North African Pork and Beans with Candy Cap Mushrooms We most often think of the Candy Cap in a sweet context; this recipe provides a delectable savory alternative! ... Lactarius rubidus. Photo by Christian Schwarz Objective: Side Dish Total Time: Yield: Many Suggested Mushrooms: See code Ingredients 2 lbs lean pork roast, sliced in 3/8” slabs High-heat oil for sautéeing 1 c chopped sweet onion Garlic Harissa * ½ c dried apricots ½ c dried cherries ½ c dried candy caps Cooked dried beans of your choice Method 1. Begin with a couple of pounds of lean pork roast sliced into 3/8” slabs. Sauté the meat in a large frying pan in oil at high heat. As the meat browns, add a cup of sweet onions and garlic to taste, which in my case is a lot. Sprinkle generously with harissa, a Tunisian spice mix of chile, coriander, and cumin.* 2. At the same time, begin the sauce by simmering a half cup of dried apricots, half cup of dried cherries, and half cup of candy caps in two cups of water until soft. Mix the ingredients in a blender. 3. Reduce the heat under the meat, introduce the sauce, and add a cup of marsala. Cover and simmer for at least an hour, until tender, adding marsala and/or water to provide enough liquid to keep the meat submerged. 4. Prepare a melange of pre-cooked, drained beans in a casserole dish. Place the pork slices over the beans, dump the remaining spicy liquid over the beans, then heat in the oven. * Harissa can be found in the international section of many grocery stores Previous Recipe All Recipes Next Recipe

News & Stories / Field Reports Foray and Habitat Walk March 2015 A great time was had during the FFSC Habitat Walk and Foray in Felton on Saturday, March 21st. Cass Fuentes • March 29, 2015 FFSC Foray group shot. Photo by Cass Fuentes Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts November 2014 Habitat Walk Field Reports Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Field Reports 2013 Sierra Scouting Report Last weekend I drove up Hwy 50 looking for Porcini. At Wrights lake, I found one buggy Bolete and several cuttings. A forest service employee who lives there told me they had a thunderstorm 3 weeks earlier - nothing since. Mark Gillespie • September 12, 2013 Porcini (bolete) (from a Spring foray) Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts 2016 March Sierra Report Field Reports Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Field Reports 2018 December Albion Foray Species List We didn't have much rain, but we found many smaller mushrooms. Katherine (Kitty) Elvin • January 4, 2019 Gomphidius in the Rain. Photo by Jim Austin Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts 2016 March Sierra Report Field Reports 2016 Alaska Foray Field Report Field Reports Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Stewardship FFSC Bylaws 2026 Revision We are revising our club bylaws. FFSC members are encouraged to review the changes before the April 2026 members meeting. Dan Tischler • March 10, 2026 Amanita. Photo by Dan Tischler The Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz is a group of diverse of individuals with various interests, skills, and levels of commitment. To minimize entropy, the FFSC Bylaws outline our organization's purpose and goals and provide the structure needed to achieve them. We are revising the bylaws in 2026 to consolidate some ministers' positions, refine duties, and better reflect how we operate. The new document is being reformatted for improved readability and easier future updates. There will be no changes to our core purpose and goals. We encourage FFSC members to review and comment on the bylaws before the April 2026 club meeting . Logged-in members can find more details below. Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

Savory Mushroom Clafouti I learned this recipe from the late Larry Stickney, a phenomenal guy who was instrumental in creating a culture of mushrooming in the Bay Area. ... Bolete. Photo by Yevgeny Nyden The adaptation transforms clafoutis, a traditional French dessert made with cherries, into a savory first course or entrée. Boletes may be switched for Black Trumpets, Agaricus species, or other robustly-flavored wild mushrooms. Objective: Main Course Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes Yield: Serves 6 Suggested Mushrooms: See code Ingredients 3 C (about 1 lb.) bolete buttons, cut into 1 to 1 ½ inch pieces ½ C chopped shallots 1 ½ C half & half or whole milk 3 eggs 2/3 C unbleached all-purpose flour ½ C freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus extra to sprinkle on top 1 tsp grated lemon zest ½ tsp kosher salt Method Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a baking dish or pie plate (about 1 ½ inches deep) with butter or olive oil. Sauté shallots in olive oil until transparent. Cool and reserve in bowl. Mix the batter ingredients in a blender and let rest in the fridge for an hour. The batter can be prepared up to a day in advance. In another pan, sauté the mushrooms in butter until lightly browned. Cool and combine with shallots. Combine the clafouti batter with the mushroom/shallot mixture. Pour into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with cheese. