I am coming down from the excitement that goes with helping with last Sunday's mushroom show in Bellingham. In spite of the very dry weather that proceeded it, club members found an impressive number of species and the show was as wonderful as ever. But now the rains are here and we can expect the fall mushrooms to appear in profusion.
Oyster mushroom (Pleurotiu pulminarius) have been appearing for the last month around my place despite the dry weather. In dry weather, you have a little time from when they fruit until harvesting, but in wet, you need to get them quickly or they go soggy and rot. Check your alder snags and downed alders often.
Deer Mushrooms (Pluteus cervinus) have also pushed through the dry, but their numbers should increase greatly with the rain. They always grow on rotten downed wood (that is one identifying criteria). They are not meaty, and they have a touch of bitterness, but it makes my day when I find them out back before breakfast and I saute them with onions to go with my eggs.
Shaggy Parasols (Chlorophyllum oliveria, C. brunneum, or C. rhachodes) were found for the show in small numbers. If we are lucky, they will be in our woods in large numbers soon. There were some smaller Lepiotas at the show that I hear can be mistaken for them, but I personally cannot see a similarity. Just to be sure, pick only big shaggy parasols off the ground under trees. If they are young, the ball on the stem should be 3" in diameter or bigger, and after they flatten out, the disk should be at least 4" in diameter. They are fine edibles.
There were lots of honey mushrooms brought in (Armillaria ostoyae). I found them several places when picking for the show, but all I find out back are the sulfur tufts (Hypholoma fasciculare). These are the brown mushrooms that grow in large clusters at the base of trees or on dead trees. If in doubt as to which you have, take a small bite of one and chew it a little, then spit it out. You can test any mushroom this way without any harm. A honey mushroom tastes good, a sulfur tuft tastes very bitter. The sulfur tufts are a little toxic, so do not eat them even if you like the bitterness. Be wary about bringing honey mushrooms into your forest, because they are parasitic and kill trees. An interesting thing about them is that they are one of the largest and longest lived organisms on the planet. By some estimates, one A. ostoyae in Oregon may cover 2200 acres, weigh 600 tons, and be 2400 years old. The forest is still growing over it, so the sky is not falling if you find it in your woods.
Lions manes, and bears heads (Hericium spp.) were found for the show. They are the "toothed" fungi and look like a mass of thick white or yellowish hair growing on the side of a hardwood tree. There is nothing else like them and they are delicious. I wish I had them out back.
Chanterelles (Cantharellus formosus) were being found at higher elevations during the drought, but now they should fruit around here. I hope the drought did not screw up their season. Being a mycorrhizal fungi, Chanterelles get the nourishment to fruit from the trees with which they associate. As the tree slows down for the winter, lots of carbohydrates go to the roots and nourish the fungi. If the nourishment is out of phase with needed moisture, the fungi is short of a necessary component for fruiting. Let's hope we still get a local season.
There were a couple of small cauliflower mushrooms (Sparassis crispa) but none of the huge ones that can appear. If you found one before, look in the same place again, since they often reappear.
Lobster mushrooms (Hypomyces lactiflourum on Russula spp.) have been common during the drought and may continue to be around.
All of the species I have mentioned can be found with very good descriptions on the web. If you are not sure about it, don't eat it. If in doubt, search the web a little more or call a friend who is into wild mushrooms. It is worth learning a species or two every year.
I am sure I am missing some of the good local mushrooms, but the important part is that now is prime time for gathering the wild ones, having mushrooms with meals, and drying or pickling them for the rest of the year.
Oyster mushroom (Pleurotiu pulminarius) have been appearing for the last month around my place despite the dry weather. In dry weather, you have a little time from when they fruit until harvesting, but in wet, you need to get them quickly or they go soggy and rot. Check your alder snags and downed alders often.
Deer Mushrooms (Pluteus cervinus) have also pushed through the dry, but their numbers should increase greatly with the rain. They always grow on rotten downed wood (that is one identifying criteria). They are not meaty, and they have a touch of bitterness, but it makes my day when I find them out back before breakfast and I saute them with onions to go with my eggs.
Shaggy Parasols (Chlorophyllum oliveria, C. brunneum, or C. rhachodes) were found for the show in small numbers. If we are lucky, they will be in our woods in large numbers soon. There were some smaller Lepiotas at the show that I hear can be mistaken for them, but I personally cannot see a similarity. Just to be sure, pick only big shaggy parasols off the ground under trees. If they are young, the ball on the stem should be 3" in diameter or bigger, and after they flatten out, the disk should be at least 4" in diameter. They are fine edibles.
There were lots of honey mushrooms brought in (Armillaria ostoyae). I found them several places when picking for the show, but all I find out back are the sulfur tufts (Hypholoma fasciculare). These are the brown mushrooms that grow in large clusters at the base of trees or on dead trees. If in doubt as to which you have, take a small bite of one and chew it a little, then spit it out. You can test any mushroom this way without any harm. A honey mushroom tastes good, a sulfur tuft tastes very bitter. The sulfur tufts are a little toxic, so do not eat them even if you like the bitterness. Be wary about bringing honey mushrooms into your forest, because they are parasitic and kill trees. An interesting thing about them is that they are one of the largest and longest lived organisms on the planet. By some estimates, one A. ostoyae in Oregon may cover 2200 acres, weigh 600 tons, and be 2400 years old. The forest is still growing over it, so the sky is not falling if you find it in your woods.
Lions manes, and bears heads (Hericium spp.) were found for the show. They are the "toothed" fungi and look like a mass of thick white or yellowish hair growing on the side of a hardwood tree. There is nothing else like them and they are delicious. I wish I had them out back.
Chanterelles (Cantharellus formosus) were being found at higher elevations during the drought, but now they should fruit around here. I hope the drought did not screw up their season. Being a mycorrhizal fungi, Chanterelles get the nourishment to fruit from the trees with which they associate. As the tree slows down for the winter, lots of carbohydrates go to the roots and nourish the fungi. If the nourishment is out of phase with needed moisture, the fungi is short of a necessary component for fruiting. Let's hope we still get a local season.
There were a couple of small cauliflower mushrooms (Sparassis crispa) but none of the huge ones that can appear. If you found one before, look in the same place again, since they often reappear.
Lobster mushrooms (Hypomyces lactiflourum on Russula spp.) have been common during the drought and may continue to be around.
All of the species I have mentioned can be found with very good descriptions on the web. If you are not sure about it, don't eat it. If in doubt, search the web a little more or call a friend who is into wild mushrooms. It is worth learning a species or two every year.
I am sure I am missing some of the good local mushrooms, but the important part is that now is prime time for gathering the wild ones, having mushrooms with meals, and drying or pickling them for the rest of the year.
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