We've been traveling over the past month and away from our usual mushroom world ... but more about that exotic foray in a later post.
Now that we're back on the southern Oregon coast and fully engaged in the woodlands, here's an update on the fruitings in two of our favorite locations: Port Orford and Mt. Hood.
Coral hydnum, golden and white chanterelles
along with matsutake are amongst our recent finds.
Port Orford: A fresh batch of fungi is carpeting the forest floor. We're gathering edibles such as lovely golden chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius), clusters of the amazing lavender and tan pig's ears (Gomphus clavatus), and Zellar's boletes (Boletus zeller). All of which are young and of the highest quality.
Sadly, it seems that most of our white chanterelles (Cantharellus subalbidus) have come and gone for the year. They are always the first to fruit and also the first to depart.
Filling the spaces between the highly desirable mushrooms are an abundance of other fungi, especially from the genus Russula and Amanita along with a multitude of Suillus. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that there are mushrooms everywhere you step!
Although we don't personally think of the sulphur shelf (Laetiporus sulphureus) as a choice edible, we were delighted to find that our reoccuring specimen is back again this year on its usual fallen tree, in full and colorful display. It's always so magical to encounter this massive yellow-orange body nestled in amongst the greens and browns of the surrounds. Just between you and us, however, we're quite puzzled as to how it earned the nickname of "Chicken of the Woods", when, in fact, neither the flavor nor the texture are even remotely reminiscent of chicken to us. Truthfully, we both agree that it is rather bland when it comes to taste and somewhat like an ill-tempered cheese in texture. Yet, it's an exceptional visual discovery, thanks to its massive size and in-your-face colors.
Mt. Hood: There was no disappointment as we braved the warm rains this past Thursday afternoon to explore one of our favorite matsutake patches on the east side of this "potentially active volcano", or so it's deemed by the USGS. Certainly, the matsutake (Tricholoma magnivelare) were not in abundance but the ones that we did find were in prime condition. They'll soon be a tasty addition to our lunch plate!
Friday morning found us exploring near the hamlet of Brighthood on the west side of the mountain and departing with a collection of the marvelous snowy white tooth fungi, coral hydnum (Hericium coralloides), gathered from the same decomposing log where it has repeatedly grown over the past several years.
All in all, Steven and I agree that we're in the midst of another wonderful mushroom season in the Pacific Northwest!
Picture perfect ... but not a desirable edible.