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for about 1 hr. The clafouti will puff up in the oven but will sink a bit when taken out. Serve warm. Previous Recipe All Recipes Next Recipe

Vinegar Pickled Mushrooms Mushrooms that have been properly pickled in vinegar can last for years. They be eaten as an appetizer, or incorporated into other recipes. ... Caption This preservation approach involves pickling with vinegar in boiling water bath. The acidic environment created by the use of vinegar prevents the growth of Clostridium botulinum , the bacterium responsible for botulism. Advantages of vinegar pickling May be stored in pantry if processed in a water bath. Can be flavored with different vinegars, herbs, etc. if desired. Mushrooms are pre-seasoned and ready to use as an appetizer or in recipes Works well for substantial mushrooms such as Bolete buttons, Chanterelles, Russula spp . Works well for mushrooms with bolder flavors. Disadvantages of vinegar pickling Pronounced vinegar flavor can overpower delicate mushrooms. Does not work well for less substantial mushrooms. Objective: Storage/Prep Total Time: Approx. 40 minutes Suggested Mushrooms: See code Equipment and/or Ingredients Equipment Canning pot and rack Sterilized canning jars and lids Ingredients IMPORTANT : The following recipe can be varied with regard to seasoning, but one must strictly observe the quantity of vinegar . Fresh mushrooms (I use very small porcini, chanterelles) boiled in salted water for 5 minutes Pickling Marinade, per liter: 1 liter water ¾ C vinegar 1 Tbl salt 1 tsp sugar Peppercorns Mustard seed Allspice Juniper berries Laurel leaves Method Boil water with vinegar. Add seasonings. Place the hot mushrooms in the hot sterilized jar, and pour the pickling marinade over them while still hot , ensuring that all the mushrooms are covered and leaving ½” headspace. Screw the lid shut. Pasteurize the mushrooms in a hot water canning bath to boil for 10 minutes (see the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving if you’re not familiar with canning). Check jars for leakage by turning them upside down on a cloth until the next morning. If any leak, you can eat them in a day or so (keep in the refrigerator), but do not preserve for later . Intact (non-leaking) jars should then be placed in a cool, dark place, where they will keep for years. Special request : If you have pickled your own mushrooms in vinegar, would you be willing to send us a photo of your completed container? We'd love to replace the stock photo at the top of this page with a member's photo! See Showcase a Photo for information about how to submit a photo. Previous Technique All Techniques Next Technique

Shannon Adams Shannon is a passionate amateur mycologist and user experience researcher who lives in Seattle. Her interest in fungi started over 20 years ago when she relocated to the region and was impressed by the diversity of mushrooms she saw while hiking. What began as an artistic pursuit, painting botanical illustrations of fungi, evolved into a desire to identify and a deep fascination with fungal taxonomy, particularly with the genus Cortinarius. Today, Shannon actively contributes to the field of mycology by observing, collecting, identifying, and describing new species. Her personal herbarium contains over 1,500 Cortinarius, she has described two species new to science and is currently working on additional new species. She is a frequent foray lead and event speaker - primarily teaching about the Cortinariaceae but also advocating for greater participation in community science. Shannon has been a longtime volunteer at PSMS - serving two terms on the PSMS Board, teaching classes in microscopy and acting as chair for the Mycoflora sequencing committee. 2026 Shannon Adams 2026 Santa Cruz Fungus Fair Talks Buy Tickets From Saucepan to Science Foraging Feasting and Phylogeny Saturday, January 11, 2025 10:30 PM - 11:30 PM Room 1

