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Scarlet Waxy Cap. Photo by Jim Kern Scarlet Waxy Cap James Kern Scarlet waxy cap in Mesick, Michigan. Photo taken August 18, 2017 by James Kern. Read upon Waxy Caps in our Featured Fungi: Hygrocybe laetissima (Waxy Caps) Camera Nikon D600 Focal L. 60mm Aperture f/3.5 Shutter Sp. 1/800s ISO 200 Flash Off Photo taken on August 19, 2017 Mushroom(s) ... Previous Photo Back to Gallery Next Photo

Curried Green Beans with Sulphur Shelf Enjoy this tasty treatment for sulphur shelf mushrooms in coconut curry. by John Brown Laetiporus time lapse Day 11. Photo by Phil Carpenter Method Melt a little fat in a heavy frying pan and thoroughly cook the mushrooms. If you are lucky, the'll sauté up orange, looking kind of like pieces of salmon. These need to be cooked for quite a while. Some people are allergic** to it when insufficiently cooked. In the meantime, break green beans into another pot. Add potatoes and 1 1/2 cans of chicken broth. Save the other half can to add as needed. Cover an cook until veggies are tender. Add 1 Tbs curry powder, about 1/4 can coconut milk (to taste) and the sautéd mushrooms. Serve! * "Deep" brand, my favorite, is available in some Indian food stores. ** Exercise caution. Some people are allergic to certain varieties of sulphur shelf. If the sulphur shelf you found is new to you, try only a little bit. If you're serving this dish to others, make sure they are aware of which variety you're using, and that they understand the risks if they've never had it before. Recipe contributed: October 2006 The West Coast has two varieties of sulphur shelf: One is associated with hardwoods such as eucalyptus and oak ( Laetiporus gilbertsonii ). The eucalyptus variety is said to cause stomach upset for some people; and some have trouble with the oak variety. The other ( L. conifericola ) associates with conifers. Note: Traditional Chicken of the Woods ( Laetiporus sulphureus ) isn't found in California. Objective: Main course Total Time: "Quite a while" Yield: TBD Suggested Mushrooms: Sulphur Shelf (Laetiporus cincinnatus, Laetiporus gilbertsonii, Laetiporus sulphureus) Join FFSC or renew your membership to access the rest of this content. Join FFSC Login as an FFSC member to access the rest of this content. Login Ingredients 1 Tbs curry powder * 2 c chicken of the woods ** (just the tender tips, in 3/4 to 1" pieces 2-14oz cans of chicken broth small red potatoes, diced (as many as you like to compliment the green beans) 1 lb fresh green beans 1 can coconut milk Fat of your choice. Coconut oil would be good. Previous Recipe All Recipes Next Recipe

Members Holiday Potluck A Festive Gathering for Members and Their Guests Spend a delicious evening in the company of the great cooks of the FFSC at our annual members' Holiday Potluck! We’re excited to invite all Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz members and their guests to our Annual Holiday Potluck—a cherished tradition that brings together our community, celebrates mushrooms, and embraces the spirit of the season! FFSC members can login for details about the date, time and location of the 2025 potluck, what to bring and more below. (This event replaces December's member meeting and guest speaker.) Members Only Content Login Join FFSC

