Here are seven of the most popular local mushrooms that can be foraged in Mendocino County, which also happen to be very versatile for cooking. William Sprague offers tips on where, when and how to find them, and in some cases, how to distinguish them from lookalikes.
Chanterelle
Perhaps Mendocino County’s most abundant mushroom, chanterelles also have one of the longest seasons. They can be found in coastal areas as early as August, as they are able to fruit without rain (these are known as “summer chanterelles”). Heavier fruitings happen once the rainy season gets under way and continue until it gets cold, around January. They are found in mixed conifer forests (hemlock, redwoods, firs, oaks, etc.) with ferns in the understory. Since mixed conifer forests make up a large portion of the flora in the county, chanterelles are not hard to find. But you have to know which slopes and ridges to look on: they start on southwest facing slopes and migrate to north and northeast facing slopes through the season. The hitch is that there are several other mushroom species that look very similar to chanterelles (including some that are inedible and poisonous), so you have to inspect them very closely to make sure you’ve got the right ones: chanterelles have ridges, not gills, and they have a solid stipe or stem, not a hollow one. Chanterelles also tear like string cheese, whereas lookalikes don’t. (Photo courtesy of William Sprague)
Black Trumpet
The delicate, flower-like black trumpet, which is actually a type of chanterelle, is most commonly found at least five miles from the coast, with the best spots around 20 miles inland. They tend to grow on sandy, gritty soil near groves of mixed hardwoods that are heavy on tanoaks. They are usually found on slopes – sometimes very steep – and migrate throughout the season from southwest facing to northeast facing ones. Black trumpets have a relatively long season (from December-ish to March-ish), and don’t like too much rain, which can tear their hollow funnels. (Photo by Iwona)
Porcini
The stout, tan-colored porcini have a fairly short season and are primarily coastal. Look for them around the base of pine trees—it doesn’t matter whether it’s shore pine, bishop pine, or bull pine, as long as it has needles. They can be found inland as well, mainly around pines, but sometimes around oak trees too. Porcini like sunny, moist, cool days after a good rain. The temperature does need to rise a bit at first to incite fruiting, but then needs to cool down again so that fungus gnats stay away. (Photo courtesy of William Sprague)
Chicken of the Woods
These wood-dependent fungi are a complicated species: sometimes they’ll have a banner year, then hardly be seen at all the following year, for reasons that are not always clear. Unlike many other species, they start early in the season in more inland areas, and migrate toward the coast later in the season. In coastal areas they can be found primarily around eucalyptus, and to a lesser extent around oak and redwood. Inland however, the script is flipped, and they are found primarily near oak. They are not heavily reliant on rain, and will fruit without a lot of moisture. They like oaks that are dead, dying or scarred (including stumps), but the spores will also attach to healthy trees with scored roots or trunks. (Photo by Nancy Kennedy/Getty Images)
Candy Cap
The highly sought-after, maple-scented candy cap is closely identified with Mendocino County, although it is not exclusively found in our area. Early in the season you can typically find them near tanoaks and pines within five miles of the coast, then once the rain really starts they’ll also appear further inland. Small and rusty-brownish with a hollow stem or stipe, they’re a little tough for beginners to find, because they’ve got five or six doppelgangers that often grow in the same patch of soil. One way to tell a true candy cap is by the scent. In the field, hold a flame under the edge of the cap until it starts to burn. If you smell a maple syrup aroma, you know it’s a candy cap. Or you can wait until you get home and dry them out – if they have the telltale maple scent after being dried, you’ve got the right ones. (Photo by Michael Turner/Wirestock)
Lobster
The lobster mushroom is one of the few local fungi that doesn’t have any lookalikes. Its sheer size and bold reddish-orange color make it hard to miss, and easy for beginners to find. Lobsters start to appear early in the season (around September-ish) and like to grow within 15 miles of coast near mixed conifers (with hemlock and firs thrown into the mix). They tend to fruit without a lot of rain. The lobster mushroom is named for its color, not its scent, although it does develop a fishy aroma when it starts to go bad. Incidentally, the color darkens almost to magenta as it gets older. (Photo by James/Adobe Stock)
Oyster
The greyish-white, flat-topped oyster is a great mushroom for beginners to forage because they’re very consistent: you can find them every month of the year, both inland and near the coast. Look for them on dead and dying oak and alder trees, particularly near streams and in areas that stay moist but cool for most of the year. Though oyster mushrooms do grow wild and are easy to find while foraging, they are also very easy to cultivate and are grown and sold by many companies in Mendocino County such as Mulligan Gardens and The Forest People. (Photo by Matthew/Adobe Stock)
Click here to read our tips for novice foragers.
Click here to read about the art of the hunt, and how to tune into the “mycoverse” for better, more productive foraging.