The Chanterelles One of the first wild mushrooms that beginning foragers seek out is our local golden chanterelle. That is most likely because it is relatively abundant, is easy to recognize and has a reputation for being a good edible. For many years, these mushrooms went by the Latin name Cantharellus cibarius . It was only recently that the various different chanterelle species have been given their own unique names. ... Chanterelle. Photo by Yevgeny Nyden Cantherellus cibarius grp . Photo by Stan P One of the first wild mushrooms that beginning foragers seek out is our local golden chanterelle. That is most likely because it is relatively abundant, is easy to recognize and has a reputation for being a good edible. For many years, these mushrooms went by the Latin name Cantharellus cibarius . That species, however, was originally described from northern France and our early mycologists used that same name for our local version exhibiting what appeared to be the same characteristics. It was only recently that the various different chanterelle species have been given their own unique names. In a paper (2008) written by David Arora (local mycologist, author of the popular field guide, Mushrooms Demystified , and founder of the Fungus Federation) with co-author Susie Dunham, three distinct species of golden chanterelles were described. These were based upon collections from a variety of habitats, including our own local live oak/mixed woodlands. As originally described by Scott Redhead, et. al. (1997), Arora and Dunham’s descriptions confirmed that the chanterelles growing with Tsuga (hemlock) or Pseudotsuga (douglas fir) species in northern California and the Pacific Northwest are Cantharellus formosus . That species is smaller than our local version, has a slender stem, tends to grow upward in the duff rather than deeply buried, and exhibits pinkish tones in its coloration. Also confirmed in Arora and Dunham’s work was the species C. cibarius, var. roseocanus , originally described by Redhead, et. al. (1997) as an associate of Picea (spruce) species in the Pacific Northwest.This species, now referred to by most as just C. roseocanus , exhibits an intensely pigmented yellow hymenium (the spore-bearing surface). Cantharellus californicus . Photo by Ken Stavropoulosthe (from mushroomobserver.org ) Of more immediate interest to us here in central California, the last distinct golden chanterelle Arora and Dunham isolated from the DNA studies conducted on their collections was the large one we find in our local live oak ( Quercus agrifolia ) and mixed evergreen woodlands. At that point this species, shown to be distinct from other species, was unnamed. The authors named it C. californicus . As our luck would have it, that species is considered one of, if not, the largest species in the world, some specimens weighing in over one kilogram (2.2 pounds)! Although live oak is the primary ectomycorrhizal host of C. californicus , it also associates to a lesser extent with tanbark oak ( Lithocarpus densiflorus ), madrone ( Arbutus menziesii ), Manzanita ( Arctostaphylos spp. ) and several oaks found in the Sierra Nevada mountains (Shreve oak ( Quercus parvula, var. shrevei ), interior or Sierra live oak ( Q. wislizenii ) and black oak ( Q. kelloggii )). Cantharellus cascadensis . Photo by Christian Schwarz (from mushroomobserver.org ) Although not a local central California species, another golden chanterelle is C. cascadensis , a species described by Dunham, et. al. (2003) from the Douglas fir forests of the Cascade Mountains. That species has the familiar yellowish coloration on the cap surface but its hymenium is very pale, essentially white. The feature common to the inclusive group of mushrooms termed “chanterelles” is the presence of the thick, blunt, shallow and decurrent gills. With some possible exceptions, most are considered edible. They also come in a range of colors besides the golden discussed earlier: white, black, red and blue. The white chanterelle, C. subalbidus , is a common species growing with tanoak or in Manzanita mixed with knobcone pine. In my experience, it is more common north of San Francisco than locally. The black chanterelle ( Craterellus cinereus ) grows locally in mixed oak habitat solitary or in scattered groups or clusters. Personally, I have only found it when picking black trumpets ( Craterellus cornucopiodes ) especially in a tanoak habitat. It closely resembles the black trumpets in characteristics and taste but is solid versus tubular and has