En​chanted Nature

Mycololgists call these mushrooms Trametes Versicolor. They are common throughout the world and are most likely growing near your home. In China, they are known as yun zhi or Cloud Mushroom. In Japan, they are known as Kawaratake or Mushroom by the Riverbank. In Japan, mushrooms always end their name with "take", pronounced tah-kay. Some examples that you may have heard are Maitake, Shiitake, or Enokitake.

The first question that mycologists are frequently asked with any mushroom is, "Are they edible?" I would love to tell you that Turkey Tails are a sustainable, vegan alternative to the American Thanksgiving staple but alas, unless you relish chewing on shoe leather, they are not. Edible? Yes. Enjoyable? No thank you...The next question asked, less frequently is, "Will they get me stoned?" The answer is a resounding NO.

The, "Are they edible?" question frustrates a lot of naturalists as well as mycologists because it ranks the importance of another living organism by its service to humankind. Turkey tails will not make you ill if you cook and eat them, but most folks would find them completely unpalatable. The flavor is bland and the texture will exercise your jaw to the point of fatigue. If you're wondering whether I tried eating Turkey Tails, yes I have.

Trametes Versicolor may not be a choice "edible" fungi, but it is a medicinal fungi. Some of you might be thinking that I'm talking about some kind of "alternative, folk, wives' tale, hoodoo-voodoo, witch doctor" type of "medicine". I am not! Many of our conventional allopathic medicines are based on and created from organisms that naturally occur in the wild. Fungi give us Penicillin, Cyclosporine, cholesterol-lowering Statins, and the cancer fighting drug Taxol to name a few. Turkey Tails produce an adjunct cancer drug called PSK. Check out the National Institute of Health studies if you are interested in reading more about the medicinal properties of Turkey Tails: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=turkey+tail