November 2021, was the beginning of the second rain season for me to practice identifying wild mushrooms. While I was looking out the window of the office building where I work, my eyes caught the first stunning sight of this mushroom. As a brief background, my current office happens to be in a village that is abounding in lavish growth of of trees by two rivers, in Bantul area, about 3 km from Yogyakarta city. The area can be said still having a tropical rainforest feel, which is dominated by teak trees, with leaf litters covering the ecosystem floor. This place is still a habitat for wild snakes, kingfishers, and shy monitor lizards that occasionally appear on the river banks, even though recently it has begun to become the target of loggers’ chainsaw echo.
Since, it was the first time for me to see this fungus and I had not been able to identify it. So I took photos of the top cap and its underside to be identified by local mushroom experts in an online forum. They identified it as one edible Cerioporus sp., also known as Dryad’s Saddle or Jamur Pelana Peri Pohon in Indonesian. With the identification they gave, then I explored it further by simple online browsing.
From the name itself, it brings to mind a mythology association that is closely related to the world of fungi. In European mythology, elemental spirits or supernatural beings like fairies are uniquely associated to the existence of mushroom, and not infrequently presented in various works of visual art and literature. These actually made me appreciate the charms and presence of fungi even more.
Can you imagine a dryad sitting on this Dryad’s Saddle?
Characteristics of Dryad’s Saddle
This mushroom is quite unique in the ecosystem where I find it, so it’s not hard to distinguish it from other mushrooms. It has a circular or fan-shaped cap. On the top surface its colour is light brown with dark brown spots or scales, while its under cap is porous like a sponge in white or beige colour. It also has scent closest to fresh cucumber when picked, while some say it also smells like watermelon.
Habitat
Cerioporus sp. grows on dead logs, and usually appears back in the same location the following year.
This genus can be found in several continents, with most reports come from Europe and North America. In Indonesia, based on my observation in Komunitas Pemburu Jamur (a local mushroom hunter community), this genus has been found in Special Region of Yogyakarta, Semarang, East Nusa Tenggara, and Lampung.
For Consumption:
Dryad’s Saddle is edible, however as the mushroom gets older and has reached its maximum growth -characterized by its large size or opened underside pores- the texture tends to get tough or rubbery. It is recommended to choose the one that is still young, or no wider than the palm of your hand to make them more friendly to chew.
I only picked one small Dryad’s Saddle first, to try to consume and tested my body’s reaction to it, so that in the next discovery I would be more confident to eat this mushroom and not show an allergic reaction. I left the rest of Dryad’s Saddle to let them carrying out their functions in helping the decay process of the dead wood where I found them, and as wild critters’ food in the area.
Like other tough textured mushrooms, it is suggested to slice it thinly or fried it crispy. Quite simple, as I did below.
quite watery and tough to slice
still slightly tough but tasty
Disclaimer
Foraging wild mushroom is an enjoying and rewarding experience with dangerous risks involved. The risks come from but are not limited to possibility of misidentifying, allergic or toxic reaction to edible wild mushroom (as each individual has different wild mushroom tolerance), toxic combo when consuming certain wild mushroom (such as with alcohol, coconut, or soda), the processing method, and doing the outdoor activity. It is highly recommended to get help from experienced foragers and understand the principle of foraging safety, for beginners. Golden rules of foragers:
Don’t harvest or consume wild mushrooms/plants you do not know. Each individual is responsible for every possible risk from your own result of consuming wild mushrooms/plants.
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