the shallow blunt gills versus a smooth hymenium. Neither the tiny red chanterelle ( C. cinnebarinus ) nor the blue ( Polyozellus multiplex ) grows locally so no more than this mention will be featured here. Craterellus (Cantharellus) tubaeformis . Photo by Ryane Snow (from mushroomobserver.org ) Another chanterelle worth describing is the “winter chanterelle” or “yellow foot” since we often find many of these growing on our forays to the Mendocino area north of San Francisco. These mushrooms are relatively small, have a deep funnel shape (infundibuliform) in the cap, brown to dark brown to dingy yellow-brow cap color, and a thin, flattened, orange-yellow to yellow stem. It is normally found in mossy areas, on old rotting logs and in cold, damp areas in coniferous forests and bogs. This is another common edible that can grow in large numbers and if frequently purchased by commercial mushroom buyers. For many years, this was called Cantharellus infundibuliformis and Cantharellus tubaeformis , but the name has been changed to Craterellus tubaeformis . Two other “chanterelles” deserve mention here since we frequently encounter them on our forays to the Mendocino area. Both are considered chanterelles because of the resemblance of the shallow, blunt gills to the more common species already discussed. Both are in the genus Gomphus . The first, G. clavatus (pig’s ears) is a conifer associate that grows in fused or compound clusters and is typically a light purple to purplish-tan paling in age to olive/yellowish-buff. It is considered an edible species. The other conifer-loving species is Turbinellus (previously Gomphus ) floccosus , the scaly or wooly chanterelle. These tall, trumpet to vase-shaped mushrooms have caps that are orangish to yellowish-orangish often fading in color. The gill surface is creamy, buff or yellowish. This, too, is considered an edible species like G. clavatus , but few people that I’ve met collect them for the table. May other species of chanterelles can be found in the rest of the world and are regularly collected as prime edible species. Only the west coast species have been considered for this article, however. Literature cited: Arora, D. and Dunham, S. M. 2008. A new, commercially valuable chanterelle species, Cantharellus californicus sp. nov., associated with live oak in California, USA . Economic Botany 62 (3); 376-391. Dunham, S. M., O’Dell, T.E., and Molina R. 2003. Analysis of nrDNA sequences and microsatellite allele frequencies reveals a cryptic chanterelle species, Cantharellus cascadensis sp. nov . from the American Pacific Northwest . Mycological Research 107 (10); 1163-1177. Redhead, S. A., Norvell, L.L., and Danell, E. 1997. Cantharellus formosus and the Pacific Golden Chanterelle Harvest in Western North America . Mycotaxon 65: 285-322. Mushrooms covered: See code Previous Description All Featured Fungi Next Description

Meet Amanita pruittii: Arora’s Amanita, Anonymous No More! Those of us who are passionate about all aspects of wild mushrooms are a breed apart. As mycophilic outliers to the societal norm, what better focus for our discerning attention than a mycological oddity like the renamed Amanita pruittii ? This mushroom is unimposing, squat and warted, sometimes grows in standing water, and most curiously, is not found with a mycorrhizal partner! ... Amanita pruittii fruiting in a damp field. Photo by Taylor Lockwood (from mushroomobserver.org) What kind of strange Amanita is this??! Amanita pruittii . Photo by Taylor Lockwood (from mushroomobserver.org) David Arora was apparently the first Western mycologist to find and document this amanita in the Santa Cruz area in the early 1970s. He wrote about it in his classic field guide, Mushrooms Demystified , referring to it as the “Anonymous Amanita.” Although he sent collections of this unknown species to Dr. Alexander Smith in Michigan for further mycological analysis, those specimens were apparently never received. A few years later, Ben Pruitt, an 88 year old, keen-eyed naturalist and amateur mycologist in Oregon, discovered a huge fruiting of hundreds of these amanitas, in a flooded field at Fern Ridge Reservoir in the Willamette Valley, a protected Oregon State Wildlife Area as well as an Army Corps of Engineers Research Natural Area. He suspected that they might be some sort of Armillaria species, and also sent his collections to Dr. Smith. Smith determined that they were an unknown species of amanita and proposed naming them after Pruitt. But Smith never described the species. When I attended my very