Tag Archives: David Arora

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Ron Champoux found several Death Caps, Amanita phalloides, growing on The Sea Ranch. They are big, beautiful, and quite deadly if consumed.

ron-champoux-with-a-death-cap-mushroom-by-jill-silliphantRon's smiling, but he knows not to eat it! I used to be afraid to touch one of the deadly three mushrooms, but at a mushroom forage with David Arora, I saw him handle a Death Cap without a care in the world. So Ron isn't putting himself in harm's way by handling this Death Cap. Still, I'd wash my hands thoroughly to be on the safe side.

We have rain coming in tonight, after a string of six days without the wet stuff. And you know what rain brings - mushrooms, and hopefully they will be the edible kind.

Thanks to Ron for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

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I keep looking for this wonderful edible mushroom year after year, but I've never found one. Alex Kun hit the jackpot when he found this bounty of Boletus appendiculatus, Butter Boletes.

UPDATE: David Arora let me know that this mushroom's scientific name has been changed. It's now classified as Butyriboletus persolidus. To read more about these mushrooms, here is a link to Arora's article titled "Clarifying the Butter Boletes" - http://davidarora.com/uploads/Clarifying_the_Butter_Boletes.pdf

butter-boletes-1-by-alex-kun butter-boletes-2-by-alex-kun butter-boletes-3-by-alex-kunAlex wrote, "Behold the elusive and relatively rare Boletus appendiculatus. More specifically, a beauteous bounty of bulbous Butter boletes. Everything goes better with butter!”

These boletes are found in the early autumn under hardwoods like Tan-oak. All Alex would say is he found them south of Gualala within one mile of the Mendonoma Coast. Lucky guy!

Rick and I found this beautiful, big Queen Bolete late yesterday [the cap is darker than it looks in the photo - it's quite dark brown], Coccoras are nearly everywhere, and more Matsutakes are peeking up under the duff. What a great mushroom year we are having!

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Thanks to Alex for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

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That's the title of David Arora's pocket field guide to mushrooms. And as he lives on the Mendonoma coast, pretty much all foragers here have this guide. Here are some mushrooms that have recently arrived on our property in Anchor Bay.

First I was happy to find a couple of Queen Boletes a few days ago. They have a darker cap than the Kings, and their stem isn't as fat. They are delicious. When I trim them and remove the sponge underneath the cap, I gather up the trimmings and scatter them outside in suitable habitat - yes, I'm hoping for more!

queen-bolete-by-jeanne-jackson Also fruiting in abundance now is the edible amanita, Coccora. These mushrooms have a deadly lookalike, so you must be extremely careful with  your identification. They are nicknamed "Creamy Tops," as one of their characteristics is a cottony-like white top. You can scrape it off with your finger.

coccoras-by-jeanne-jackson-2The Fly Amanitas are also up in abundant numbers. I love watching these mushrooms evolve as they grow. Arora will tell you they are edible if you parboil them twice, throwing out the water between boiling. I find them in sunny spots here.

fly-amanita-by-jeanne-jacksonIn this basket I also have Matsutakes. They are so distinctive, with their cinnamon smell. They grow in sandy soil.

a-basket-of-mushrooms-by-jeanne-jacksonThe wonderful rains have brought back mushrooms after five sub-par years. For the many critters in the forest that feast on them, including we two-legged critters, we rejoice in their return.

David Arora has a mushroom event coming up soon. To learn more, here is his website: http://www.davidarora.com/events.html

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Though it's quite cold, there is a nice bloom of Boletus edulis along the Mendonoma Coast. Many foragers have been at Salt Point State Park where it is legal to forage as long as you only take five pounds a day. Catherine Miller found some of the first king boletes of the season on November 9th.

Boletus edulis arrive by Catherine Miller

Rick and I had our first taste of the year this week, making a porcini omelet for breakfast yesterday. YUM!

David Arora says that, even with the cold weather (36 degrees at our house this morning), we should see more boletes, though not as many as we would get with more normal weather. He says the cold weather will keep them hard and free from bugs. I'll be looking for Queen boletes on our property soon.

Thanks to Catherine for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

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A group of Shrimp Russulas, Russula xeramplina, has bloomed under a Shore Pine tree on our property. I finally learned the identification of these edible mushrooms after a mushroom forage with David Arora a month or so ago. First, it is a substantial mushroom, not flimsy. The stem is rosy though you will have to look closely at my photo to see the blush. When you scratch the stem it should turn yellow. To further make sure you have the edible Russula, bite off a small piece of the cap, chew and then spit out. If you taste pepper you have the wrong one.

 These two 'shrooms are growing next to a large rock at our home in Anchor Bay.

It's been cold and dry here on the Mendonoma Coast. But these Shrimp Russulas didn't seem to mind! To see several other photos of this mushroom, here's the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2011/11/24/shrimp-russula-has-appeared-on-the-edge-of-our-forest-in-anchor-bay/