As someone who hates to eat mushrooms, I surprise myself by being kind of fascinated with these fungi. I think it’s because I associate them with fairies, gnomes, and pixies, my favorite forest dwellers. It’s certainly not the fact that they are associated with male virility because of the phallic shape, ugh. Nope, for me, it’s all about the fairies.

I spotted these orange, fluffy mushrooms growing on the side of a tree during a walk through the Brandywine Creek State Park. The sight stopped me in my tracks, not because I was hungry and wanted to eat them–because I really didn’t, yuck–but because they are so cool looking.

Mushrooms

These mushrooms grow in fan-shaped, stemless clusters on the bark of trees, spreading out into numerous shelves up to 2 feet wide. They are colored an unmistakable orange and cream with bands of each ending in a ruffled edge. I learned that this type of mushroom has a funny name, “Chicken of the Woods.” They are edible–and guess what–taste like chicken! Not that I plan to be tasting them any time soon.

They are best eaten young as they get tougher as they age, turning a dull yellow and fading to white. They have a mild flavor and must be cooked before you can eat them. Not that I would.

Mushrooms

The Latin name for this fluffy fungi is Laetiporus sulphureus. It’s a heart rot fungus that grows in the wood of standing or fallen oaks and other trees, appearing in summer and fall in eastern North American hardwood forests. Technically parasitic, their presence indicates that the tree’s health has been compromised.

Like most mushrooms, Chicken of the Woods has beneficial properties when eaten, containing antioxidants, including quercetin, kaempferol, caffeic acid, and chlorogenic acid, and it contains lanostanoids – molecules that have the ability to inhibit cancerous growths.

That’s impressive, but I’m still not eating them.