ChanterelleCantharellus formosus

The PNW’s most popular edible mushroom. Golden color with false gills: blunt, forked ridges with cross veins that run down the stem, over solid, stringy white flesh.

Habitat

Fruits from soil, moss and needle duff under Douglas fir and hemlock, never in overlapping clusters out of stumps or logs.

Season

September through December.

Also compare False chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca group) — Orange, with crowded, thin true gills that fork repeatedly, and thin, soft flesh rather than thick and stringy. Grows on rotting wood, coarse humus and wood chips. Best avoided: it has caused mild reactions in some people.

Also compare Scaly chanterelle (Turbinellus floccosus) — Tall and vase-shaped, with a red to orange shaggy-scaly cap and a hollow center. Not a true chanterelle; it causes gastrointestinal upset in some people.

Also compare Chroogomphus spp., especially C. tomentosus — Similar orange colors, but Chroogomphus has true, blade-like gills (thick, widely spaced and running down the stem) where C. formosus has shallow, blunt ridges. Its flesh is thin and pale orange rather than whitish, and its spore print is smoky gray to black (Arora; Siegel & Schwarz). C. tomentosus has a fuzzy, matted cap and grows with western hemlock. Also edible.

Full guide →

MorelMorchella spp.

The spring mushroom. Honeycomb cap and hollow interior: slice one lengthwise and a true morel is one continuous hollow from cap to stem, with the cap joined to the stem at its base.

Habitat

Some species fruit in burn scars, others near cottonwoods or in wood chip gardens.

Season

March through July in the PNW.

Sometimes compared with False Morels (Gyromitra esculenta) — Shares a spring season and a wrinkled cap, but looks quite different once you have seen both: brain-like folds rather than a honeycomb of pits, and cut lengthwise it has chambered, cottony, or folded tissue inside rather than one continuous hollow.

Also compare Early morel (Verpa bohemica) — The cap of Verpa bohemica is attached only at the very top, hanging free like a skirt.

Full guide →

King BoleteBoletus edulis

A large, stout bolete with a bun-shaped tan to brown cap, small pores that start white and age to yellow and olive-brown, and a club-shaped stem with a white net pattern strongest near the top. The flesh is white and does not stain blue.

Habitat

Grows with Sitka spruce on the coast and with true firs at higher elevations in the Cascades, often along forest edges, trail sides and clearings.

Season

Summer through fall, depending on habitat and elevation.

Sometimes compared with Red-pored Bolete (Rubroboletus spp.) — Red-pored boletes have red pores, a red-netted stem and flesh that stains blue-black almost at once. Red pores are a warning sign, not an automatic discard: some old king boletes have reddish pores too. Young pores of the related Rubroboletus haematinus can be yellow (D. Miller), so a bolete that stains blue is not cleared by its pore colour.

Also compare Bitter boletes (Caloboletus spp.) — They stain strongly blue when cut or bruised, while B. edulis flesh stays white.

Also compare: Spring King Bolete (Boletus rex-veris)

Full guide →

Spring King BoleteBoletus rex-veris

A large, firm bolete with a pinkish to reddish-brown cap that is often dusted with fine whitish bloom while young, over whitish to yellow pores, on a netted stem that is pale at first and browns with age. White flesh that does not stain; spore print olive-brown.

Habitat

Under montane true fir and pine, often buried in needle duff as a mound before it pushes through; mostly east of the Cascade crest.

Season

Spring into early summer, starting a few weeks after snowmelt and later at higher elevations.

Sometimes compared with Red-pored Bolete (Rubroboletus spp.) — Red-pored boletes have red pores, a red net on the stem and flesh that turns blue when cut; B. rex-veris has white to yellow pores and white flesh that stays unchanged. Treat red pores as a warning sign and check the stem net and the staining.

Also compare King Bolete (Boletus edulis) — B. edulis has no whitish bloom on young caps, which are creamy tan to orange-brown and slightly sticky in wet weather, and it is a summer and fall mushroom. Also edible.

