Wild Edibles: Black Staining Polypore and Mushrooms as a Survival Food
The Black Staining Polypore and Mushrooms as Survival Food
In this video we have the humble black staining polypore. This mushroom is best known as being frustratingly not a Chicken of the Woods. The Polypore bears a passing resemblance to the treasured and highly sought after Chicken of the Woods and will catch amatuer mushroom foragers off guard, causing their heart to skip a beat with excitment when they spot an enormous Chicken, only to come crashing down when they get closer and learn the Black Staining truth.
Black Staining Polypores grow in large flat shelf like clusters on hardwood. The underside of their caps appear smooth, but upon closer inspection actual have thousands of tiny little holes, or pores in them, which gives the mushroom it's name, Polypore (many pores). When handled or bruised the flesh of the mushroom will often turn black, thus the "Black Staining" portion of the name.
These mushrooms are supposedly edible, but are purportedly very fibrous and taste terrible. I've never actually heard of anyone eating them.
On a side note, I was once asked about Polypore, if they would be a good mushroom to eat in a survival situation, as they typical grow very large.
The answer is no, and that is true for all mushrooms. While mushrooms are a joy to collect and eat, they are all flavor and texture, with almost no caloric content. If you were hungry and lost, a large mushroom might fill your belly, but would provide only a scant handful of calories. Mushrooms are simply not a good survival food. I suppose they would be better than nothing at all, but only just.
Video Guide:
Never eat any wild edible without a strong positive ID. Failure to properly ID can result in serious poisoning.
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Have you ever eaten a Black Staining Polypore? How did you prepare it and how did it taste? Sound off in the comments below. If you would like to see more of my foraging posts, please Follow!
Did you see the post by @alexmorris about Foraging for Mushrooms in Central Park, NY? Towards the end, they talk about cooking the Black-Staining Polypore! :D I let them know about your post, too. 'Tis the season for the BSP! ; )
I've known a few folks that have eaten these mushrooms. I think like many polypores, the secret to something chewable is harvesting the tender, young, growing edges - and not the whole mushroom.
I also heard tell of someone grinding Black Staining Polypore up and using it in baking? I dunno. They do have tender outer edges, but compared to something like a chicken, there is much less of that thin outer edge. A good healthy chicken will give you a lot of, let's say, flesh per petal.
A Chicken of the Woods can provide a lot for eating, in the right condition, that's for sure. I expect it's the same with this, although each part is thinner. That's an interesting idea for some of these stout mushrooms -- to grind them up like burger! That would be interesting to try out!
I second what @haphazard-hstead wrote! We found a bunch of these last year in Central Park, I tried eating one of them. Gary Lincoff warned us, however, that unless they are very young and tender, they'll be extremely chewy. Fried up with a bit of butter, salt, and herbs, it was actually delicious! Problem was, I kept chewing, and chewing, and chewing some more! I think it would have been easier to chew and swallow bubblegum! lol So if you do decide to give it a go, just make sure they're young, small, and very soft and tender! My recent post has a picture of one that we had found here: Central Park MUSHROOM HUNT with Gary Lincoff - YES, you can EAT 'em too, if you DARE...!
Nice find on your outing! If folks are getting this mushroom, Meripilus sumstenei, confused with Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus), AKA the Sulfur Shelf, they are not paying enough attention -- and should not eat either one!
Are you saying people should not be eating chicken of the woods? Or did I misunderstand the way that was worded?
Gosh, no -- sorry for the confusing wording. Both mushrooms are certainly good. And good mushroom foragers pay attention to detail. I was just trying to say that good mushroom foragers would have trouble getting these two confused, because they do pay attention to details. It would be like confusing different kinds of cabbage or plums, maybe, as an analogy. But maybe everyone would be confused trying to understand my original comment!
I have some decent pictures of Meripilus in my yard. Would you be offended if I put them in a post and linked it back to yours?
No, knock yourself out. Better and more complete information can only help.