first NAMA foray in 2002 at Diamond Lake, Oregon, I mentioned my ongoing interest in amanitas to other attendees. Local mycologists couldn’t wait to tell me all about a curious amanita that had recently fruited in great numbers at Fern Ridge … without a host tree in sight! This 2002 fruiting, as well as one in 1998, both of which followed prescribed burns, were apparently the first major fruitings of this non-mycorrhizal amanita since the original finds by Ben Pruitt in 1975. My interest was certainly piqued, but the local fruiting was over, and Oregon a long way from home. Fast forward to Menlo Park, San Mateo County, CA in 2007, when FFSC member Doug Smith found what appeared to be an A. pruittii in a treeless field. Other FFSC members started to look hard for this curious mushroom, and Christian Schwarz was rewarded with a Santa Cruz sighting in 2011. 2014 was a banner year for this amanita across its range. Starting our local spate of sightings, Adam Ryzka found a solitary fruit body along a Santa Cruz city street in September 2014, followed by several observers finding it from Marshall Fields to Watsonville to West Cotati through November 2014. The most spectacular Amanita pruittii finds of 2014 were again found at Fern Ridge Reservoir during the month of October. Hundreds of fruit bodies poked their caps above standing water, in a prairie floodplain that had been burned several months prior. Taylor Lockwood obtained many wonderful photos of this phenomenon. All of these A. pruittii observations can be seen on Mushroomobserver.org. In the Pacific Northwest, Jan Lindgren is the go-to gal for all things amanita, and she received from the late Kit Scates Barnhart the original correspondence between Ben Pruitt and Alexander Smith on Amanita pruittii . The official naming of this species was a work in progress for Jan and Rod Tulloss for decades, while other projects took precedence. In October 2014, the name Amanita pruittii was at long last published in the online journal “Amanitaceae.” Its title: “Amanita pruittii, a new, apparently saprotrophic species from US Pacific coastal states,” authored by Rodham Tulloss, Janet Lindgren, David Arora, Benjamin Wolfe and Cristina Rodriguez-Caycedo. Other than its peculiar fruiting habits, this is a rather unprepossessing mushroom, with a dirty white cap, a squat form, and a universal veil (UV) that breaks into warts on the cap, and forms fibrils or squamules on the pointed stipe; all of these UV elements can disappear with age. Amanita pruittii often discolors brown or reddish with age, especially when growing in wet conditions. Like all amanitas, A. pruittii has whitish gills and white spores in mass, and like other members of Amanita section Lepidella , those spores turn blue upon the application of the iodine-based Melzer’s solution. Pruittii can have a variety of odors, from indistinct to earthy, potatoes to brine, and becomes unpleasant smelling in age. Its taste is not distinctive when raw, but is bitter and unpleasant when cooked. Despite this, Ben Pruitt tried four slices from his original collections, and reported no adverse effects. However, eating any member of section Lepidella is not recommended, since this group is often difficult to identify down to exact species, and contains seriously toxic species like Amanita smithiana . Amanita pruittii fruiting in a flooded field. Photo by Taylor Lockwood (from mushroomobserver.org) Heads-up, California and PNW mushroom hunters! Keep your keen eyes peeled for more fruitings of this very curious amanita. It can grow singly or gregariously, and under the right conditions, by the hundreds, especially following a burn. Look for it in lawns, wet meadows and pastures, with poor, exposed soils and even in street tree wells! It most commonly fruits in the fall months, but can also fruit into March and as late as June in irrigated landscapes. It sometimes grows alongside various species of Agaricus , and can be mistaken for that genus. When you next see a “commonplace” field of white mushrooms, assume nothing and check those gills! Who knows, you might be the next lucky person to find this very curious, non-mycorrhizal amanita, Amanita pruittii : Arora’s “Anonymous Amanita” no longer! Debbie Viess aka Amanitarita Mushrooms covered: See code Previous Description All Featured Fungi Next Description

