We collected these "specimens" (also known as "dinner")of pheasant's backs just before Memorial Day. According to W.C. Roody's excellent field guide, Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians, they are also known as "Dryad's Saddle" or Polyporus squamosus. It "appears fairly early in the spring and can be a consolation prize for the hapless morel hunter." Unfortunately, these were a little too old to be tasty, although they were still quite pretty. Pocahontas County mushroom hunters call them pheasant's backs because the scale pattern resembles the markings of a grouse. (To me, and to most Iowans my age, "pheasant" will always mean "ring-necked pheasant.")
1 comment:
I came across your site while trying to find the name of a fungi I found today. (13 July 2006). The fungi is a Dryad's saddle and it was found on a sycamore tree in the Scottish Borders in the UK. Just thought that you would like to know.
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