News & Stories / Field Reports Another 2007 NAMA Foray Perspective Extreme heat and a lack of rain for the previous couple of weeks made conditions on the ground quite challenging for hopeful finders of fungi. Debbie Viess • September 1, 2007 Cantharellus lateritius. Photo by Debbie Viess Our host and travel guide, Coleman McCleneghan, took me on a few pre-NAMA forays in Virginia, where conditions were much improved. My very first walk ever along the Appalachian Trail, at the foot of Mt. Rogers, Virginia, was delimited by a huge, local species of lepidella: Amanita rhopalopus (rope-uh-low- pus). This monstrous, off-white, deeply rooting amanita was the most abundant fleshy fungus collected; they covered most of a specimen table in great stinking piles. Amanita jacksonii . Photo by Debbie Viess Better even than fat, stinky lepidellas were the big and beautiful fruitings of Amanita jacksonii , or the American Caesar's mushroom. Coleman and I found a fairy ring of these edible amanitas along the Appalachian Trail. They were cloaked in gorgeous shades of bright orange, in a moist, verdant and delightfully unfamiliar woodland, alive with tulip poplars and green-barked birch, rhodies and oaks. Drawing the eye away from the spectacular amanitas were colorful boletes, with unfamiliar genera names like Gyroporus , and Pulveroboletus , tucked amongst the many shades of forest green and brown. Patches of Indian Pipe, the ghostly white and transparently delicate, myco-het-erotrophs, obtaining both their carbon and mineral nutrients from ectomycorrhizal fungi, created more pockets of magic on the Southern forest floor. Farther along the deeply worn and root-crossed Appalachian Trail, I spotted a perfect, shiny-capped, cream-colored, pink-topped Amanita . Its membranous partial veil, bulbous base and sac-like volva proclaimed it a member of section phalloides , but no one had a clue as to its identity. Deadly or not, it was captivatingly beautiful. But a gal can't live on toxic mushrooms alone. There were plenty of varieties of edible chanterelles brought to the specimen tables: Cantharellus cibarius , C. minor , C. appalachiensis , C. lignicolor , C. lateritius , and the Eastern black chanterelle, Craterellus fallax . The bad news was two-fold... the fairly substantial " cibarius " that I collected near Coleman's cabin was too worm-ridden to eat, and most of the rest of the chanterelles, although handsome and no doubt tasty, were too tiny to matter! Be very, very thankful for our Left Coast fungi! Other examples of fine and locally popular edi-bles were two similar species of Lactarius : corrugis and volemis . Both bleed copious white latex, but corrugis has a browner cap, and volemus a more orange one. I tried this mushroom two years ago at the Pennsylvania NEMF foray, and it was excellent! There were a number of standout boletales. Coleman couldn't wait to have me slice into a pale and nondescript Gyroporus cyanescens in the field; the context instantly turned ink blue, and the entire mushroom turned blue-green within a few hours. Buttons of bright yellow Pulveroboletus ravenelii , with their flocculent partial veils, were very distinctive. The brilliantly red-capped Boletus frostii was also a stunner, although age and drying destroyed the deep and lovely reticulations on its stipe. Although common to our area as well, I was speechless to find myself amidst a fruiting of black earth tongues, Trichoglossum hirsutum , and delighted to find the rarely seen blue-green fruit-bodies of the common Chlorosplenium ( Chlorociboria ) aeruginascens , whose mycelia also stains its woody substrate a beautiful blue-green. I couldn't believe my eyes when I came across a log covered in the lovely and amusing orange eyelash fungus, Scutellinia scutellata . All of these fun bicoastal fungi traveled back home with us, along with a couple of exclusively Eastern oddities: the carrot-colored Calostoma cinnabarina , a gelatinous stalked puffball, and Xylaria polymorpha , the charmingly named "dead man's fingers.” Several fine fruitings of the Eastern Jack 'O Lantern mushroom, Omphalotus illudens , were collected, providing glow-in-the-dark room fun for the masses. A cluster of the unfamiliar to me Armillaria tabescens , a small species of honey mushroom, was also brought in, dashboard-dried, and flown back West. The uncommon saprobe/possibly mycorrhizal Limacella illinata var. illinata was collected with some difficulty and brought in to the specimen tables; it's hard to pick a mushroom whose genus name means slime! Hypomyces luteovirens on Russula . Photo by Debbie Viess Although few of the insect-eating Cordyceps species were collected, we did have a nice showing of parasitic Hypomyces , from the crisp and delicious, pimply, brilliant-orange lobster mush-room, H ypomyces lactifluorum , to the captivatingly colored, electric yellow-green H. luteovirens , both parasitic on Russula species. I was surprised to hear that H. luteovirens actually occurs in northern California. Also spot-ted was the transformer of Amanitas to lumpen phalli of the forests, H. hyalinus . I was thrilled to see many exclu-sively Eastern species of Amanitas . Section lepidella was well represented by A. rhopalopus , daucipes , longipes , cokeri and the charming black and white onusta . Many grisettes and several other members of section vaginatae were also collected: fulva , ceciliae , jacksonii , banningiana , and the unnamed grisette pseudoprotecta . Section amanita was represented by A. pantherina var. multisquammosa , A. farinosa and A. frostiana . Section validae sported the common A. brunnescens in brown and white forms, a few A. rubescens (not the same "blusher" as our novinupta in the West), A. volvata elongata , A. pseudovolvata and the colorful A. flavoconia . The deadly Amanita bisporigera was the dominant member of section phalloidae . Phew! That's quite a list, but only a fraction of what could've been found. Luckily for me, amanitas still fruit in dry conditions. Debbie Viess Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts 2007 NAMA Annual Foray Report NAMA Foray Report: McCall, Idaho Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

