2013 Plans

[UndercoverElephant]

I'll have to go back and make a note of the specific mushroom names, to see if they're native to these isles. The pack was American, so maybe not.

Let me know if you find out what they are.

OK, found the product. It's here.

You can zoom in to read the label.

Fascinating collection of fungi, mistakes and all.

"Wood Ear" is a translation of the chinese common name of Auricularia polytricha, which does not grow in the UK. The latin name given for this on the packet is not a valid name of anything - it looks like an attempt to politically-correct Auricularia auricula-judae (Jew's Ear) - which is a northern/European relative which I was supposed to be collecting today to take round to a friend's house who has a chinese lodger. He was going to make soup with them. Unfortunately I couldn't find any in an edible state when I went looking for them yesterday. Both species are well-known for their medicinal properties.

Cordyceps is a strange genus of fungi which parasitise either subterranean fungi (like truffles) or living insects. It is a member of this genus which takes over ant brains and makes them climb to the top of a branch, where they freeze and a mushroom comes out of their head. This particular species lives on moth pupae, is cultivated in China and sold in jars with the dead pupae still attached. There are several UK-native members of the genus, including some insect-eating ones (which I have found twice, but on both occasions failed to recognise them and stupidly just picked them instead of following them down into the soil and finding buried treasure), but the species on the label is Asian.

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/cordyceps_militaris.html

Cordyceps militaris is pretty much the coolest mushroom ever, and I will detail its features in a moment--but first I am obliged to discuss CMS, a common problem among mushroom hunters and mycologists. The acronym stands for Cordyceps Moron Syndrome, and symptoms present in two ways. The CMS sufferer 1) plucks any club fungus instantly from its substrate, regardless of what treasures might be found beneath the mushroom, and 2) cannot manage to take a decent photo of a Cordyceps even when the first symptom is bypassed.

Grifola frondosa is native to the UK. "Maitake" is the Japanese name. We call it "Hen of the Woods". I've never found it in an edible state.

Then there's three types of oyster mushroom, which seems a bit excessive/pointless. One of them is the common oyster native to the British Isles.

Finally "white wood ear" is another translated chinese name for a species not native to the BI. It has a brown relative called "Leafy Brain" which is quite common in the UK, and edible. Both are just masses of jelly in fronds.

[emordnilap]

Which leads me to another question - has anyone here suffered from or knows of someone who has suffered from a vitamin D deficiency at any time? If so, how did they know it was lacking? What were its effects? How did they cure the shortage?

Personally I'm fairly happy we both get plenty of vit. D during the summer, plus we are outside a lot the rest of the year.

[kenneal - lagger]

Which leads me to another question - has anyone here suffered from or knows of someone who has suffered from a vitamin D deficiency at any time? If so, how did they know it was lacking? What were its effects? How did they cure the shortage?

Personally I'm fairly happy we both get plenty of vit. D during the summer, plus we are outside a lot the rest of the year.

It's most common in the Asian and Afro/Caribbean communities as their darker skins filter the light before it can produce Vit D. Rickets is the most common manifestation which causes a softening of the bones and then bent legs.

[RenewableCandy]

Yes. Fils. It was spotted by a colleague of my s-i-l, who is a medic. Fils was 4 months old at the time and being completely breast-fed. I'm afraid I took it as a bit of an affront, but in fact breast-milk does rather assume that the baby gets at least a little sunshine. Born in the spring, he had not seen any at all: we lived in Glasgow.

The medic said Fils' neck wasn't as strong as a healthy child's, and he wasn't able to hold his head up properly.

We couldn't get him any sunlight: we put him on supplements pronto. Then we moved South.

It transpires that VitD shortage is extremely popular in Glasgow, and is widespread in the UK in general, especially among ethnic minorities. Islamic women who wrap-up in long dark clothes, and out of modesty don't go and see a doctor with their weak or aching legs (muscles "go" before bones), are a particular problem.

[emordnilap]

So is it a muscle weakening first then a bone softening?