Hedgehog fungus. Cream-coloured mushrooms, excellent to eat, easily found in woods from late summer to late autumn (US: fall). They have a sort of downy white stem leading up to a cap which is centrally depressed and under which are masses of little spines, giving the mushroom its English name. It is quite a good mushroom to collect as it is easily distinguished from other mushrooms, is a relative of the chanterelle, and, like it, has good flavour and good retention of texture on long cooking.
False morel mushrooms. They are deadly poisonous if not cooked, closely resembling real morel mushrooms, being wrinkled and brown in the same way. However, morel mushrooms are symmetrical while false morels are irregular in shape and look like a brown brain, while true morels are more like a sponge. True morels have hollow stems while those of false morels are solid. Be careful to check each of these features before attempting to eat one. They have a fine flavour and are generally parboiled. They are popular in Nordic countries and in Finland especially.
