to light yellow, and cover the entire tree when in bloom. Another reason why this Asian native is used in landscaping is as it matures the bark flakes leaving a camouflage pattern of tan and brown, sometimes tan and green. In autumn the leaves turn bronze before dropping.

Kousa Dogwood showy bracts

Kousa’s bracts can turn pink to red through the season, and the Cornus kousa satomi starts with pink flowers that turn purple. In fact, there are nearly 100 different cultivars of the plant and it’s been in western gardens since 1875. The Kousa is also resistance to Dogwood Anthracnose, a fungal disease that has been infecting flowering dogwoods in eastern North America.

Although the fruit is pink to red, inside it is yellow to orange and has a taste people can’t agree on. Some say the texture similar to a pear or apricot. To me the pulp texture was like a ripe persimmon, the flavor like an apple. The tougher skin tasted like bitter peach. Usually it is eaten raw but can be cooked but doing so can destroy its delicate flavor. The fruit can also be made into jelly. As I said the skin can be tough and sometimes the fruit is bitter.  The young leaves are cooked and eaten by mountain people in Japan. I have not tried said, so be wary. Additionally, the fruit may have anti-tumor activity. Read the Herb Blurb below. It ain’t easy…

Botanically Cornus (KORE-nus) means “horn” which can mean a wind instrument or hard. The dogwood is known to make stiff skewers and dogwood is from Dag where we also get the word dagger.  Kousa (KOO-sah) is the Japanese name for the tree, It is also called Benthamia kousa – (Miq.) Nakai, and  Benthamidia japonica (Siebold.&Zucc.) H.Hara.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION: Shrub or a small tree to 25 feet, camouflaged-patterned bark, tan and brown, leaves 2 to 4″ long, opposite, simple, dark green; reddish purple to scarlet to bronze fall color. Vase shaped when young growing into a  rounded shape with horizontal branching.

TIME OF YEAR: Fruit in the fall, young leaves anytime present.

ENVIRONMENT: Well-drained soil, full sun to partial shade, usually in landscaping or potted.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Ripe fruit edible raw.  They can be made into jelly.  Young leaves boiled.

HERB BLURB

20 May 2005, Life Sciences, Volume 78, Issue 7, pp 777-784: The anthocyanins in native Cornus alternifolia, Cornus controversa, Cornus kousa and Cornus florida were quantified by HPLC and characterized by spectroscopic methods. The analyses of C. alternifolia and C. controversa revealed that both contained delphinidin 3-O-glucoside (1), delphinidin 3-O-rutinoside (2) and cyanidin 3-O-glucoside (6), respectively. Similarly, C. florida and C. kousa showed identical anthocyanin profiles with major anthocyanins as cyanidin 3-O-galactoside (4) and cyanidin 3-O-glucoside (6), respectively. The amount of anthocyanins 1, 2 and 6 in C. alternifolia and C. controversa were 8.21, 8.44 and 0.02 mg; and 7.74, 5.92, and 0.02 mg/g of fresh fruits, respectively. The anthocyanins 4 and 6 in C. kousa and C. florida were 0.02 and 0.16 mg; and 0.62 and 0.03 mg/g fresh fruits, respectively. Anthocyanins 1 and 2 were not studied earlier for their inhibition of lipid peroxidation, cyclooxygenase enzymes (COX-1 and COX-2), and tumor cell proliferation. At 50 μg/mL, anthocyanins 1 and 2 inhibited lipid peroxidation by 71% and 68%, respectively. Similarly, they inhibited COX-1 enzymes by 39% and 49% and COX-2 enzyme by 54% and 48%, respectively, at 100 μg/mL. Anthocyanin 1 displayed 50% growth inhibition (IC50) at 21, 25, 50, 60, and 75 μg/mL, against HCT-116 (colon), MCF-7 (breast), NCI-H460 (lung), SF-268 (central nervous system CNS), and AGS (stomach) human tumor cell lines, respectively. Similarly, IC50 values for anthocyanin 2 were 38, 30, 76, 100, and 100 μg/mL against HCT-116, MCF-7, NCI H460, SF-268, and AGS, respectively. This is the first report of the quantification and biological activities of anthocyanins in C. alternifolia, C. kousa and C. florida in addition to the anthocyanins not previously quantified in C. controversa.

Gorse flowers and thorns, available all year long depending on climate.

