Quest for Mushrooms

foraging for fungi Mushroom Collectors Delight in a Tasty Find, but Shun the Toxic Kind

In a mist of raindrops filtering down through ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and aspen trees, we spread out with our assortment of wicker collecting-baskets, net bags and cardboard boxes. We were hunting wild lobsters on an August day in the forest near Big Lake, in the White Mountains of east-central Arizona. "Here's one," someone called out. Voices echoed through the forest as we gathered round. It was a lobster all right-the brilliant "Day-Glo" orange color was unmistakable. It was a big one, heavy and solid and as large asmy hand, pushing up from its bed through the pine needles and leaves. A knife blade flashed and the lobster was tossed into a collecting basket-along with oysters, hawk's wings, turkey tails, wood ears, chanterelles, king boletes, chicken of the woods and honey mushrooms-all wild edible fungi prized by members of the Arizona Mushroom Club. More than 300 mushroom enthusiasts make up the Phoenix-based club. From senior citizens to families with toddlers, club [OPPOSITE PAGE] During a summertime White Mountains trek, members of the Arizona Mushroom Club found an edible aspen bolete (left) among an unknown species, which wisely was not harvested for dinner. Experts advise refraining from eating any mushroom unless it is accurately identified as edible. [CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT] Mushroom connoisseurs describe the cavernous yellow morel as having a pleasantly mild flavor. Although some species of coral fungi are edible, beware, as many of them may cause gastric upset. Most desirable when young and unexpanded, the shaggy mane is an excellent edible that some say tastes like asparagus.

members share two loves-tramping through Arizona's forests and enjoying the taste of wild mushrooms. Their quarterly newsletter, “The Arizona FUN-GI” (as in “fun guy”), is filled with mushroom lore, new discoveries, quizzes, cooking tips and recipes.

The group's greatest fun is going out on mushroom-hunting field trips several times a year. Forays are often spur-of-the-moment affairs, based on reported sightings by club members. Depending on rainfall, there may be a spring hunt for morels and one or two late summer outings in the White Mountains or along the Mogollon Rim. If rain has been plentiful, baskets can fill with a great variety of mushrooms.

The group finds delectable and deadly poisonous mushrooms in Arizona. Identification experts help ensure that a novice's first meal of fresh-picked mushrooms won't be his or her last.

Ask any mushroomer about a favorite gathering place and an embarrassing silence will follow. Similar to asking a fisherman about a secret fishing hole, this question qualifies as a major social blunder. Even the club foray locations are secret-never revealed until all members reach the prearanged meeting place.

On that rainy August day members gathered at the Big Lake store parking area, where they were approached by a large man with a white beard. Chuck Bingham of Show Low had seen a poster and wanted to know more about the club. His children had found an interesting mushroom and wondered about it. Bingham joined a crowd of some 40 avid club members surrounding Dr. Chester Leathers, the club's founder and president, and his wife, Rose Mary. Like Bingham, many of them had a mystery mushroom in hand, hoping for identification. Leathers didn't disappoint them.

There were so many people around him that all I could see of the doctor was his hand in the air, holding up each specimen as he called out the Latin and common names. A microbiologist, retired from Arizona State University, Leathers has visited the White Mountains for many years to study mush-rooms, identifying 12 new species of coral mushrooms in the process.

Scott Bates, then a graduate student at Arizona State University, thought that after he moved from Ohio to Arizona he would never see another mushroom. Three years ago he discovered a mushroom growing in his yard and contacted the Arizona Mushroom Club. Bates designed and maintains the group's impressive Web site. No one knows how many species of mushrooms are found in Arizona, but Bates is compiling a list that contains almost a thousand.

Jim and Doris Plos, a retired couple from Scottsdale, have been club members for five years. One of their favorites-the honey mushroom-can be frozen or dehydrated for later use. Like most members, they had set their sights on chanterelles and king boletes, two of the most sought-after mushrooms in Europe and North America. Chanterelles are especially prized for their delicate, fruity, apricotlike flavor, while king boletes have an earthy, nutty flavor. Both can be tricky to identify, but the chanterelles especially so, because there is a "false chanterelle" that looks almost the same to the untrained eye.

In a lecture presented the evening before at Before eating a mushroom, accurate identification is critical. Misidentification can lead to death, or to such severe gastrointestinal symptoms that you might wish you were dead. Wild mushrooms can be delectable or deadly poisonous.

At the Big Lake Visitor Center, Leathers explained that mushrooms are the fruit or the reproductive parts of fungi growing underground. Since the fungi do not produce seeds, the mushrooms appear aboveground to release spores. The actual underground plant is a mat of interwoven, rootlike filaments called hyphae, which make up a larger mass called the mycelium. A mycelium can range in size from an inch to more than many acres.

