Funghi in the forest

[arnsider]

One of the girls that rides with our group has Polish ancestry and knows quite a bit about edible fungi.
Last Tuesday, we rode over Widdop from Towneley Hall to Heptonstall and back along the Long Causeway.
Heptonstall cafe was shut, so we took sarnies and stopped on that steep zig-zag descent at Blake Dean.
Here, Hebden Water plunges into a steep-sided valley overlooked, further down by Hardcastle Crags.
There is a Hostel here, inside the walls of a graveyard amid quite tall mature trees.
She pointed out some quite healthy Boletus Edulis growing among the tree roots.
I thought I knew most edibles but had not sampled this one.
Ever the show-off, I took her obvious authority in such matters and promptly devoured the heads of a couple of specimens.
My mates looked aghast and I'm sure they plotted in their minds, who would have my E-bike when I croaked which I would surely do soon!!
Delicious!

[Airsporter1st]

When living and working in Addis Abeba, there was a nearby field absolutely covered with mushrooms. A friend and I each picked a carrier-bag full.

We couldn’t understand why the locals didn’t pick them - especially given that this was during times of famine. Finally, a girl I knew told me that they were called “bumblebees umbrella”. When I asked why, she said “that’s where the bumblebee shelters when the hyena is taking a pee”! Fortunately, I wasn’t put off and they were delicious!

[Jdsk]

When living and working in Addis Abeba, there was a nearby field absolutely covered with mushrooms. A friend and I each picked a carrier-bag full.

We couldn’t understand why the locals didn’t pick them - especially given that this was during times of famine. Finally, a girl I knew told me that they were called “bumblebees umbrella”. When I asked why, she said “that’s where the bumblebee shelters when the hyena is taking a pee”! Fortunately, I wasn’t put off and they were delicious!

Fascinating. I've never heard that before. But it reminds me of a Bedouin belief that hyenas can master humans by micturating or projecting scent onto them.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1259401?sa ... b_contents

Jonathan

PS: I didn't write micturating. There seems to be some sort of autocensoring.

[Airsporter1st]

That looks interesting, but it seems an account is needed to read more than the preview, unfortunately.

[roubaixtuesday]

At Tatton Park today