Tricholoma Murrillianum (Matsutake) Of all the choice edible mushrooms that occur in our area, none eluded me longer than the matsutake, Tricholoma murrillianum . ... Tricholoma murrillianum (matsutake). Photo by Hugh Smith The name "matsutake" literally means pine mushroom, from the habitat in which it is found in Japan. Formerly called Armillaria ponderosa and Tricholoma magnivelare , our California species is a close relative of the Japanese form. For years I had scoured the mountains looking for my own secret patch of this much esteemed fungus. Every year l would stare with envy at the dozen or so which mystically appeared at each Fungus Fair knowing that they came from some place nearby. The preferred local habitat is tanoak, or so I was told. Yet all my years of searching had failed to turn up any. These must be the best-kept secret in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Why? I didn't want to be forced to drive north to Mendocino Co. just to find my first matsutake. Where were they? While it might be true that tanoak is the preferred habitat, l found my first specimen and subsequent others on Christmas day (nice present. huh?) in the kind of place you would normally pass by for hunting. The kind of place that a jack rabbit or a covey of quail hiding from a larger predator would take refuge in. The kind of place that leaves you with battered shin bones. telltale scratches. and shredded clothing. The kind of place where your progress is measured in feet/ min. rather than feet/sec. There must be square miles of dense impenetrable thickets of manzanita and scrub oak in the Santa Cruz mountains. Throw in a few chinquapins, pines and sandy soil and you'll begin to visualize the habitat l'm describing. Imagine crawling on your belly with barely enough room for you and your basket, or banging your shins against umpteen manzanita burls and you get the idea. Yet this is where they grow and why they had eluded me for so long. The matsutake clan comprises at least 3 species: the white matsutake, T. murrillianum , our local representative; T. caligatum , which has a darker fibrillose cap and occurs east of the Great Lakes and under conifers in the Pacific NW; and T. matsutake , which occurs in Japan and the Orient and closely resembles T. caligatum . Our version of the matsutake is a firm, dense, robust mushroom standing up to 6" tall with a cap as large as 8"-10" in diameter. The cap is initially white, dense and firm, but soon develops cinnamon to brown fibrils. The cap margin is inrolled when young. The gills are white but usually discolor brownish with age. The spore print is white. The stem is l"-2" thick, hard and tough, white above, but scaly below and colored like the cap. There is a thick white veil forming a prominent ring that flares outward from the stem. The most unique feature of the matsutake, however is its odor - what David Arora refers to as "a provocative compromise between 'red hots’ and dirty socks." There is definitely a cinnamon component to it. I thought this odor was unique to the matsutake group but there is another local mushroom I found with the same fragrance but vastly different appearance called Inocybe fraudans (formerly known as Inocybe pyriodora ). Matsutake are highly esteemed in Japan. The demand for these mushrooms is so great that individual specimens command prices as high as $300 (in 1989) depending upon their size and condition. A lucrative export business has developed in the Pacific Northwest for matsutakes which are air freighted directly to Tokyo where there is an ever increasing market for these "exotic" fungi. Last month (December 1988) I saw our local matsutake selling at the Monterey Market in Palo Alto for $27/1b., quite a bargain compared to Japanese prices ! You would expect a special treat from such a high priced mushroom, and the matsutake is probably worth it. It tastes like it smells (without the dirty socks) and keeps its somewhat chewy texture when cooked. It is wonderful simply sliced razor thin and grilled with soy sauce. I also like it finely shredded in a stir fry dish and have used it in small quantities to season white rice. Mushrooms covered: See code Previous Description All Featured Fungi Next Description

Mycophagy Challenge: Ten Edibles to Find this Year People come to the love of mushrooms for various reasons, but for most in this club, the main reason seems to be that they are good to eat! By focusing on learning just a few mushrooms really well, you can “pick up” a few new species each year almost effortlessly. ... Mushroom collecting basket. Photo by Susan Labiste Visit our free Online Learning section to start this challenge: FFSC Online Learning Mushrooms covered: See code Previous Description All Featured Fungi Next Description