Winter Mushrooms

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I would love to have the opportunity to go and pick my mushrooms from the forest, but I live in a busy town.

I'm out in the Chicago area, but we get excited about winter harvest, too They were frozen solid, which actually worked out well - it was a long hike back to the car and being frozen they didn't get all broken up in the sack. Had to be patient when cooking them though - once thawed they were even more wet than usual. Elena - Even busy towns have wild edible mushrooms. I pick birch boletus a type of porcini two blocks down the street from my home in Seattle.

Anonymous - Nice score!

That dish you made is so mouthwatering. I have tried quite a number of mushroom dishes, but not the winter chanterelles. Oh, I wish I can try them one time.

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Picked about 40 lbs. But Thawed out nicely. Thats on the BC coast I find them with my friend near a coniferous area with a moist pillow mossy and swampy lowland no closer than a meter or two from the swamp, but not further than 20 meters away and never on dry land or foothills. Seems to like very moist areas where there are a lot of coniferous logs decomposing and plenty of moss. Thursday, November 17, Winter Mushrooms. Posted by Langdon Cook at Newer Post Older Post Home.

Searching for Wild Salmon, from River to Table. On the Trail of an Underground America. Now in Paperback Buy Fat of the Land: It is smaller than the golden chanterelle Cantharellus cibarius and has a dark brown cap with paler gills and a hollow yellow stem. It has a very distinctive smokey, peppery taste when raw. It grows in temperate and cold parts of Northern America and Europe, including Scandinavia, Finland, Russia, and the British Isles, as well as in the Himalayas in Asia, including Assam , [1] [ unreliable source?

Winter Mushroom | Goba

The cap is convex and sometimes hollow down the middle. The gills are widely separated, and of lighter color than the cap. It grows on moss or rotten wood, and in Northern America it is found mostly in conifer bogs. Molecular phylogenetics has shown that C. Additionally, it appears that there are two distinct genetic populations that have traditionally been called tubaeformis: If these two groups are defined as separate species, the "eastern" yellowfoot would retain the scientific epithet tubaeformis due to the origin of the type specimens in Sweden.

Chaga, a medicinal fungus used for centuries in traditional Siberian medicine, typically inhabits the circumpolar boreal forests of the world.

While it grows almost exclusively on birch trees, it has also been spotted on elm, ash, beech, and ironwood trees. For detailed information on how to locate and identify this incredible fungus, please check out a recent piece I created on this very subject, entitled Is This Chaga? And for a recipe using the chaga fungus as a base for an upgraded hot chocolate, please check out this additional clickable link: Bulletproof Hot Chaga Chocolate Recipe. One particular fungus really begins to shine this time of year when hardly a mushroom wishes to poke its fruiting body from the earth.

I am referring to the aptly named turkey tail fungus.

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Look around at the logs, stumps, and fallen branches in your neck of the woods — and you may eventually discover turkey tail. Other species within the Trametes genus resemble turkey tail, though the latter can be distinguished by its multicolored concentric zones and whitish pores on the underside. Look-alike fungi usually lack the brilliant colors of turkey tail, or they may be hairier Trametes hirsuta. Additionally, look-alikes may lack pore surfaces genus Stereum , or their pores may be colored. Turkey tail is not necessarily edible too tough , though it sure is medicinal.

One particular study found that turkey tail can improve immune system status in immuno-compromised breast cancer patients following conventional cancer treatment 7. These findings are extremely important, as the study was not conducted on animals, nor in petri dishes, but rather on living human subjects. A more recent human trial again — not in animals, nor in petri dishes found that a polysaccharide extracted from turkey tail mycelia displayed prebiotic effects in the human microbiome stimulating the growth and maintenance of beneficial intestinal bacteria.

In the same study, participants who were instead fed Amoxicillin an antibiotic demonstrated detrimental shifts towards more pathogenic bacteria in their microbiome, with effects lasting up to 42 days after their final antibiotic dose 8. This is one of the most common fungi found in birch forests, and like a few other mushrooms described in this post, it can be found year-round.

Now, some sources report that it is best to harvest this fungus in the summer months into early fall, and I suspect this is because the growing season for the birch polypore generally includes these seasons.

Hence, young specimens which are preferred for collection are prolific during this time. I have included the birch polypore with this list of winter mushrooms because, at least here in Pennsylvania, young fruiting bodies can indeed be found at least into January the above photo was taken in late-December, The birch polypore is fairly easy to recognize. It typically has a tan cap with inrolled margins, a whitish pore surface, and a somewhat tough though not rock-hard texture.

Growth is almost exclusive on living or dead paper and yellow birch trees.

A multipurpose fungus, its utility extends far beyond food and medicine into the survival realms of fire making and blood coagulation. Medicinally, birch polypore has been shown to be an important species with anticancer, antimicrobial, antiviral, and antibacterial properties. To receive the concentrated power within the birch polypore, you can use freshly picked young specimens, thinly sliced and boiled, as food. Teas and tinctures can be made as well. This fungus contains betulinic acid 9 — the same compound in chaga, derived from the birch tree, that confers several health benefits anti-tumor, anti-cancer.

It has been my experience that the birch polypore is much more common than chaga more frequent sightings, more fruiting bodies. It seems that medicinal diversity is essential for great health, and cycling between chaga and birch polypore instead of relying solely on chaga can benefit not only the health of the boreal forests, but our personal health as well. While hunting mushrooms in the early summer days, you may discover this species. While hunting mushrooms in autumn and early winter, you may also discover this species. The wood ear, also known as the jelly ear, is an edible mushroom found throughout the year, usually growing in clusters on logs, branches, and stumps of both coniferous and deciduous trees.

Characteristics of this mushroom include its cup-shaped, ear-like appearance, its reddish-brown color, rubbery to gelatinous texture, and a surface that usually includes minutely fine hairs. The wood ear is indeed edible and, like many mushrooms, it also possesses numerous medicinal properties. Studies have shown that Auricularia mushrooms contain anti-viral, antioxidant, anti-tumor, and immuno-supportive compounds 10, 11, 12, Additionally, a water soluble polysaccharide from Auricularia fungi has been shown to reduce triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol, and total cholesterol levels in animal studies Can you blame me though?

During your next winter excursion, see what kinds of cold-loving fungi can be found. The number may be greater than you think. Yes, I know … I opened up this article by expressing a slight ebbing to the excitement I feel for winter mushroom hunting.

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Yes, this is how I feel even after finding a single mushroom during a winter walk. Am I alone on this one?

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To receive information from Adam Haritan on wild plant and mushroom identification, please enter your name and email address below. I am new to this part of the country from the dry, dying west coast. I recently fell in love with foraging edibles when my family stumbled on to about 30 lbs of the most delicious Maitake while on a Sunday hike exploring our local woods. I started to feel the impending doom of a long cold winter looming over me and was wondering what I could do to pass the time.

I look forward to adding some of these to my list.

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Great article, very inspiring. I had forgotten about how many interesting edible and medicinal mushrooms can be found this time of year.

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