 Ulex europaeus: Edible Gorse or Furze Pas

Gorse has edible flowers. It also has thorns… Really bad thorns.

In August 2005 an Englishman, Dean Bowen, 32, left to walk home after many drinks at the local pub. He woke up the next day in the middle of a Gorse patch.  Bowen couldn’t remember how he got there, and couldn’t find a way out of the thorny mess.

On his second day stranded in the patch he caught the attention of a passerby by using a cigarette lighter to reflect sunlight. That brought the rescue squad but they couldn’t get to him. He was surrounded, as they say, in a thorny situation. Bowen was eventually rescued by the British Royal Air Force who lifted him out by helicopter.

“I wouldn’t advise anybody to go into it [gorse bushes], you know what I mean? At first it seems fun but, before you know it, you’re like stuck,” Bowen, from Hunmanby, North Yorkshire, told the BBC after his rescue. “Whichever way I turned it seemed to be the wrong one that day.”

Bowen spent some time in the local hospital recovering from mild hypothermia and dehydration. Colin Yorke, who winched him to safety, said: “The man was in a patch of gorse brush 10-feet deep.

“We’ve no idea how he got there. He was right in the middle of the gorse. It was like he had been dropped there by a spaceship… It was certainly one of our stranger rescues.”

Gorse blossoms can make tea or wine

There is a saying: “When Gorse is out of bloom kissing is out of season.” That’s understandable since it is an evergreen that blooms year round. A spray of Gorse used to be put in bridal bouquet as an allusion to this. Pliny said Gorse was used in the collection of gold. The plant was put on stream beds to catch any gold-dust brought down by the current. It’s also been used for fuel in bakers’ ovens and in soap-making, as it contains much alkali. If the spines are crushed it is acceptable animal fodder. It has half the protein of oaks, not bad for wild fodder. Horses in particular like it especially tender young tips. 

Gorse is common in western Europe and has been naturalized in Coastal Australia, New Zealand, South America and North America. In North America it is found along the Mid-Atlantic states, the west coast from California north into Canada, and Hawaii. It can also be found inland.

The only edible part for us are the flowers which have a slight coconut aroma and almond  taste.  They’ve been used in salads, for tea and to make a non-grape wine — recipe below. The buds can be pickled like capers.  Don’t over eat them. The plant contains slightly toxic alkaloids. Soaked seeds are a flea-repellant.

Botanically known as Ulex europaeus (YEW-lex yew-row-PEE-us) Gorse is also called Furze. Ulex is Latin for some unknown ancient plant and Europaeus is of Europe. The word “gorse” comes from the Anglo -Saxon word “gorst” which is a descendant of a German word meaning barley which makes no sense at all. The word “furze” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “fyrs” which means ‘a waste’ suggesting where it grows or the litter that accumulates around it creating a fire hazard.  Gorse is on many noxious weed lists and is myrmecochoric meaning its seeds are distributed by ants.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION: Evergreen shrub to six feet, sometimes 10,  forming dense and impenetrable thickets, young stems green, leaves modified into green spines, 0.4-1.4 in long, young seedlings have trifoliate leaves resembling a small clover leaf. Flowers are golden yellow, 0.4-0.8 in) long, with egg-shaped bracts and has a typical pea-flower structure. NON-EDIBLE:  pod, long and dark, purplish brown, 2-3 small blackish seeds.

TIME OF YEAR: Year round if the climate agrees, heavily in spring.

ENVIRONMENT: Non-arid areas neither too hot or too cold, coasts, disturbed ground, grasslands, shrub lands, forest edges, waste places  also as a hedge and in landscaping. Can grow in some shade. Makes soil poorer.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Flowers as a trail-side nibble, or use to make tea or wine. Buds can be pickled. Do not consume a lot. Flowers have been used as a dye for Easter eggs. Flowers and roots provide a yellow dye for clothes.