While some mushroom species are shortlived, others have been known to exist for more than a century. Harvesting the mushroom is like picking an apple-it doesn't harm the plant that produced it, and the same underground plant may produce fruit for many years.

"There are old mushroom hunters and bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old, bold mushroom hunters," Leathers joked, as he explained the importance of accurate identification. Misidentifying a mushroom can lead, if not to death, to such severe gastrointestinal symptoms that you might wish you were dead.

He quashed some of the fallacies about mushrooms, such as the belief that if a squirrel eats a mushroom, then the mushroom must be safe for human consumption. In fact, squirrels will eat Amanita muscaria, a beautiful bright-red mushroom dotted with small white spots that is very toxic to humans.

Some people believe that white mushrooms are safe to eat and that brightly colored mushrooms are poisonous. According to Leathers, however, this could be a fatal mistake. The "destroying angel," a graceful white mushroom that belongs to the genus Amanita, is deadly. In contrast, the king bolete, which has a reddish-maroon-colored cap, is considered worldwide to be one of the most desirable mushrooms.

So, how does a beginning mushroom hunter know which mushrooms are safe to eat? Always go with someone who is experienced in identifying mushrooms. The mushroom's shape, color and characteris-tics of its stalk all play a part in identifica-tion. There are many good books on mushroom identification, such as Mushrooms Demystified, by David Arora.

Even properly identified mushrooms are not always safe. Anyone can have a toxic or an allergic reaction. Leathers recommends always performing the "edibility test": Never eat more than a teaspoon to start. Continue to eat your normal foods at each meal, but do not mix mushroom species or eat more than the recommended amount at each step during the edibility test. Wait eight hours. Then try a tablespoon. Wait an additional eight hours. Then try half a handful. If you experience headache, watery eyes, upset stomach or other gastrointestinal symptoms, don't eat any more of the mushroom. If you pass the test without adverse symptoms developing, you have demonstrated that it might be okay for you to consume this species of mushroom in a small quantity.

It would appear that "mycophiles" (as mushroom collectors sometimes refer to themselves) are not ordinary people, and mushroom gathering could almost be considered an "extreme sport" - maybe not on the same level as hang gliding and bungee jumping, but mushrooming has inherent dan-gers if you are careless and make a mistake.

Why would anyone risk possible poisoning or allergic reaction, just to munch on a mushroom? According to club member Jim Warnecke, every wild mushroom has its own flavor and texture. As with many gourmet foods, the hint of different flavors captures the tastebuds. "It's the thrill of the hunt that makes it for all of us - it's like an Easter-egg hunt every time we go out," explained Warnecke.

The danger, it seems, is outweighed by the enchantment. Mushrooms are ancient and mysterious and have secret and fasci-nating lives. Like forest jewels, some are graceful and lovely to look at, while others may appear slimy and hideous. Some fungi glow in the dark, while others form "fairy rings," bringing to mind images of bewitched

[LEFT] A good edible, the honey mushroom must be well-cooked. Be cautious, however, as there are poisonous look-alikes.

forests, fairy tales, wizards and magic.

Beyond the thrill and the fascination is the fact that mushrooms have been gourmet fare since ancient times. Boletes, chanterelles and morels, all of which grow in Arizona, are high-priced items in stores.

After the morning foray in the forests around Big Lake, everyone drove back in a monsoon downpour to the visitors center. Jim and Doris Plos arrived with an impressive collection of the highly prized chanterelles.

Members unloaded their baskets, admired each other's trophies and exchanged accounts of how and where each was found. There were fragile coral, chunky king boletes, white shell-shaped oysters, clusters of honey mushrooms, orange lobsters, delicate and fluted golden chanterelles and a giant Boletus barrowsii with a cap 12 inches in diameter.

The variations of color, shape and texture were amazing. With mushroom books in hand, members discussed a variety of features as each fungus was examined. When they were done, 23 edible species had been identified along with several poisonous species, plus some whose edibility was unknown.

At lunchtime, the newcomer Bingham arrived cradling something in his arms-a quivering, slimy-looking prize that resembled something between a sea sponge and a giant brain. Leathers congratulated him and explained that the cauliflower mushroom, or "wood lettuce," is edible, and club members described how to prepare it. In return, the club collected Bingham as a new member.

After the foray, several collectors offered me mushrooms, including two treasured chanterelles, king boletes and a chicken of the woods-but I was hesitant. Despite reassurances that these were safe mushrooms, I remembered Leather's warnings. Mushroom roulette? Not for me, thanks.

Kelly Tighe of Alpine has authored several hiking guides, including the first guide to the Arizona Trail, and her most recent, Best Trails In and Around Kartchner Caverns State Park.

Marty Cordano of Bisbee says this assignment was a first-never before has he eaten his subject after photographing it.