North Texas is rich in wild edibles; particularly mushrooms. Many of which are world class food items that, more often than not, defy commercial cultivation. Is there a better excuse to wander the woods than to discover, and pluck from the earth, culinary excellence?
Initially, the two main varieties of interest for me have been Morels (species from the genus, Morchella) and Chanterelles (species within the two genera, Cantharellus and Craterellus). Mainly because they’re local, nutritious, wildly delicious and I almost certainly won’t die.
Texas is known for its Chanterelles and houses multiple species such as phasmatis, spectaculus, flavus and tenuithrix. According to Sebastian Tabibi, the President of the North Texas Mycological Association, Texas is also home to a beautiful red colored species all our own: Cantharellus texensis, which hails from the East Texas area.
The Chanterelle’s flavor profile is woody, smoky, savory and not unlike a shiitake in my opinion. Perhaps a little less bold. They have a mycorrhizal relationship with the roots of trees, which means they feed off of the sugars in the roots and in return give back to the roots phosphorus and nitrogen. This symbiotic relationship is part of the reason they have been so difficult to cultivate; as they need the trees. You can find them among the hardwood forest floor from spring to fall, and if you break open a fresh one, they smell like apricots.
While Chanterelles are abundant and delicious, there may not be a culinary mushroom more elusive and steeped in secrecy than the Morel. These brainy looking earth protrusions have so far resisted large scale commercial cultivation, while also maintaining a tragically short growing season: two to four weeks in the spring, from mid-March to mid-April. Folks have gone to their graves withholding the location of their morel honey holes, and many times, it remains a closely guarded family secret. The instructions for finding morels can even seem, on the surface, more like superstition than applied science. They have been found growing in pots with phlox plants, at the bottom of coal pits, growing out of hay bales, and giant ones have popped in back yards after record floods.
The generic advice for finding Morels is to go into a riparian zone and check at the base of certain tree species; namely sycamore, hickory, ash, elm and fruit trees (apple orchards in particular). However, the most reliable searching protocol for an area is after a burn. These are known as Fire Morels, and are even more highly prized. Morels are the first living organisms to emerge from the scorched earth; they are the harbingers of new life. The beefy and nutty flavor is so highly prized that they sell for over $30/lb at farmer’s markets in the spring. To dive into the rabbit hole that is Morel hunting is a journey into lore and anecdote; and also, into a deeper understanding of one’s own ignorance of both fungi, and the exquisite culinary goods to be found in the forest.
Clearly, I am a foodie-outdoorsman with a scientific bent; a combination well represented in the foraging community. While there are delicious things to be found in the woods, there are many species of fungi you very much want to avoid ingesting. As has been said before, “There are old and there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old and bold mushroom hunters.”
Many varieties can make you violently ill or even kill you; some of which are unknown to science. Chanterelles and Morels both have toxic look alikes in the Jack O’ Lantern mushroom (Omphalotus subilludens and Omphalatus illudens) and the False Morel (species of Gyromitra and Verpa). While both are widely considered not to be deadly, they can cause severe gastrointestinal upset including vomiting, diarrhea and a generally all around terrible time. Although, when it comes to false morels there is some controversy here: some folks do eat them. According to Sebastian Tabibi, species from the genus Verpa in particular, are edible when cooked–even though they are still considered a false morel. However, he goes on to mention,
“…folks should also be cautioned about Gyromitra, even though there are people who swear up and down that they eat it all the time with no issues. Ultimately, no one mushroom is safe for everyone as each person reacts differently once digested. The goal is to eat new mushrooms found in small portions at a time before ever diving into them, as you may not know how you will react.”
Sebastian Tabibi, President of the North Texas Mycological Association
Personally, I’ll make sure my morels are hollow from stem to tip: a surefire identification method between true Morchella species and the species of Gyromitra or Verpa. I’m here for the adventure and the flavor, not the aggressive bubble guts.
The most common culprit of mushroom poisonings in North America is Chlorophyllum molybdites, aptly known as The Vomiter. There are a variety of different edible species that it can be mistaken for. Common misidentifications are species of the genus Agaricus, which include the common grocery store button mushroom Agaricus bisporus, or perhaps the coveted Parasol mushrooms (Macrolepiota procera and Chlorophyllum rhacodes). C. molybdites’ button form is difficult to identify and only releases its tell-tale green spores upon maturity. It also frequently fruits in lawns and pastures, making it easily accessible to pets, children, and curious appetites. As is evident by the common name, severe gastrointestinal upset including vomiting and explosive, sometimes bloody diarrhea are the main symptoms; usually occurring within 1 to 3 hours of ingestion. Not cool.
While the previous few examples of misidentification will not likely cause death, there are far more sinister varieties. Three of the most commonly misidentified and deadly mushrooms are the aptly named “Destroying Angel,” “Death Cap,” and “Deadly Galerina.”
