Figure 1 – Chicken of the woods fungus, Belmont, MA, September 3, 2020. (c) DE Wolf 2020.

Today was a marvelous and drizzly day, which took us into the wood at Rock Meadow in Belmont, Massachusetts. As we came upon a clearing we were greeted by the colorful fungus of Figure 1. This according to Google is a Laetiporus sulphureous, commonly known as a chicken of the woods. It is an edible mushroom, we are told, that takes like, yes you guessed it – chicken! 

Now here’s the thing, does one trust Google so implicitly that you are prepared to risk your very existence and actually scramble it up in your morning eggs. Here technology, friends, meets the existential and caution becomes the better part of valor!