With all that has happened in 2020, you can't tell me you haven't considered the possibility of the end times and of having to forage in the woods to survive. Could we, would we, eat this mushroom or that berry if there was no Kroger? My natural curiosity is balanced with a healthy distrust of my knowledge of edible mushrooms. I found this clump of mushrooms along my daily walks with my mom and her dogs. Aside from the fact that mom's male dog regularly waters the bush under which this mushroom now grows, my research confirmed that I will not be sampling it.
The "Picture This" app identifies it at Tricholomataceae or the Pale-Spore Mushroom. Googling, it seems some of the mushrooms in this classification are edible but "one thing you have to watch out for is the possibility that other [toxic] species of mushrooms could be mixed in with a fairy ring". Nope, not eating mushrooms that might be dancing with toxic mushrooms in a fairy ring.
The toxic mushroom to avoid is clitocybe dialata. In a fairy ring. Who, pray tell, named this mushroom? Huh? Really? Nope. Apparently, botanists have a sense of humor.
Closer to home, I did find "hen-in-the-woods" (which sounds considerably safer and tamer) in, of all places, the woods. It is a maitake mushroom and eaten around the world - but I'll wait to take that chance in the end times.
