It’s Mushroom Monday, and this week I’m introducing you to another of PEI’s many edible fungi. Meet the Swollen-stalked Cat (Catathelasma ventricosa). Swollen-stalked Cats grow directly from the ground and look a bit like greyish puffballs when they first appear (main photo). If you pull one up, you’ll find it has a heavy, dense feel and short, tapered stalk. Cut one open, and you’ll see solid white flesh, along with a cap and gills that – at this stage – are covered in tissu

It’s Mushroom Monday, and this week we have one of PEI’s most notorious species. Despite its reputation, this mushroom is beautiful, ecologically important, and perfectly harmless if you don’t eat it. Meet a Destroying Angel (Amanita cf. amerivirosa). ‘Destroying Angel’ isn’t a single species, but the name applied to a group of all-white, very toxic mushrooms in the genus Amanita. Research has confirmed three separate species in our region so far, with A. amerivirosa being

Fall 2022 on PEI saw an amazing crop of mushrooms including edible and delicious Puffballs (Calvatia spp.) popping up in places I’ve...