Also compare Smith’s bolete (Boletus smithii) — Its cap also shows pink to red, but it is velvety and fades in patches through yellow to gray, and its flesh is yellow, not white. The yellow pores can bruise blue, and the stem is rosy pink near the top and yellow below, with no net (Siegel & Schwarz; Thiers). It grows under hemlock, fir and spruce in summer and fall rather than in spring. Edibility is disputed: Bessette and Phillips list it as edible, while Siegel & Schwarz call it unknown and note a mildly toxic eastern relative.

Full guide →

Admirable BoleteAureoboletus mirabilis

A bolete with a dark reddish-brown, velvety to shaggy cap that is often spotted pale, yellow pores that do not turn blue, and a long club-shaped stem that is ridged and sometimes netted near the top. Spore print olive-brown.

Habitat

On or beside well-decayed, moss-covered conifer logs and stumps, mostly hemlock, sometimes appearing to grow from the ground. Thought to be mycorrhizal with western hemlock (Kuo, MushroomExpert).

Season

Summer and fall.

Also compare Boletus fibrillosus — Grows on the ground, with a smoother, flattened-fibrous brown cap, and its pores start out white. Also edible.

Also compare Xerocomellus atropurpureus — Cap is not velvety, and the stem is red-dotted rather than roughened and ridged. Also edible.

Full guide →

Hedgehog MushroomsHydnum spp.

Creamy to peachy-orange caps with fragile white to pale peach spines, not gills, that run down the stem; the large hedgehogs’ thick white flesh slowly stains orange when damaged. This is a complex of several species that are hard to separate without DNA. Misapplied name: H. repandum, a European species not confirmed in the Pacific Northwest.

Habitat

Grows in mossy conifer woodlands, mycorrhizal with several trees, especially spruce and pine.

Season

From late summer or early fall through winter, and in wet years on the coast until spring.

Also compare Shingled hedgehog (Sarcodon imbricatus) and Hydnellum spp. — Caps are scaly or scaly-cracked rather than smooth, and Sarcodon leaves a brown spore deposit where hedgehogs leave a white one.

Full guide →

YellowfootCraterellus neotubaeformis

A small, funnel-shaped mushroom with a dimpled brown to yellow-brown cap, shallow blunt ridges that fork and cross-connect instead of true gills, and a tall, hollow, grooved yellow-orange stem. It grows in troops. Rare reactions have been reported when eaten with alcohol (Pilz). The Pacific Northwest species is provisionally called C. neotubaeformis; C. tubaeformis is a misapplied European name.

Habitat

Mycorrhizal with conifers, mostly western hemlock and Sitka spruce, fruiting in moss and needle litter near stumps and woody debris and sometimes from rotted wood.

Season

Late summer through winter.

Also compare False chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca) — Has thin, crowded, true gills instead of blunt ridges.

Sometimes compared with Deadly Galerina (Galerina marginata group) — Small orange-brown gilled mushrooms on wood can be mistaken for yellowfoot; G. marginata has true gills, a ring or faint ring zone, and a rusty-brown spore print, where yellowfoot has blunt ridges, a hollow stem and a white print.

Also compare Small yellow to orange gilled mushrooms on wood, such as Xeromphalina and sulfur tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare) — These have true, blade-like gills and grow straight from logs and stumps, often in troops or tufts. Xeromphalina is tiny, with a thin, wiry stem that turns dark reddish brown toward the base; sulfur tuft grows in tight clusters, its greenish-yellow gills darken to purplish brown, and it causes stomach upset. C. neotubaeformis has blunt, forking ridges and a hollow, grooved stem, and grows mostly from moss and litter (Siegel & Schwarz; Arora).

Full guide →

Lobster MushroomHypomyces lactifluorum

Not a mushroom on its own: a parasitic fungus that forms a bright orange, pimpled crust over another mushroom, usually a short-stalked russula, leaving a firm, lumpy shape whose gills are reduced to blunt ridges. There is no close look-alike, but an edible species does not make every specimen edible: eat only firm, fresh ones (Siegel & Schwarz), since the host underneath can’t always be identified (Arora).

Habitat

Grows on the fruitbodies of Russula brevipes in most cases, often buried in duff until it emerges; other Russula and Lactarius hosts are reported.