Potato and Chanterelle Soup This is a rustic soup featuring chunks of tender potatoes and chanterelles in a savory vegetarian broth. by John Brown Cantharellus formosus. © Alan Rockefeller (from mushroomobserver.org) Method In soup pot, sauté chanterelles in 2–3 Tbsp. ghee or butter until liquid evaporates and edges turn lightly golden brown. Remove and reserve mushrooms for later use. In the same pot, brown onions in 3–4 Tbsp. ghee or butter over medium-low to medium heat, stirring occasionally until the edges caramelize (8 to 12 minutes). Add broth, herbs and potatoes, and cook until potatoes are tender (15 to 20 minutes). Add the sautéed mushrooms to the pot, add the Marsala, and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Adjust seasoning as desired.) When reheating leftovers, refresh the Marsala as needed, to taste. For a thicker soup, you could use 4 or 5 cups of broth instead of 6; and mash a few of the potato cubes in the pot near the end of cooking. Recipe contributed: April 2009 Overcooked chanterelles taste remarkably like canned mushrooms. For this reason, the mushrooms are cooked separately and added last. This, of course, suggests that the soup might be made with canned mushrooms. Curious, I have also tried substituting 4 oz. drained canned mushrooms for a cup of raw chanterelles. I like the chanterelles better, but the soup with canned mushrooms was still delicious. You can, of course, spend a great deal of money buying your Marsala. I didn’t. I like the less costly brands better; their flavor is more pronounced. Both Gibson (Smart & Final) and Gambarelli & Davitto (Safeway) are less than $5 bucks a bottle, and are great for this soup. Of the wine, my encyclopedia said only that it was named after the Sicilian seaport. Historically, the seaport fares better. It was the site of ancient Lilybaeum, a Carthaginian fortress city, yielded to Rome at the end of the 1st Punic War, 241 B.C. Objective: Soup Total Time: 30-45 minutes Yield: 4 bowls Suggested Mushrooms: Chanterelle (Cantharellus californicus, Cantharellus formosus, Cantharellus subalbidus) Join FFSC or renew your membership to access the rest of this content. Join FFSC Login as an FFSC member to access the rest of this content. Login Ingredients 3 cups chanterelles (or a combination of mushrooms), chopped 1½ cup chopped onion 6 cups broth 3 Tbl. Marsala wine 1½ tsp. fines herbes or ¾ tsp. each savory and marjoram 6 medium potatoes, cubed 4-quart to 6-quart soup pot or Dutch oven. Previous Recipe All Recipes Next Recipe

Creamy Mushroom Penne Alfredo The tubular penne pasta traps the heavy cream, butter and Parmesan sauce, creating a luxurious canvas for wild mushrooms. by Rene Seltzer Hydnum washingtonianum. © Sadie Hickey (CC-BY-NC) (from inaturalist.org, obs. 184796380) Method Start boiling the water in a large pan. In the meantime, chop mushrooms to an appropriate size and sauté in 2 Tbsp. butter until tender and golden (5 to 8 minutes). When the water is boiling, cook the pasta (as directed on package) until al dente, then drain (do not rinse). While pasta is cooking, melt 2 Tbsp. butter in saucepan or casserole (about 1 minute), then add the cream and the Parmesan and simmer gently over medium heat so the cheese melts and the sauce thickens (3 to 5 minutes.) Stir in the sautéed mushrooms, including any accumilated juices, and salt and pepper to taste (about 1 minute). Add the drained pasta and chopped parsley to the sauce. Fold the pasta and sauce together over low heat until the pasta is coated evenly (1 to 2 minutes). Transfer pasta to plates, grind more black pepper over the pasta, garnish with the extra chopped parsley, and serve immediately (before the sauce cools). Note : If you use dried mushrooms, you can strain the soaking liquid and use it to deglaze your pan and/or add a few tablespoons into the cream sauce. Recipe contributed: February 2001 Try a robust species with savory flavors to slice through the richness of the creamy sauce without getting lost, such as porcini, hedgehog, chanterelle, or yellowfoot. If you use Agaricus (such as A. bisporus , A. lilaceps , or A. croceolutescens ), note that mature specimens may turn your beautiful white cream sauce a muddy brown; whereas younger specimens with pale pink gills might stain less. Be sure to lock in their almond aroma by caramelizing them on the edges before mixing with the cream! If using oyster mushrooms, try sautéing them until their edges get nice and crispy before adding them into the sauce. Black trumpets can change the cream sauce to an interesting speckled grey-black color. Bite-sized clumps of cauliflower mushrooms hold pockets of cream sauce beautifully—just be sure to clean them well. Objective: Main course Total Time: About 20 minutes Yield: 3 to 4 servings Suggested Mushrooms: Black trumpet / black chanterelle (Craterellus atrocinereus, Craterellus calicornucopioides, Craterellus cinereus) Cauliflower mushroom (Sparassis americana, Sparassis crispa, Sparassis radicata) Chanterelle (Cantharellus californicus, Cantharellus formosus, Cantharellus subalbidus) Giant cypress Agaricus (Agaricus lilaceps) Hedgehog (Hydnum olympicum, Hydnum repandum , Hydnum umbilicatum, Hydnum washintonianum) Porcini (Boletus edulis, Boletus regineus, Boletus rex-veris) Portobello/portabella, champignon, cremini, button (Agaricus bisporus) The Prince (Agaricus augustus) Yellowfoot (winter chanterelle) (Craterellus tubaeformis) Join FFSC or renew your membership to access the rest of this content. Join FFSC Login as an FFSC member to access the rest of this content. Login Ingredients 12 oz. dried penne (or similar dried pasta) 4 Tbsp butter 1 ¼ cups heavy cream 8 oz. or more wild mushrooms ⅔ cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (or your preferred Parmesan, as available) 1 tsp. finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra for garnish Salt and freshly ground pepper Previous Recipe All Recipes Next Recipe

