It's Mushroom Season!
Updated: Oct 19, 2022
This time of year, the forest is exploding with mushrooms. After a brief damp period and cooling temperatures, the dying leaves and branches are being taken over by fungus. In the past few weeks, as we have walked through the forests, we've witnessed varieties of mushrooms and other fungi. We thought we would share our new interest with you as we have discovered so many varieties, shapes, colors, and wanted to bring you and your children‘s attention to this.
What is important to keep in mind, is that there are many types, and quite a few that are poisonous and even deadly if consumed. Although we have found some which are edible, we have a rule on our walks, look but don‘t touch. We are not experts, only a curious family that enjoys nature.
Here are a few images from our recent walks throughout the forests in Switzerland. We have tried to identify these as best we could and again, are by no means experts on this topic. Enjoy your time in the forest while fungi spotting! A whole world of mushrooms are out there, just waiting to be discovered!
The orange peel fungus is a delight to find! This is really fun to see life in macro. Fun Fact: The Purple Cortinarius has a symbiotic relationship with the trees in the forest!
Tips:
There are multiple apps available that help you identify the mushrooms you discover while hiking. We have yet, however, to discover one that is free of charge.
For a great hike any time of the year, but particularly during mushroom season, we highly recommend this route.
The Ink Cap spreads its spores by "melting" into an black slime and dripping on to the forest floor. Kind of gross and amazing at the same time!
More Fun Facts:
Some mushrooms have symbiotic root systems (mycorrhiza) with neighboring plants or trees.
Mushrooms are known to exhibit bioaccumulation, which means they can absorb and store large amounts of pesticides and other chemicals, like arsenic, lead, chromium and cesium. In some cases, mushrooms are used to decontaminate areas where there are high/toxic levels of a substance. This may also be why many are not edible.
Some mushrooms are bioluminecent where they or parts of them (only roots, spores, or stems) will emit visible (green) light.
There are approximately 14,000 which have been described to date.
Tips:
To understand the rules of mushroom-picking in Switzerland, please read this fabulous article we discovered.
Finally, if you do pick mushrooms, did you know there are centers located all over Switzerland that will check your mushrooms for you to make sure they are safe for consumption? How cool is that?