The Destroying Angel (Amanita bisporigera and Amanita amerivirosa) and Death Cap (Amanita phalloides) are the cause of the vast majority of mushroom poisonings resulting in death. Young specimens are usually misidentified as edible puffball mushrooms (a variety of genera), or mature specimens of the White Dapperling (Leucoagaricus leucothites). The Destroying Angel and Death Cap contain amatoxins, which destroy the liver and kidneys. Worse yet, symptoms do not appear quickly; usually within the first couple of days and by then, irreversible damage has begun to set in. According to the National Center for Biotechnical Information:
“…amanitin toxin is heat stable, remaining toxic whether eaten raw or cooked. The mechanism of action of amatoxin is by inhibiting RNA polymerase, causing disruption of transcription of mRNA. As a result, hepatocytes cannot synthesize key protein coding genes, leading to the disintegration of nucleoli and pathologically centrilobular hepatic necrosis. This leads to the insidious onset of liver failure over 48 hours.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK431052/
While not as common a misidentification as the two mushrooms previous, the Deadly Galerina, or the Funeral Bell (Galerina marginata), deserves mentioning. It is considered an LBM, or a “little brown mushroom;” a group considered difficult to distinguish apart. This makes misidentification easy as they look very similar to an edible species known as the Honey Mushroom (Armillaria mellea). The Funeral Bell also contains the same amatoxin as the Amanita sp., and is therefore considered extremely dangerous. These “little brown mushrooms,” along with any Amanita sp. and other white gilled mushrooms, should be left to the experts.
Foraging should always be undertaken with extreme caution and coupled with a dedication to education. While there are dangers to be avoided, there are many amazing culinary experiences to be found within the forests and fields of North Texas. In addition to their deliciousness, Morchella and Cantharellus also house incredible medicinal and health-inducing compounds–which scientists have been attempting to isolate and study for decades.
The amount of varieties currently being researched is mind boggling, however, the work going into specific compounds like polysaccharides is nothing short of miraculous. One 2011 study review stated that mushroom polysaccharides have at least 126 unique bioactivities including: immunomodulation, anticancer, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiaging, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, antiviral, hypocholesterolemic–and the list continues. This is such an astounding collection of possible therapeutic options that it literally had me uttering cuss words in the coffee shop–as promising is an understatement. There are treasures to be found in the North Texas woods. I leave you with a departing quote from Henry David Thoreau,
“All good things are wild and free.”
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***This article was written for the North Texas Mycological Association’s newsletter. Please support a great local non-profit run by a small group of passionate mycophiles!***
Thank you for reading! If you’d like to see more of my writing check out my portfolio and newsletter. I also do photography and videography, and I’m easy to reach. Obviously, it would be a huge help if you shared!
Catch you on the flip side,
D.G.
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WORKS CITED
Horowitz BZ, Moss MJ. Amatoxin Mushroom Toxicity. [Updated 2021 Aug 11]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK431052/
Contributor, D. C. (2019, October 1). Yes, North Texas has an edible wild mushroom season. Here’s what you need to know before you forage. Dallas News. https://www.dallasnews.com/food/cooking/2019/10/01/yes-north-texas-has-an-edible-wild-mushroom-season-here-s-what-you-need-to-know-before-you-forage/
E., & Every, G. G. A. M. (2021, April 20). 12 Tips for Finding More Morel Mushrooms This Spring. Outdoor Life. https://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/survival/2016/04/12-tips-finding-more-morel-mushrooms-spring/
Featherstone, N. (2021a, July 11). False Chanterelle Mushrooms: How To Tell The Difference. Forest Wildlife. https://www.forestwildlife.org/false-chanterelle-mushrooms/
Featherstone, N. (2021b, July 11). Where Do You Find Chanterelle Mushrooms? Forest Wildlife. https://www.forestwildlife.org/where-do-you-find-chanterelle-mushrooms/
Guy, T. M. (2022, January 7). A Comprehensive List of Common Wild Mushrooms in Texas. Healing-Mushrooms.Net. https://healing-mushrooms.net/texas
Orr, E. (2021, June 9). Chanterelle Mushrooms [Field Guide]. Foraging for Wild Edibles. https://www.wildedible.com/foraging-chanterelles
Mushroom Appreciation. (2022). Morel Mushroom Identification: What to Look For and What to Avoid. Www.Mushroom-Appreciation.Com. https://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/morel-mushroom.html
T. (2019, November 4). How to Find and Cook Texas Mushrooms. Texas Heritage for Living. https://texasheritageforliving.com/texas-living/how-to-find-and-cook-texas-mushrooms/
Wasser SP. Current findings, future trends, and unsolved problems in studies of medicinal mushrooms. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2011 Mar;89(5):1323-32. doi: 10.1007/s00253-010-3067-4. Epub 2010 Dec 29. PMID: 21190105.
Beug, Michael W. An Overview of Mushroom Poisonings in North America.Archived 2010-05-20 at the Wayback MachineThe Mycophile, vol. 45(2):4-5, March/April 2004
