SEQUIM — Edna Chicarell was delighted to find that all the mushrooms she gathered Saturday were edible.
Although she had intended to collect mushrooms for the Olympic Peninsula Mycological Society’s Wild Mushroom Show at the Sequim Elk’s Club building Sunday, she went golfing instead.
“But right at the 17th hole, I saw some of these,” she said, pointing to a basket full of shaggy mane mushrooms.
One mushroom, though edible, had rotted, so identifiers at the show advised her not to eat it.
“This is very good news for us, though,” Chicarell said.
“We can go golfing and find some mushrooms for a snack, too.”
Chicarell was one of more than 500 people who showed up for the event Sunday.
“This is way more than we ever thought,” said James Deckman, chairman of the show.
In previous years, between 300 and 400 people have attended the show, and this year, the turnout was unexpectedly good, he said as he looked at the crowd.
He noted that this has been a good mushroom year.
Aven Andersen has participated in the show for several years now, though exactly how many escaped him.
He said that he is a “part-time identifier” and has been involved in mushrooms since he joined the Puget Sound Mycological Society a couple decades ago.
Bob Beck of Joyce brought some mushrooms right out of his backyard for identification.
Although Andersen wasn’t able to positively identify the mushrooms, he said to be wary of eating them.
“That seems to be the consensus,” Beck said.
“Everyone says that without a lot more study, it would be best not to eat them.”
The mushrooms closely resemble many others, some of which are edible and some of which are poisonous, Andersen said.
“I could do a lot more study, but by the time I was done, even if they were technically edible, they wouldn’t be after I was done studying them,” he said.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.