A bush-whacking visit to fungi heaven Oct. 16, 2009

Island Wild for Fri. Oct. 16, 2009

Boletes (most of them edible) resemble a hamburger bun on a thick stalk. Photo Christine Scott

I thought it would be an easy walk in the park. Instead, I found myself crashing through the bush, shoulder-deep in salal and huckleberry shrubs, brushing cobwebs from my face as I tried to keep my footing on wet, moss-covered rocks and roots.

Such is the lot of a serious mushroom hunter, and on a Saturday morning in early October, some 20-plus fungi aficionados took part in a mushroom walk led by veteran mushroom man Sequoia Lesosky. We were looking for killers and lobsters and kings and queens…and seeking to tell them apart.

We headed into Campbell River’s Beaverlodge Forest, just kitty-corner to the Hilchey-Dogwood intersection, at first along a well-worn pathway…then off-trail and deep into fungi heaven.

“Mushrooms,” Lesosky explained, “are the fruiting body, much like the apple on an apple tree.” The mushroom we see – the fruit body – is only the reproductive part of the fungus organism.The vegetative state of fungi are thread-like structures called mycelia, hidden deep within soil, bark or moss.

Almost instantly, our guide finds an innocuous-looking white mushroom called Destroying Angel (Amanita virosa) – a deadly species which, if ingested, will kill in 24 hours. Lesosky warns it is very common locally. The stem at the base is bulbous and enclosed in a baglike volva…a distinguishing feature of the deadly Amanita family.

Our ultimate quarries though, are the edible varieties, primarily the bright orange-red, seafood-scented lobster mushroom (Hypomyces lactifluorum). Unique and unmistakable, lobsters grow in patches, peeking out from under a moss carpet under old-growth or second-growth forest.

Lobster mushrooms usually begin life as white russula or lactarius mushrooms. Under certain conditions, a mold-like parasitic fungus completely covers its host mushroom with a vivid orange-red coating that obliterates the gills. It’s considered a meaty and prime edible, but care must be taken to assure the host species. But waste no time: according to Lesosky, the lobsters “Come up fast and go bad fast.”

Another sought-after edible, the boletes, feature a spongy underside with round pores instead of gills (the Dutch call them “squirrels’ bread”). Looking every bit like a hamburger bun on a thick stalk, boletes (porcini) are easy to identify and represent the safest mushroom family to find and eat. King and queen bolete flesh retains its white colour when cut. Dreams of creamed porcini on toast fill the air…or at least imaginations.

Most mushrooms are symbiotic with certain trees, and can usually be found beneath them. Short-stemmed russulas and coral mushrooms, for example, love to live beneath fir trees.

Long ago, aboriginal groups realized the value of mushrooms and utilized them in various ways. Even the humble, woody polypore of “artist’s conk” fame was once dried and used to carry fire or to make dye.

In autumn, edible mushrooms in a variety of shapes and sizes hide in every forest: boletes, cauliflowers, chanterelles, chicken-of-the-woods, oysters and even a cup-shaped fungus called orange peel.

According to Lesosky, this fall should turn out to be a very good mushroom season. Good places to forage include: Crown Land, Loveland Bay, Beaverlodge Lands and the Snowden Forest. Seek permission if foraging on inactive woodlots. Safety hints: Always use a compass; carry a lighter (to make fire) and a knife.