Serendipity!
You got to love it, mushrooming that is, because it never ceases to amaze and surprise. Just imagine: birch boletes fruiting within blocks of the state capital in Salem, Oregon!
Steven and I had left Port Orford on Tuesday evening, the 29th of September, heading up the coast. After a tasty dinner at Eugene's Papa's Soul Food Kitchen & BBQ of pulled pork sandwiches and fried catfish, we ended our journey in Salem at a convenient hotel just off the freeway. Wednesday afternoon found Steven enjoying his time with long-time Salem resident and friend Sharky Arbuckle while I attended a meeting of the State of Oregon Employment Department Advisory Council. When the Advisory Council meeting ended around 4:30, I decided to stretch my legs and walk the landscaped areas around the Employment Department's building for a few minutes before the long drive back to Port Orford.
Leccinum scabrum were fruiting
on the capital grounds in Salem.
Imagine my amazement and surprise when I looked down in the grassy area near a small planting of birch and found a collection of perfectly and freshly formed boletes! Carefully I plucked them and placed them in a small bag that I just happened to be carrying, to await positive identification via David Arora's Mushrooms Demystified.
When we arrived back in Port Orford, the identification was clear: leccinum scabrum. Characteristically, the mushrooms had been located under birch in the early fall, most of them growing in the grassy areas under the trees. The spore prints were brown. The stalks were thick at the apex but thicker still at the bottom. There was a blueish-greenish cast to the top of the stems where they had been separated from the cap. The firm, solid, white stalks were roughened by numerous projecting tufted hairs which were brownish to black in color. The pores were dull white becoming dingy brownish in age, not blueing when bruised. The caps were 4-10 cm and convex. They were dull brown with no margin. The flesh was thick and white and did not stain when cut, although the stems did stain slightly pinkish when cut.
What serendipity! The mushroom gods are indeed generous!
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