Urban mushrooms - Why do not eat them even they could be edible?

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(Edited)

Fungi are amazing organisms, they do not belong to either plants or animals but belong to a third group. They play a very important role in nature, they are primarily responsible for the decomposition of organic matter. Fungal hyphae weave through organic materials, they release enzymes that break down complex organic molecules (such as cellulose). What we see most often from the fungus is its fruiting body, which is extremely diverse in colors and shape. It can grow large in as little as a few hours, but can be liquefied or dried just as quickly.

I don’t know what species these fungi belong to, but even if some were edible, it’s not advisable to collect them in inhabited areas. Why? Because fungi easily absorb and incorporate very toxic metals, such as lead, mercury or cadmium.
Based on a new discovery, some fungal species are cleaning soils contaminated with heavy metals with high efficiency. Then the metal enriched in the fruiting body of the mushroom can be extracted from it.

I took the following photos all in cities, like Székesfehérvár or Budapest. They are beautiful and bizarre!

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With lots of love from Kalemandra

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13 comments
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Beautiful and interesting photos @kalemandra!

When I still lived in Denmark — in a suburb of the city of Copenhagen — there would be big white mushrooms breaking through the pavement of the sidewalks. We did actually eat them, and it seems like they did not do us any harm... but pollution is probably an issue, in the broader sense...

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Awesome finds, one thing to note about urban mushrooms absorbing heavy metals is what substrate they are growing from. The top photo of the woodear is growing from wood and doesn't absorb heavy metals as the rest of the mushrooms growing from the ground would. The third picture down appears to be old oyster mushrooms (also growing from wood). The fourth mushroom image are mycena (these are mostly wood growing as well). The sixth mushroom image appears to be mock oyster (not edible but not poisonous either just bad tasting). The last few appear to be a type of parasol and the brown ones look like mica caps. Mica caps are really good at absorbing heavy metals, they are pretty common and easy to grow. Maybe they could be used to remediate contaminated areas. They are also edible but have a boring taste to them.

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The top one is indeed wood ear, gruesome but awesome looking thing! We don't eat a lot of mushrooms because they simply taste awful!

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You have to try chicken of the woods, that one tastes amazing, just like chicken.

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I have heard of that! Never spotted it though. Wouldn't that be a nice alternative to actual chicken

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Just keep an eye out for it on hardwoods around the end of September through October. It shows up as a nice bright orange from a distance. The trouble is leaves are usually changing orange around that same time so it gets camouflaged during fall.

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I'll do that! Speaking of orange stuff, around here you mostly get (and notice) honey fungus.

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Yeah they honey mushrooms are tricky there's a deadly galerina mushroom that looks similar to the edible honey mushrooms... Even the edible honey mushrooms aren't the greatest tasting and they're a bit woody of a texture, so I never take a chance on them.

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mushroom is my favourite i must say but at times i use to be afraid of the bacteria in it

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As always, all your shots are wonderful... but my favourite - is no. 6!
Looks like fluff blanket, with gills... lol. Cheers!

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