Mushroom hunting

Mushroom hunting, also referred to as mushroom foraging, mushroom picking, and mushrooming, is the activity of gathering wild mushrooms. These are collected for use as food (usually cooked and some only conditionally), psychotropic drugs, and dye. Analysis is required to distinguish between useful and poisonous species, often requiring advanced techniques.

The practice is popular throughout most of Eurasia and Australia, as well as in West Africa and temperate North America.

Numerous field guides on mushrooms are available to help distinguish between edible or psychotropic species and poisonous or inedible species. (Outside of biotechnological applications, so-called medicinal fungi are discounted as folk medicine.)

Morphological characteristics of the caps, gills, and stems of mushrooms are often essential for correct visual identification. Microscopy is sometimes needed to eliminate lookalikes. A common identification method is the spore print, in which a mushroom is placed on a surface and spores fall underneath.

Mushrooms generally begin to fruit when it is both warm and moist in their region. In the North American Pacific Northwest, species shortly occur from spring to summer, but are most common in autumn. In the Southwestern United States, mushrooms can be found during the winter rains and spring. In the Midwest and Northeast U.S., they can be found from late April until the frosts of autumn. In the Colorado Rockies, they are best collected in July and August. They can be found through winter on the Gulf Coast.

Many species of mushrooms are highly prized. Chanterelles, for example, are popular in both Europe and the United States. On the West Coast of the United States, they are harvested commercially. Hedgehog mushrooms, name for the spines on the underside of the cap, are also popular. Morels are another very popular edible mushroom. Lobster mushrooms are edible as well, and have a shellfish-like flavor. They also have no look-alikes. The porcini (Boletus edulis) is also edible and very highly regarded. It is very popular in Italy, and prized for its nutty flavor.

The Caesar's mushroom is another edible mushroom. However, it is in the Amanita genus, and therefore one must be very careful when identifying it. It gets its name because it was popular among Roman emperors. The matsutake, another edible mushroom, is popular in Japan. It also occurs in the Pacific Northwest. There are actually multiple species of matsutakes, and the Japanese species does not occur in North America. The matsutake has a spicy aroma, which David Arora has likened to "Red Hots and dirty socks". Care must be taken to not confuse the matsutake with the extremely poisonous Smith's amanita. Many truffles are also highly prized for their unique flavor and aroma, and can sell for very high prices.

The term little brown mushroom (LBM) refers to any of a large number of small, dull-coloured agaric species, with few uniquely distinguishing macromorphological characteristics. As a result, LBMs typically range from difficult to impossible for mushroom hunters to identify. Experienced mushroom hunters may discern more subtle identifying traits that help narrow the mushroom down to a particular genus or group of species, but exact identification of LBMs often requires close examination of microscopic characteristics plus a certain degree of familiarity or specialization in that particular group.