White Truffles vs. Black Truffles Among the most expensive fungi on the market, white truffles (Tuber magnatum) and black truffles (Tuber melanosporum) are prized by chefs, gourmets, and foragers around the world. Why are they so valued, though, and what is the difference? White truffles sell for significantly higher prices than black truffles. Is the … Read more
What is a Mushroom? A mushroom is a fruiting body of a kind of fungus. A fungus is a group of spore-producing organisms including mold, yeasts mushrooms, and toadstools. There are over 14,000 species of mushrooms among which there are only 14,000 known species. Mushrooms can be poisonous, medicinal or edible. A number of species … Read more
Mushroom Foraging Book Recommendations There is a lot to consider when buying a mushroom identification guide. After all, you want a good one so you can trust the ID. With a plethora of books on the market, it is hard to know which ones are worth the money. The best guides are ones that focus … Read more
What Is The Oregon Truffle and Does It Measure Up? A truffle mushroom that grows in Oregon, can it really compare to the highly-prized European truffles, the most expensive mushrooms in the world? The Italians and French may disagree, but this North American truffle is no side-show. In the last 20 years, Oregon truffles have … Read more
All About Lobster Mushrooms It sounds bizarre, a mushroom named lobster – what in the world can a mushroom and lobster have in common? Well, it turns out, a few things. To start, the color of this fungi (Hypomyces lactifluorum) is so intensely lobster red that it is extraordinary. And, on top of that, it … Read more
What are psilocybin mushrooms? Psilocybin mushrooms, also known as magic mushrooms, are a species of mushrooms that possess psychedelic properties and are often used as a psychedelic drug. Magic mushrooms have been around for thousands of years and have been used religiously as well as spiritually in many tribes. Today, shrooms are considered illegal in … Read more
The Legend of Fairy Ring Mushrooms Fairy Rings are a ring or arc of mushrooms formed within the soil that are arranged in an attractive circle (Lepp, 2012). They can be seen growing in your backyard or a wooded area after a heavy rain. Fairy Rings can be perceived as a bit of good luck … Read more
All About Inky Caps Inky caps are a fascinating mushroom type found around the world. They are most well known for their distinctive black gills, and their likelihood to liquefy into a mass of black goo before you get them home. The inky cap name is well-deserved as that goo was used as actual ink … Read more
Sustainable Mushroom Foraging: If You Love Mushrooms, Protect Them Foraging mushrooms means many different things to many different people. For some, it is a casual activity, enjoyed on walks and hikes. To others, it is a treasure hunt, with the goal of finding specific species and types. And then, some do it solely for profit. … Read more
The Spread of the Death Cap: Why You Need to Learn This Mushroom! Once only found in Europe, this opportunistic and very deadly mushroom now grows around the world. Transported inadvertently in mulch, bark, and trees around the globe, the death cap (Amanita phalloides) is now widely distributed, and the number one cause of mushroom-induced … Read more