Inking-printing-staining?

[Oakie145]

I only hunt morels and was wondering what it means to ink, print, stain, etc. and why/how you would do it. Thanks!

[Bachflock]

All great questions and someone of more experience can likely answer more thoroughly and possibly more accurately.


Spore Printing - used for a number of reasons but frequently used in aiding the positive identification of a fungi. Spore color, at least to the layman, is a good aid in positively identifying a fungi. They are obtained by taking the cap of a mushroom and placing it on a piece of glass or a piece of paper and covering it with a bowl, glass, or something similar. It is then left to sit for several hours or overnight. The color of the spores then, when used with a reliable resourse like Mushroom Expert.com (click to go there) (http://www.mushroomexpert.com), can point to the species. That is generally over simplified but close. That website has some great descriptions of getting spore prints.

Inking - in the context you ask I believe this is going to be refering to one of two things. First is describing what happens with fungi, such as the shaggymane, age and the edge of the cap darkens to black and begins to "drip" an inkish looking fluid. It could also be used to describe the latex, or milk, that some fungi produce such as the Lactarius species. Both of these can be used in helping ID a mushroom.

Staining - this would be refering to the way some mushrooms "bruise" when cut, handled, or pressed. It can vary from a darker shade of the natural color, to blue, green, or any other number of colors. It can also point to the identification of the mushroom as some don't stain and others do.

Hope that helps. Check out that mushroomexpert.com website, its a good one to help you learn all the different ways to identify a mushroom.

[Bachflock]

LOL Roosevelt!