Wild Edible Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest
- This guide covers wild edible mushrooms of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and the Rocky Mountains. This list only contains "safe" mushrooms - those that can be reliably identified and have no deadly-poisonous lookalikes. As a safety precaution, all mushrooms should be cooked before eating. Warning: never experiment with a mushroom that you cannot positively identify. A poisonous mushroom can kill you. Mushrooms contain few calories and are not worth the time/risk in survival situations.
Apricot Jelly Mushroom - Guepinia helvelloides
- fruiting body is up to 6cm wide, salmon-pink to rose.
- flesh is smooth, genatinous, and malleable.
- stem base has regions of white mycelium.
- appears in spring, summer and fall.
- grows as several to many after rainy periods in areas with conifers.
- has a pleasant taste with no odor; cook before eating.
Fairy Ring Mushroom - Marasmius oreades
- cap up to 6cm wide, convex, smooth, tan to light brown.
- older specimens have flying-saucer shaped caps, often
slightly darker on the central hump. - flesh is thin, white.
- gills are broadly attached to the stem, tan, well-spaced,
veined. - stem is solid, NOT hollow, and characteristically tough -
able to wrap around your finger without breaking. Smooth, dry, tan, darker brown/red and hairy at the base, lacking a partial veil. - grows in grassy areas, meadows and fields, forming partial
or complete rings. - appears in spring, sumer or fall.
- taste is mild and pleasant; cook before eating.
- warning: avoid specimens growing near highways, which may contain toxic car exhaust compounds.
Bear's Head Tooth Mushroom - Hericium americanum
- fruiting body is 10-30cm wide, white, turning yellowish with age.
- fungus branches from a thick stipe that is attached to the wood.
- branch-tips bear many long white spines hanging downward.
- appears in late summer and fall.
- grows on hardwood and conifer logs.
- has a nutty taste and mild odor; cook before eating.
Blue Chanterelle - Polyozellus multiplex
- caps are up to 10cm wide, flat, smooth, dark purple to blue/black with
incurved edges. - fruiting body is funnel-shaped.
- outside of the mushroom is pale violet with small ridges running down almost
to the base. - flesh is thick, soft, blue to black.
- stems are fused together.
- appears in sumer and fall.
- grows in large, dense clusters under conifers such as spruce and fir.
- taste is mild and pleasant, with an indistinct odor; cook before eating.
Chicken of the Woods - Laetiporus sulphureus
- young specimens have moist, rubbery sulphur-yellow to organge body, sometimes with bright orange tips.
- older specimens become pale and brittle, chalk-like.
- grows on wounds of trees.
- individual shelves are 2-10 inches across, made up of tiny tubular filaments.
- cook before eating.
- warning: can cause allergic reaction in some people from toxins absorbed from tree; begin by sampling small, young specimens.
Cauliflower Mushroom - Sparassis crispa
- has no stem, gills, tubes, pores or spines.
- resembles cauliflower or sponge in shape and color (darkest is light brown).
- can be found in the fall in the Pacific Northwest.
- cook before eating.
Comb Tooth Mushroom - Hericium coralloides
fungus is white, 10-30cm wide, turning yellowish with age.
fungus branches from a thick stalk that is attached to the wood.
branches have short white spines along their lengths.
appears in late summer and fall.
grows on conifers and hardwoods.
has a nutty taste and mild odor; cook before eating.
Common Puffball - Lycoperdon perlatum
- has conical spines, and net-pattern when spines are rubbed off.
- flesh must be firm and all-white .
- flesh must be undifferentiated (no trace of gills, etc), no thick rind or outline of mushroom visible in cross section.
- color is white/off-white.
- found in groups.
- no unpleasant smell.
- cook before eating.
- warning: do not confuse with young specimens of the deadly Destroying Angel (which have no spines and have faint differentiation inside) or the Stinkhorn (which is dark inside).
Hedgehog Mushroom - Hydnum repandum
- has distinctive spines.
- cap margin is wavy edged.
- flesh is matte white when freshly cut, and colors in places to yellow-brown or rusty yellow.
- found on ground, not on trees.
- cap color is light brown.
- can be found from October to November in the Pacific Northwest.
- cook before eating.
Horn of Plenty, Black Chanterelle, Black Trumpet - Craterellus cornucopioides
- found in groups.
- funnel shaped.
- smooth-looking but slightly wrinkled outer surface.
- outer side is ash or pale grey with bluish or lilac tint.
- inner side is brown, brown grey, soot grey or black.
- scaly inside surface.
- top is rolled out, or wavy/split in older specimens.
- can be found in fall in the Pacific Northwest.
- cook before eating.
King Bolete, Cepe - Boletus edulis
- has white network on top of stem.
- tubes, pores, and flesh do not change color when cut.
- tubes are off-white, cream, yellow-olive, or olive.
- pores do not show any pink tinge.
- cap is wood brown, mud brown, or dark reddy brown.
- found September to November in the Pacific Northwest.
- cook before eating.
- tip: boletes are mushrooms that grow on the ground and have a sponge-like surface on the underside of the cap (tiny pores, rather than gills). There are no deadly-poisonous boletes, though some poisonous varieties can cause nausea/vomiting. An unknown bolete is safe if it does not bruise blue after being cut, is not red on the underside of the cap, and does not taste foul.
Larch Bolete - Suillus grevillei
- has yellow tubes.
- has solid stem.
- has bright orange/yellow/golden cap, sticky (or slimy when wet).
- flesh in cap flushes faintly lilac.
- found in groups near larch trees.
- cap is ~2.5 inches across in mature specimen.
- young specimens have tubes covered in veil.
- intermediate age and mature specimens have ring, with faint net pattern above ring.
- cap is brown.
- cook before eating.
- tip: boletes are mushrooms that grow on the ground and have a sponge-like surface on the underside of the cap (tiny pores, rather than gills). There are no deadly-poisonous boletes, though some poisonous varieties can cause nausea/vomiting. An unknown bolete is safe if it does not bruise blue after being cut, is not red on the underside of the cap, and does not taste foul.
Morel - Morchella spp.
- hollow inside.
- cook before eating.
- warning: may be poisonous if consumed with alchohol.
Oyster Mushroom - Pleurotus ostreatus
- grows on trees.
- cap is cream or light grey colored, fan or oyster shaped.
- no poisonous look-alikes in North America.
- cook before eating.
Red Cracked Bolete - Boletus chrysenteron
- has yellow tubes.
- yellow pores buise blue.
- flesh bruises blue.
- cracks and damaged patches in cap have red tinge.
- cap is mid-dark brown.
- found in fall in the Pacific Northwest.
- cook before eating.
- tip: boletes are mushrooms that grow on the ground and have a sponge-like surface on the underside of the cap (tiny pores, rather than gills). There are no deadly-poisonous boletes, though some poisonous varieties can cause nausea/vomiting. An unknown bolete is safe if it does not bruise blue after being cut, is not red on the underside of the cap, and does not taste foul.
Golden Chanterelle, Chanterelle - Cantharellus cibarius
