A Monthly Report of Mushroom Finds and Prospects
By Bob Gorman
For most of us this spring, mushrooming has had to share time with gardening chores, hikes in wildflower country and even getting out to the beach on sunny, balmy weekends. But as you catch up on the weeding, you’re likely to find occasional Agaricus xanthodermus, Lepiota naucina (smooth parasol), Marasmius oreades (fairy ring mushroom) on the lawn and even a few Clitocybe nuda (blewits) out by the compost heap. A Burlingame resident found a large Morchella esculenta (morel) growing in some garden debris in his back yard. I saw a cluster of Coprinus micaceus (mica cap) growing out of the base of a neighbor’s fence post.
Even on a casual stroll through Golden Gate Park or a jog along Lake Merced you could come upon a nice fruiting of Agaricus augustus (prince) or Macrolepiota rachodes (shaggy parasol). More serious hunting has turned up the same species at Land’s End, along with the usual Agrocybe praecox (springtime agrocybe).
At Filoli, Bill Freedman reports seeing one lonely Amanita velosa, a few late A. phalloides (death cap) and a lone but perfect specimen of A. vaginata (grisette) of which his wife, Louise, made a beautiful drawing. There were also a few A. magniverrucata with an unusual feature: serrated gills. Along Sawyer Camp Road a downed log was literally covered with Schizophyllum commune (split gill). Amanita rubescens (the blusher) has been turning up. I found several choice specimens at Juniperro Serra Park. A. velosa (springtime amanita), however, seem to be scarce this year. Edgewood Park can boast of a golden clump of omphalotus olivascens (Jack-o- lantern) erupting at the edge of a trail.
At the time of this writing, Sierra morel season has been slow to begin. The Lake Tahoe area is blanketed with two to three feet of snow. But at the 3,000 foot level Norm Andresen did find some morels off Highway 50 on the north side of the American River. Morel hunters turned hopefully to the Point Reyes burn with modest success. Pat George, however, scored a nice collection on private land in the burn area above Inverness.
Beyond the morel season, don’t forget that during the summer some of the fog drip areas near the Bay can be amazingly productive. Among the more interesting spots, keep an eye on Golden Gate Park, Sunset Boulevard, the Monterey pine and cypress groves near Serramonte Boulevard, along Skyline Boulevard near Skyline College and even on Angel Island. Agaricus augustus and Macrolepiota rachodes can be found at Land’s End throughout the summer.
If you are traveling out of state this summer, you might include plans for collecting in areas which have a significant summer mushroom season. Telluride, Colorado can make for excellent collecting if you can tolerate the 10,000 foot elevation. On the east coast, the White and the Green Mountains, the Adirondacks and areas of the Appalachians can be interesting. Alaska, especially in the Juneau area, has a major summer season. By August, the season in the Lacrima Christi Mountains near Taos New Mexico gets into full swing with more than enough Boletus edulis (king bolete) to fill up a back pack. Have a great summer!
(To contribute to The Forager, call me at 415-588-7634, post your findings on Wade Leschyn’s Natural World Bulletin Board at 415-261- 1212 or e-mail to fstev@rahul.net. Thanks to Norm Andresen, Bill Freedman, Fred Stevens, Larry Stickney, Connie Green and Pat George who contributed to the preparation of this report.)