Season

Mid-summer through fall, with stragglers into winter.

Full guide →

Western Cauliflower MushroomSparassis radicata

A rounded cushion of flat, ruffled lobes, creamy white to pale yellow and smooth on both sides, rising from a tough, rooting base. It often traps debris inside. Some people have severe allergic reactions to it (Siegel & Schwarz), so cook it thoroughly and try a small amount first.

Habitat

Grows singly or in a few clusters at the base of dead or old conifers and stumps, most often Douglas-fir and spruce.

Season

Late summer through fall.

Also compare Cabbage-head fungus (Daleomyces phillipsii) — Less leafy, with more brittle flesh; often fruits in spring, half-hidden in the forest floor, and favors recently burned ground.

Also compare Coral fungi (Ramaria spp.) — Similar colors, but Ramaria is built from clumps of upright branches rather than ruffled, flattened lobes.

Full guide →

Chicken of the WoodsLaetiporus conifericola and L. gilbertsonii

Overlapping, fan-shaped shelves in sulfur yellow to orange, with tiny yellow pores and no gills; young fruitbodies are soft and juicy. Only young, soft, bright specimens are eaten. It has caused digestive upset and allergic reactions, even when cooked: the NAMA case registry lists 37 people poisoned by chicken of the woods (36 adults and a child), one of whom died.

Habitat

Grows on conifers, most often true fir or spruce (L. conifericola), or on hardwoods such as oak and eucalyptus, including urban trees (L. gilbertsonii, mainly in low inland valleys).

Season

Summer and fall; the persistent chalky remains can be found year-round.

Also compare Pycnoporellus fulgens — Considerably smaller, with large, pale, often maze-like pores instead of tiny round yellow ones.

Full guide →

Bear’s HeadHericium abietis

A large white to cream or pinkish clump of branches hung with soft, icicle-like spines in tufts, growing from a fleshy base on conifer wood. Relatives are comb tooth (H. coralloides) and lion’s mane (H. erinaceus), both on hardwoods; a significant stomach reaction after eating lion’s mane has been reported (Benjamin, via MycoMatch).

Habitat

Grows on standing dead conifers, snags and logs, favoring large hemlock and fir snags at higher elevations.

Season

Fall.

Also compare Coral fungi (Ramaria spp.) — Branch tips point upward and most species fruit from soil, while Hericium spines hang downward from wood.

Full guide →

Shaggy ManeCoprinus comatus

A tall, cylindrical white cap with shaggy brown scales, crowded gills that turn pink, then black, and a loose ring that slides on a hollow stem. The gills dissolve into black liquid as it ages, so pick only young specimens and cook them the same day (Siegel & Schwarz). Arora notes it may rarely react with alcohol.

Habitat

Fruits in mulch, on lawns and on bare, disturbed soil beside trails and roads; roadside and lawn specimens may accumulate pollutants and heavy metals.

Season

Any time the ground is wet enough, most often in fall.

Also compare Alcohol inky caps (Coprinopsis atramentaria and relatives) — Inky caps have grayish, smooth or faintly scaly caps, not a tall white shaggy one. They contain coprine, which can make a person ill if alcohol is drunk in the days after eating them.

Also compare Shaggy Parasol (Chlorophyllum olivieri / C. brunneum) — Cap is rounded when young then flattens, and the gills stay white to cream with a white spore print instead of dissolving to black.

Full guide →

Shaggy ParasolChlorophyllum olivieri / C. brunneum

Tall, parasol-shaped mushrooms (C. olivieri and C. brunneum) whose cap breaks into shaggy brown to olive-gray scales, with free white gills that bruise orange to pink and a double-edged ring above a swollen stem base. Spore print white. Some people get stomach upsets (15 NAMA registry cases), so cook thoroughly and try a small portion first.

Habitat

Troops, arcs and rings in humus and leaf litter on disturbed ground, in parks and gardens, often near towns.

Season

Fall into early winter for C. olivieri; C. brunneum also fruits in spring.

