2 weeks Ago
Every year, from the last week of August to the first week of November, I record the number of mushroom species fruiting as they reach their peak during September and October. Some years, they appear overnight, especially after rains, in large numbers, displaying many different shapes and colours. Some years during my mushroom workshop in late September or early October we have recorded more than 100 different species during the one-day workshop.
This year, I planned workshops on Sept. 14, 20 and 25 early in the year, thinking that I would hit the peak of the season. However, we experienced a very different mushroom season in 2024.
The first wave usually arrives in the last days of August, but on Sept. 2 there were very few mushroom species at Matheson Creek Camp. We received light rain on Sept.
10, which brought out the first honey mushrooms, and things were looking good for a great mushroom season that should last through all my workshop days. However, things turned very dry with no rain from Sept. 11 to 22.
Few mushrooms were found in this dry season, and I ended up cancelling the Sept. 14 and 20 workshops. Rain did arrive from Sept.
23 to 26, which brought out some mushrooms. However, too late to generate mushroom interest for the Sept. 25 workshop.
People need to see mushrooms carpeting the forest before it spikes their interest in mushrooms. Honey mushrooms in big numbers ringed the base of the trunks of many red pine trees in Copeland Forest on Sept. 26.
The rains flooded the Orchid Trail in Copeland Forest, which had over 3 cm of standing water, and the trail was dotted with many colourful painted bolete mushrooms. Also, there were a few bear’s head and comb tooth mushrooms in good numbers for those who enjoy eating these two species. There were good numbers of hemlock vanish shelves on a large fallen eastern hemlock in Copeland Forest, but they were beginning to look very dry by Oct.
4. Dry conditions again resulted in very few mushrooms in the woods on Friday, Oct. 11.
We had lost our great mushrooms season in September, and I now started to lose hope for a better season in October. There were still very few mushrooms fruiting by Thursday, Oct. 17 when I visited Copeland Forest to check logs where I had observed many polypores in previous years.
Overnight temperatures on Wednesday, Oct. 16 dropped to near freezing, and frost was on the roofs the next morning. This made me hope for some late mushroom species like late fall oysters.
I checked the George Langman Sanctuary wetland on Sunday, Oct. 20, where I usually find lots of mushrooms at this time of year, but I found none. Late fall oysters are often referred to as the harbinger of the end of the mushroom season in late fall or winter, depending on the geographic location.
I learned about the late fall oyster early in my mushroom studies by the scientific name panellus serotinous, but today, it is called sarcomyxa sertotina. However, it goes by several common names besides late fall oyster, like olive oysterling, late oyster, green oyster, and, for those who like to eat it, mukitake. It is considered a prize edible in Japan.
They fruit in large numbers on fallen logs after the first frost, lasting well into winter, and are easy to identify and collect. They look like the white common oyster but have a green cap and are in a different family. They tend to be tough, sometimes bitter, and there were false reports of them being potentially carcinogenic.
Recent studies have shown very small traces of carcinogenic elements but many anti-carcinogenic properties. This is a species of mushroom with lots of good properties, easy to find in large numbers and easy to identify. Only the common oyster, pleurotus ostreatus, which is buff, and the mock oyster, phyllotopsis nidulans, which is orange, look similar.
However, if you decide to eat this species, ensure it is well-cooked since every wild mushroom should always be cooked and not eaten raw. Also, taste one to ensure it is not bitter since some varieties have been reported to be bitter. Taste one in the field, spit it out, and only bring this species home if it is not bitter.
If one tastes bitter, the rest of the group will also taste bitter. It is a common and colourful mushroom that you can try during mushroom season when there are very few mushrooms. Top stories delivered to your inbox.
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