Mushrooming -Gills or Ridges

 In many of the beginner mushrooming books, that I have read, it talks about never picking mushrooms with gills and I have to agree for new mushroom hunters, with a few exceptions. Let’s look at gills and ridges and talk quickly about the difference between gills and ridges . Being able to identify ridges opens new doors for mushroom hunting. 

Gills tend to have the following characteristics:

•          They are uniformly attached to the cap of a mushroom.
•          They appear as small blades or fins.
•          Gills can fork or can be a mixture of long and short blades.
•          Gills easily break.

Ridges have the following Characteristics:

• Ridges are irregular (there is no pattern).
• They are part of both the stem and the cap.
• They do not break easily.
  

 Notice how the ridges run down the stem in the photo above and in the top photo the gills stop. 

Spend some time researching mushrooms with gills and mushrooms with ridges, become familiar with them and their differences. 

Never Eat a Mushroom You Are Not Sure Of and Never Eat a Edible Wild Mushroom Uncooked. 

I have found numerous references that say that raw mushrooms contain small amounts of toxins, but  are destroyed by cooking them thoroughly.

When hiking, we don’t have to pick any mushrooms; I find it fun and educational to be able to identify a mushroom. When I find a mushroom that I am 100 % sure that it is edible I am excited to bring it home.