Also compare Green-spored parasol (Chlorophyllum molybdites) — Poisonous. Its spore print is dull olive-green and the mature gills turn greenish, while C. olivieri and C. brunneum keep white to cream gills and a white print. Rare in the Pacific Northwest but spreading north, mostly in open lawns.

Sometimes compared with Deadly Lepiota (Lepiota subincarnata and relatives) — Deadly Lepiota are small: caps about 1.5 to 6 cm across on thin stems with only a faint ring zone. C. olivieri and C. brunneum are much larger (caps 6 to 18 cm, stems 8 to 20 cm) with a prominent double-edged ring; do not collect small, scaly-capped parasol-like mushrooms.

Also compare: Shaggy Mane (Coprinus comatus)

Milk CapsLactarius rubrilacteus and L. deliciosus group

Salmon to orange caps, often zoned, with gills that ooze a scant latex when cut: dark red in the bleeding milk cap (L. rubrilacteus), orange in the L. deliciosus group. All parts stain turquoise-green with age or damage. Spore print pale yellow. Pick L. rubrilacteus young: older ones turn grainy (Arora; Siegel & Schwarz), and Siegel & Schwarz suggest roasting or baking slowly to keep the texture pleasant.

Habitat

Soil and duff under conifers, with the host depending on the species: Douglas-fir for L. rubrilacteus, pine, spruce, or true fir and hemlock for others in the group.

Season

Fall, with some summer fruiting at higher elevations.

Also compare Yellow-staining milk cap (Lactarius xanthogalactus) — Poisonous. Its latex is white and turns bright yellow within seconds, rather than orange or red as in L. rubrilacteus and the L. deliciosus group, and the cap is often pinker and spotted. Most frequent in southern Oregon, uncommon farther north.

Full guide →

Oyster MushroomsPleurotus ostreatus complex

Fan- or shell-shaped caps in shingled clusters on dead wood, white to gray or brown, with whitish gills running down onto a short off-center stem or none, and thick, fibrous flesh. The name covers several similar species that are hard to separate in the field.

Habitat

Dead wood, mostly hardwoods such as alder and sometimes conifers; larger brown clusters on cottonwood are usually called P. populinus.

Season

Spring and fall, with smaller numbers whenever the weather is damp.

Also compare Angel wings (Pleurocybella porrigens) — Smaller, thin-fleshed, pure white and wavy or lobed, with little or no stem, on conifer wood; Pleurotus are thicker-fleshed, usually gray, tan or brown, and more often on hardwood. Not recommended: once eaten widely, now uncertain after deaths in Japan in 2004 (mostly people with kidney disease) linked to a related species; no North American cases are in the NAMA registry.

Full guide →

The PrinceAgaricus augustus

A large Agaricus with warm brown to golden fibrous scales on a paler cap, a hanging skirt-like ring, and a shaggy-scaly lower stem. Free gills go from pale to chocolate brown, with a dark brown spore print. Some people have allergic or stomach reactions (4 NAMA registry cases, 3 of them in Washington), so try a small portion first.

Habitat

Rich organic litter in disturbed ground, often along roads and trails and under conifers such as western redcedar.

Season

Spring through fall.

Also compare Yellow-staining Agaricus (A. xanthodermus and the A. moelleri group) — A. augustus also bruises yellow on the cap, so staining alone does not separate them. Yellow-stainers have grayish caps with small, tightly pressed scales and a smooth stem, and the A. moelleri group stains brilliantly yellow at the stem base; some people cannot smell the phenol odor, so do not rely on it.

Also compare Golden spruce agaricus (Agaricus smithianus) — Also edible (Siegel & Schwarz), and a close relative in the same section of Agaricus (MycoMatch); it was called A. smithii until 2022. Young caps are egg- or bullet-shaped rather than squared off, the cap and stem are less scaly, and the tall, slender stem ends in an abrupt bulb, often with yellowish strands at the base (Siegel & Schwarz; Kerrigan). It grows in coastal conifer forest, mostly under Sitka spruce, while A. augustus prefers disturbed ground and rich litter. Siegel & Schwarz call it occasional along the coast; D. Miller calls it rare north of southern Oregon.

