Foraging for Wood Ear fungus 

Spot on

Only - 8 in Edinburgh but the same thing

I've only ever seen them on Elder, but my books do say they grow on other broad leafed timber, (favouring elder)

Could be. This fungus is unmistakable. You'll be in no doubt when you find it - fresh specimens feel like they are made from soft silicone

All members of the genus Auricularia and Exidia are edible and sought after

Wood ears are one of those fungus that it's next to. Impossible to mistake for anything else. At a glance possibly winter polypore could be mistaken. But those are lighter in colour and have pores on the underside. Plus there's no toxic polypore species in the UK. Plenty that are inedible but none that will kill you

Agreed - Wood ears have such a distinctive texture, shape, appearance and habit, I think they would be incredibly hard to mistake for something else

@@AtomicShrimp mhms! Maybe we have some like that here in Québec too, but I'd need to wait until there wasn't a few meters of snow everywhere to check for myself hahaha!

Exactly so - coconut jelly is like that too - crisp, yet gelatinous

you *_stickler_*

Interesting idea. I wonder what sort of general reception that would get...

AtomicShrimp I would much enjoy a video as such

I'll give it some thought. I'm not altogether sure what my philosophy really is - I'm just making it up as I go along. Maybe that's it

AtomicShrimp surprisingly I understand that.

I know what you mean. For me, they are... 'interesting' - not especially nice, certainly not nasty; just interesting

Keep looking - check on older trees and those with dead or damaged wood in them

Good idea. I will do next time I am near some Elder trees

Also look all the way around the branches - they often grow only on one side, presumably due to prevailing sun/wind directions etc.

@@AtomicShrimp thank you for the advice. they apparently also only grow with the ear facing down and not upwards right?

@@ssi-ruuk9396 Correct (although on newly fallen branches, they might be facing any direction)

The texture is a lot like seaweed. If you found something like this but a different colour, it's most likely some unrelated species - not really sure about what that might be

It's very similar in texture to the cartilage in pigs ears

It's Anhydrobiosis - survival during dessication

Agreed on every point

You can find these pretty much everywhere so not really

Now this is a proper knife :D

Thank you! There's a contact link in the 'about' page of the channel (or via Instagram @the_atomic_Shrimp)

I think chaga is a polypore. You won't find any massively south UK. They tend to grow on birch further north.

SteamMachine yes I get mine fro cold places. And take it every day in the hope it wil Prevent anything. Are these mushrooms beneficial

@@debbiefoad1688 don't think these are considered particularly medicinal. But someone somewhere has probably called them a super food. I don't often forage medicinally but I know velvet shanks (should be in season) and. Turkey tail have reputed medicinal. Qualities. Mostly immunity boosting I believe

SteamMachine yes you are rite. Chaga can shrink any tumas etc. God for bid But we can live in hope. I’m in the south east to. So where do you find your mushrooms and what are they called. I’d like to check them out. And thank you for the video

@@debbiefoad1688 I'm south east UK so. My foraging is all there. I'm not rely up. On the sciencey Latin names lol. But I'm. More field and hedgerow (occasionally garden as well) so. I don't often come across the woodland varietys. Although I'm. Lucky enough to still come across dozens of edible species. Prince's and St George's being particular faves...... Oh ps its not my vid lol. I'm just an avid forager like. Atomic shrimp

It made me stronger!

By

If I can find something that is interesting, I might give it a go. One of the MRE channels I follow opened up a can that contained a sleeping bag - that would have been a pretty cool item for Weird Stuff In A Can

It's coming, I promise (working on it right now)