Читать книгу Good Mushroom Bad Mushroom - John Plischke - Страница 9

HOW TO MAKE A SPORE PRINT

Why make a spore print? Spore print instructions are not something that authors put into books just to take up space. They can save your life. Different types of mushrooms have many different colors of prints: white, yellow, pink, brown, black and more. The color of a spore print will not tell you what the mushroom is, but it may tell you if you made a mistake in the mushroom’s identification. If the mushroom you’re ID’ing is supposed to have a white spore print but the print turns out brown, you know you’re on the wrong track and there was a mistake in the ID.

To make the print, place a fresh mushroom cap on a sheet of paper with the gills or pores facing down. The stalk may need to be removed or a hole made in the paper to allow for the stalk. It can then be covered with a cup or bowl to stop any harsh air movement from blowing the spores away. The mushroom is left there anywhere from a few hours to overnight. When the mushroom is removed, the print will be left on the paper. It is often preferable to place white colored paper under one side of the cap and black under the other; that way, if it has a white print it would show up on the black paper or if the print is black it would show up on the white paper.

Spore printing an Agaricus

A brown colored Agaricus spore print