Full guide →

BlewitCollybia nuda

A stout mushroom with a smooth cap that is purple when young and fades to tan or brown, an inrolled margin, lilac gills, and a pinkish spore print. The gills and stem base often keep their purple tones as the cap fades. Lincoff reports it as mildly poisonous raw, so cook it. Formerly placed in Clitocybe and Lepista.

Habitat

Decomposes leaf litter, humus, compost and wood chips; common in cities and at low elevations, but seldom found in intact high-elevation forest.

Season

Late fall into early spring.

⚠ Don’t confuse with Purple webcaps (Cortinarius spp.) — Webcaps leave a rusty-brown spore print and show cobwebby fibers (a cortina) on the stem, while C. nuda has a pinkish spore print and no cortina.

Sometimes compared with Fibercaps (Inocybe and relatives) — Lilac fibercaps (Inocybe spp.) leave a brown spore print; C. nuda is stout with a smooth cap and a pinkish spore print.

Full guide →

Candy CapLactarius rubidus

A small orange-brown milk cap with a dry, wrinkled cap, buff to pale orange gills, a slender, fragile, hollow stem and a white to pale cream spore print. The watery latex can be scant or absent. A few people are allergic to it (Arora).

Habitat

Fruits from soil or from rotted stumps and logs: with tanoak in southwestern Oregon, and with Douglas-fir in lower inland valleys.

Season

Late fall through winter.

⚠ Don’t confuse with Deadly Galerina (Galerina marginata group) — Galerina marginata grows on rotting wood and has a smooth honey-brown cap, a partial veil that leaves a ring or faint ring zone, and a rusty-brown spore print. L. rubidus leaves a white to pale cream print. Do not rely on latex alone: it is scant or absent in L. rubidus.

Also compare Poisonous milk caps (Lactarius rufus, L. xanthogalactus) — L. rufus has a duller, reddish-brown cap with creamy white latex; L. xanthogalactus has a peach-buff cap, and its white latex soon changes to yellow.

Full guide →

MatsutakeTricholoma murrillianum

Highly valued fall mushroom, also called the pine mushroom. A cottony veil leaves a persistent ring on the stem, the flesh is very firm, and there is no volva at the base.

Habitat

Coastal dune sand with shore pine, and inland in drier stands of Douglas-fir, true fir, or hemlock.

Season

Main harvest window September through November.

⚠ Don’t confuse with Smith’s Amanita (Amanita smithiana) — T. murrillianum‘s cottony veil leaves a persistent ring. A. smithiana has a fragile, powdery veil, fluffy warts on the cap, scruffy scales down the stem, and a scaly bulb above a root that breaks off, so dig out the whole base. Firmness and smell do not separate them.

Full guide →

Spring CoccoraAmanita vernicoccora

A large spring Amanita with a pale yellow cap, a short-grooved margin and usually one thick, cottony white patch of veil tissue at the center, crowded white to cream gills, a white skirt-like ring, and a thick white sac at the base of a hollow or cotton-stuffed stem. It often smells fishy with age (Bojantchev; Tulloss). This is strictly an expert’s mushroom: D. Miller notes it can look almost exactly like a death cap.

Habitat

Mainly a California oak species, found rarely in Oregon and Washington with oak and perhaps Douglas-fir (D. Miller). Tulloss records it in Washington under Oregon white oak and Douglas-fir.

Season

Late winter and spring (Bojantchev).

⚠ Don’t confuse with Death Cap (Amanita phalloides) — A. phalloides has a greenish-yellow to whitish cap that is usually bare, with a plain margin and a solid stem; A. vernicoccora‘s cap is pale yellow with a short-grooved margin and usually one thick veil patch, over a hollow or stuffed stem. A faded or rain-washed specimen can blur every one of these, so use them together and leave any doubtful one alone.

⚠ Don’t confuse with Destroying Angels (Amanita ocreata group) — A. ocreata also fruits in spring under oaks. Its cap is white and mostly bare with a smooth margin, and a drop of KOH turns its cap flesh bright yellow (Arora); A. vernicoccora‘s cap is yellow with a grooved margin and does not react to KOH (Bojantchev). Leave any all-white Amanita alone.