How to Identify Wild Mushrooms
By Filip Tkaczyk
Identifying wild mushrooms is exciting! There is nothing quite like the feeling of coming upon a strange and wonderful mushroom on a walk or wander. For many of us the next step is mushroom identification. To bring some fabulous fungi from the field and to the table can be a great pleasure, and gathering can complement a hike or walk through the woods.
The Basics
To start with, fungi are not animals or plants, they are their own group of organisms and actually have their own Kingdom altogether!
Furthermore, mushrooms are not even organisms in and of themselves, rather they are a reproductive part of an organism (in a way, like a fruit on an apple tree). There are some fungi such as molds, mildews and yeasts that do not form the fleshy mushrooms, but for our sake we will stick to the ones that do here in this article on identifying wild mushrooms. The main body of a mushroom-producing fungi is actually a fine network of thread-like lines called mycelium. These are usually invisible underground or inside rotting wood. You can learn more about mushroom reproduction and their complex life cycles by checking out some of the resources at the end of this article.
Finding Edible Wild Mushrooms
Where?
To start with, edible wild mushrooms are found in many different kinds of locations, including:
A majority of the most delicious edible wild mushrooms grow in association with specific types of trees. It can be of great benefit to learn to identify the trees that you find them growing with, as it can help you to locate more in the future and also help with your process for identifying wild mushrooms.
Here are a few tree-mushroom associations that can help in locating and identifying wild mushrooms:
When?Wild edible mushrooms - like all mushrooms - are dependent on moisture, so it probably won’t surprise you that they grow most abundantly during or shortly after times of significant rainfall.
In the Pacific Northwest, finding and identifying wild mushrooms can be done just about any time of the year. The best time tends to be during the late summer and throughout fall. Though some delicious, and sought after species like morels (Morchella sp.), are often found in springtime in their preferred habitats. Read about the preferences of your local edible mushroom species in a local field guide. It helps to know about the species you want to find before you start looking for them.
So, is this edible?
This is no doubt a question that pops into the heads of many mushroom observers. Identifying wild mushrooms is a process that requires some close and careful observation, as well as a good wild mushroom identification field guide or other detailed resource.
Here are some rules to begin with:
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