October is a month of transition along the California coast. Shortening days hint of winter, but with dry offshore breezes dissipating the fog, the weather remains warm and pleasant. While most of us enjoyed the Indian summer weather, the lack of fog led to poor mushroom fruitings along the coast in August, September and early October. Mushroom collectors turned their attention to the Sierra, which although also unusually dry this summer, benefited from last winter’s abundant rain and snow. Many areas stayed relatively moist well into the fall. Reporting on the September 29/October 1 Santa Cruz Fungus Federation Echo Summit Foray, Greg Ferguson commented that “There were more wild flowers in bloom than I remember seeing. The aspens were all still green, not yellow yet and the meadows were lush and wet and the streams and rivers flowing.” It may not have been wet enough to encourage prodigious fruitings of Boletus edulis (king bolete), nonetheless there were enough ceps to sustain “boletivores” until the coastal season gets underway.
One of the better Sierra collecting areas was Echo Summit which overlooks the Tahoe Basin. Norm Andresen and friends found several species of Boletaceae: Boletus edulis, B. rubripes (red-stemmed bitter bolete), Suillus brevipes (short-stemmed slippery jack), and S. albidipes. Buttons of these Suillus species are excellent for pickling. Bob Mackler forayed in the same general area a few days earlier and found B. edulis, B. calopus (bitter bolete) and B. haematinus. Also found were Hydnum imbricatum (hawk’s wings), Tricholoma flavovirens (man on horseback), Gomphus floccosus (scaly chanterelle), and several polypores: Bondarzewia montana, Laetiporus sulphureus (sulfur shelf), Cryptoporus volvatus (veiled polypore) and Fomitopsis pinicola (red-belted conk). A surprising find was Gyromitra esculenta (false morel), normally a spring fruiter.
Some of the best collecting at Echo summit (nearly 80 species!) was at the Fungus Federation’s annual foray. In addition to many of the finds mentioned above, there were collections of Boletus fibrillosus, B. subtomentosus (boring brown bolete), B. truncatus, Leccinum insigne (aspen bolete), Suillus lakei (western painted suillus), S. tomentosus (blue-staining slippery jack) and Gastroboletus amyloideus, all in the Boletaceae. There were several Amanitas: A. gemmata (jonquil amanita), A. magniverrucata (pine cone amanita) and A. muscaria (fly agaric including the two variants: alba and formosa), several Russulas: R. brevipes (short-stemmed russula), R. cremoricolor (creamy russula), R. densifolia (reddening russula), R. xerampelina (shrimp russula) and R. gracilis; Lactarius representaneus (a woolly capped milk cap that stains purple), several waxy-caps that differ from those common in redwood habitat: Hygrocybe marginata (orange-gilled waxy cap), Hygrophorus erubescens, H. hypothejus (olive-brown waxy cap), H. purpurascens (purple-red waxy cap), H. discoideus plus Pholiota squarrosa (scaly pholiota) and P. aurivella (golden pholiota).
At the September General Meeting there was a display of several pristine Boletus aereus (queen boletes) which Norm Andresen and Mike Boom had collected in New Mexico. For the trip home they packed them with some dry ice and noticed upon arrival, that all of the ones which had been maggot-infested were absolutely maggot-free. The wigglys were stopped dead in their tracks by the heavy dose of carbon dioxide. (Serious Boletus collectors take note!)
Polypores can easily be overlooked when there is a wealth of fleshy fungi in the forest. But with gilled mushrooms not scheduled to arrive in nearby forests for several weeks and polypores abundant on tree-logs recently felled from the stress of the 6-year drought, it’s a great time to study this group. On a couple of hikes in the Santa Cruz mountains I found Daldinia grandis (carbon balls), Trichaptum abietinus (violet-pored bracket fungus), Trametes versicolor (turkey tail), Fomitopsis pinicola (red-belted conk), Inonotus dryadeus (weeping conk), two Ganodermas: G. oregonense (varnished conk) and G. applanatum (artist’s conk), and several striking Phaeolus schweinitzii (dyer’s polypore). The latter ranged in age and color from a “dark-roast coffee” brown to younger specimens which had deep Burgundy-red centers shading off to rust brown and finally a caramel-cream color around the periphery. It’s no wonder that this fungus is the source of such rich and varied fabric dyes. The lone fleshy fungus I found, was tentatively identified as Hypholoma dispersum, a mushroom not normally found in this area.
Looking ahead to November, snow will have chased fungiphiles out of the High Sierra, but there are still interesting areas at lower elevations. Of particular note is Bullards Bar in the foothills East of Marysville. Jackson State Forest and Salt Point have been much heralded for November forays (see Mycena News for October). Locally, lawns and ball-fields can be productive for Marasmius oreades (fairy-ring mushroom), Agaricus campestris (meadow mushroom) and A. arvensis (horse mushroom). You might like to check out some of the spectacular fruitings of Clathrus ruber (latticed stinkhorn) in Golden Gate Park. Larry Stickney reports that young buttons are delicious, although I haven’t tried them myself. Those who are unable to make the trip to Salt Point and beyond might look for ceps at Land’s End, the Presidio, Tomales Bay State Park and in the East Bay Hills. Chanterelles should begin to fruit under live oak. The first ones of the season are always the best and most succulent. Two State Forests: Bogg’s Mountain (North East of the Napa Valley) and Soquel (East of Summit Rd. exit off Rt. 17) are worth checking (collecting allowed with permit). There should be some spectacular fruitings of Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushrooms) on downed hardwood tree logs, particularly those which have fallen over a stream. I think you will find that oysters collected in woodlands are infinitely more tasty than the rather cardboardy cultivated ones you find in supermarkets. And do attend the Mushroom Workshop on identification and mushroom cookery which we are planning for the November General Meeting. Hope to see you there!
(To contribute to The Forager, call me at 415-588-7634 or post your findings on Wade Leschyn’s Natural World Bulletin Board at 415-261-1212. Thanks to Fred Stevens, Larry Stickney, Bob Mackler, Norm Andresen, Mike Boom and Greg Ferguson (via DUFF, the newsletter of the Santa Cruz Fungus Federation) who contributed to the preparation of this report.)