Please help me keep my mother from poisoning herself

[LeVin]

Hello, and I apologize for being obtuse and less than subtle title, but it is as it says.

I could really use some help identifying a mushroom that my mother found in our NJ suburban neighborhood. She has convinced herself that the mushroom she has found is the 'meshima' or Phellinus linteus mushroom widely used in the traditional medicine in east Asia. She is convinced that the mushroom is okay because her father has taught her that any mushroom that comes from an oak tree is okay to eat. I haven't been able to convince her that may not be the case in North America, despite finding some poisonous mushrooms that do grow on oak trees. With her age, she's becoming more and more stubborn about her knowledge it seems.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not adverse to eating and harvesting from the wild, and I lurk here regularly. I pick berries, ostrich ferns, make teas from wild plants, and generally try to get as much as I can from the wild - but only after I have studied the texts and have done online searching as well.

But mushrooms are something that I haven't messed around with, and I have almost zero experience searching and identifying mushrooms, so I have no idea how to even start. I now hope that more experienced members here can direct me to a path of safety here.

DSC04084.jpg
DSC04083.jpg
DSC04087.jpg
DSC04085.jpg

Both bunch of mushrooms were found growing on the shady side of a large oak tree. One is about a foot tall, and the other about foot and a half. When I first saw what she had brought, I thought maybe, maybe chicken of the woods? But it all seems wrong, and I have no idea.

It doesn't have to be positive identification. Just a proof or suggestion that it might be a poisonous mushroom will be enough for me to convince her. Could anyone please tell me what this might be? Or direct me to a resource where I can do some searching by myself? Any response will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[hunter63]

Hunter63, saying Hey and Welcome.
Sorry I don't know too much about mushrooms other than you need to be careful.......
Maybe some one else can jump in here.

[LeVin]

Thank you. I'm in half a mind to just go and burn the thing because she keeps repeating what she was taught from grandfather because oak trees exist both here and back in Korea, so the rules should be exactly the same. She also took a small piece to eat it and is fully convinced its not poisonous because there are no ill effects. Just wanna pull my hair out right now with what she's doing.

Well, at least it seems chances of a polyspore mushroom being poisonous is very low, so I can breath easier. I still worry what she might do next she goes into the wood.

[hunter63]

As DW always says....save a piece to show the EMT's when they come to pick me up"....to show them what I ate.

[mountainmark]

Appears to be chicken of the woods to me, though it took an odd growth pattern and it seems a bit old. Oak would be it's typical fall substrate too (at least in my area). There are no dangerous mushrooms that look anything remotely like Laetiporous Sulfurous. That would be my starting place, do all the research you can, and make sure. But, I think your mom is safe

[RandyRhoads]

This one may not be poisonous but make her aware that deadly mushrooms like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galerina_marginata can grow on oak. Also just because something is edible in another country does not mean it is the same here...

[canid]

Aged Laetiporus species, likely L. sulphureus.

Not even a little close to Phellinus. In better condition, it is a fairly good edible mushroom, but this is not nearly enough care in identification, and you should tell her I said so.

Randy's point is a good one, because often we take a species well known from the old world and beginning giving that name to different but similar material in a new area, despite it's having different properties because it is, in fact a separate species.

This is not even the point in this case though, as these are very different mushrooms, having in common only that they are shelving polypores and have some yellow coloration.

[canid]

Well, at least it seems chances of a polyspore mushroom being poisonous is very low, so I can breath easier. I still worry what she might do next she goes into the wood.

You should familiarize yourself with Phaeolus schweinitzii. I do not know if it occurs in your area, but it is also a polypore which is often yellowish at it's margin and is toxic.

[LeVin]

Thank you all for sharing your expertise with me. You've been all great help.

[canid]

Any time, and I hope I haven't come across rudely. It is not my intention.

[brittanymachine]

Pick yerself up a book by david arora.