Gorse Wine Recipe

* 12 cups of gorse flowers

* 1 gallon of water

* 4 cups of sugar (can substitute with honey, 3.3 pounds)

* 1 1/2 cups seedless white raisins

* 2 oranges

* 2 lemons (or 1/4 oz. citric acid)

* 2/3 cup strong tea or 8 drops grape tannin

* 2 heaping teaspoons all-purpose wine yeast

* 1 teaspoon yeast nutrient

(Optional, two ounces of ginger root)

Put the flowers into the fermenting bucket immediately. Boil half the water, half the sugar and the chopped raisins together for 1 to 2 minutes, then pour over flowers. Thinly peel the rind from the oranges and the lemons, and add to the bucket. Squeeze out the juice and add that too. Add the cold tea or the tannin and stir thoroughly. Make up to 1 gallon with cold water. When tepid add yeast and yeast nutrient, stir well and cover. Ferment for 1 week, stirring daily. After 2 or 3 days, when fermenting well, add the remaining sugar and stir to dissolve. Strain through a sieve or cloth and siphon into a gallon jug or bottle. Fill up to the neck or the jug with cool, boiled water. Rack when clear, bottle and keep for six months.

Horsemint with colorful bracts. Photo by Green Deane

 Monarda Punctata: Bergamot’s Bud

First the good news: Horsemint makes a nice, intentionally weak tea. Stronger brews are used in herbal medicine. The Native Americans made  a “sweating” tea from it to treat colds.  The major oil in Horsemint is thymol. Externally it’s an antiseptic and vermifuge, internally, in large amounts, the plant can be fatal. That’s the bad news. So, as I said it makes a nice, intentionally weak, tea.

Horsemint grow in clumps, alone or with other clumps nearby. Photo by Green Deane

Horsemint is one of those plants that you seem to never notice until you learn to recognize it, then you see it every so often. It tends to grow in small colonies and near each other. If you find one, you will usually find another not too far away.  They can vary in size from six inches to three feet but always very showy and its extroverted colors can last for months.  You can propagate it by seeds or cuttings. I dug mine up and carried it home where it has a very sunny, well-watered spot in sandy soil.

The creamy lilac-spotted flowers (its bracts are pink) attract honeybees, bumblebees, miner bees, plasterer bees, swallowtail butterfly as well as the endangered Lycaenides melissa samuelis (Karner Blue.)  Hummingbirds like it as well. Most mammals know enough to leave the plant alone. Horsemint grows from eastern Northern Canada down to Florida, west to Michigan and New Mexico and California, also into eastern Mexico. A southern variety, Monarda punctata var. punctarta, grows south of Pennsylvania and out to Texas. There are about 20 different Monardas in the United States.

Horsemint has the highest thymol content of all the mints. It is more than an antiseptic, mite-killer and cough-syrup ingredient.  As a depressant, it is one of the most commonly abused substances among anesthesiologists and nurses. If thymol were discovered today it would be a prescription drug. There have been some thoughts towards regulating the species but it is so common in so many places that hasn’t been done. Thymol, incidentally, is also one of the 600 or so ingredients added to cigarettes to “improve” the flavor.

Nicholas Monardes

While thymol has a dark side it also has beneficial aspects. It is one of two chemicals in the horsemint — the other being carvacrol — which prevent the breakdown of acetylcholine, the stuff that makes memory possible. One of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease is reduction in acetylcholine. Unlike a drug now used to prevent the break down of acetuylcholine — tacrine hydrochloride — thymol and carvacrol are not as rough on the liver. One could even make a shampoo out of horsemint and perhaps get the benefits.

As for the plant’s botanical name: Monarda is for Nicholas Monardes (1493-1588), a Spanish physician and botanist who mentioned this flower in his 1569 work on the flora of North America called “Joyfull Newes Out Of The Newe Founde Worlde”. Punctata is Latin for point, or in this case “dotted” because the flower petals have pink dots.  The plant’s name is said: moe-NAR-duh punk-TAY-tuh.

Whether as a weak tea, a stronger brew for the flu, or a poultice for arthritis, the Horsemint, or Spotted Beebalm, is a pretty plant to spot while foraging.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION: Herb, sometimes woody, shrubby, gangly, multi-branched, opposite leaves and square stems. The stems and leaves are hairy. Flowers small, inconspicuous, but arranged in showy heads of pink to lavender bracts. Flower tubes are pale yellow with purple spots, less than an inch long, leaves smells like Greek oregano.

TIME OF YEAR: Can be year round in Florida but favors late summer and fall, in northern climates flowers June to October depending where you are.

ENVIRONMENT: Likes moist but well drained soil and sunny conditions, but can survive on rainwater in old fields and on roadsides.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: Leaves and flowers for weak tea, some report the leaves can use chopped up and use to flavor salads.  Hanging leaves in the house leaves a nice scent.