News & Stories / Field Reports Reports from Italy in 2007 We can find wild mushrooms everywhere! This month a few of our members share recent fungi finds in restaurants and markets in Italy. Deb • November 1, 2007 Amanita caesarea. © Alan Rockefeller (from mushroomobserver.org) Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Foray to Mexico Field Reports Adventures in Austria Field Reports Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Writings The Season Begins A poem, while we all wait in anticipation of the first coastal rains that bring the autumn boletes and a wealth of fungal fruiting. Regardless of your preference for edibles and/or rich fungal diversity, it is difficult to ignore each passing day that brings us closer to local forays. Bill McGuire • September 1, 2010 Boletus edulis. © Alan Rockefeller (from mushroomobserver.org The sounds and smells of fall in the air, fat pumpkins lying in the fields Wood smoke rising lazily, moon in apogee, full, the summer yields A quiet breeze rustles the leaves, leaving only a faint sound Like the flutter of the Fairies’ wings heard in ghostly flight The leaves winter colored, frost crisp’d, dry in their season of death Slowly twist, and then suddenly free, fall silently to the ground Warm mists of October, November rains, fairy rings up last night Baskets ready, anticipation, mushrooms thrusting, pounding hearts A good day, baskets full, shadows long, campfire blazing, happy sounds Of those dying leaves, give thanks, they have had their season in the sun Their short life has run, in their dying commences a new life, the fungal mycelium Mushrooms, in their turn, become the leaves; their life cycle then to be o’er As nature intended, their day in the rain has quickly run, ad infinitum Mushroom lovers: observe the leaves as they twist and turn and fall to mother earth Observe, prepare, it’s soon our turn, our day in the sun, and our season of rebirth —Bill McGuire 2010 Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Haikus Celebrating the Secret Life of Fungi Writings Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Field Reports Mushrooms in Chongqing China My hometown, Chongqing, China—nicknamed the “Mountain City” and “Fog City” and home to 30 million people—is famous for its spicy cuisine, ancient rock carvings, and breathtaking landscapes featured in Transformers. Little is known, however, about its mushrooms. Harvey Feng • October 1, 2025 Mushroom from Chongqing, China. © Harvey Feng Welcome to Chongqing! It has many to offer and cheap tickets in September and October. Got time to hike twice in nearby hills (450 meters elevation) before returning to the US. Here are the most impressive mushrooms. Hope I can go deep in the wood next time. Its terrain is from ~ 200 to 2000 meters and first soaking rain this year was in mid-September. Note from the Editor: In February 2026, Harvey will take us through his journey to Chongqing , and what he rediscovered in huge surprise--the mushrooms, nature, and the fascinating fellow foragers. Chongqing ("chaang-ching") is located at the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers, about 1,756 km (1,091 miles) Southeast of Beijing. Chongqing, China (from Google Maps) Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Mushroom Heaven, a Restaurant in Beijing Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

Hmmm... We couldn't ID that link (If this were a mushroom, we'd go back to our field guide and start over.) Try a Search Report a Broken Link

Hmmm... We couldn't ID that link (If this were a mushroom, we'd go back to our field guide and start over.) Try a Search Report a Broken Link