Mushrooms of The Sunshine Coast
Meronwood Mycology Centre
Velvet Overground Take 2
Check out the shape of this velvety Phaeolus schweinitzii. Looks like a flower, and fresh bread. Oh yeah!
Sunshine Cobwebs
The forest is a home. We see it over and over again and this time it’s spiders tricking out the landscape.
Jellies
Jelly-like, translucent and colourful, these Tremella mesenterica always make us smile.
2022
2022. Not a mushroom fruiting body to be found in the hot dry forests. We searched high and low but nada.
2021 Chanterelles
How lucky are we to live where chanterelles grow. Love love love them! Mount Elphie.
Velvet Overground
Soft velvety tops and a bit strange looking. Phaeolus schweinitzii. And who doesn’t love a bit of strange!
Candysticks
Supercool Allotropa virgata is a plant that enjoys the taste of matsutake mycelium. Mount Elphie.
November 2020 Misc
Misc mushrooms and landscapes from our November 2020 foraging. You know them all!
Gandydancer
Check out the layers on this beauty. Lovely colouring and pristine condition. Lower Mount Elphie.
October 2020 Misc
Misc mushrooms and landscapes from our October 2020 foraging. See how many you recognize.
So Cool Helvella crispa
Of all the cool things we have seen in the forest, these Helvella crispas are the most far out.
Amanita pantherina
Amanita pantherina, we feel cool just saying it. Hanging with the A.muscaria in Upper Roberts Creek.
Clustered Lyophyllum
Healthy, chubby, adorable. Found these on a hike through a beautiful, misty forest. Upper Roberts Creek.
Pig Ears
Does this look like pig ears? It does, it does. And hence the common name for Gomphus clavatus.
Hawkwing Elder
After 7 years, Balfour and McDowell are lucky enough to spot another hawk wing. Happiness on Mount Elphinstone.
Laccaria Amethysteo
Little gems – the beautiful mauve Laccaria amethyst-occidentalis. Lower Mount Elphinstone.
Boletus mirabilis perfectus
The perfect bolete is a beautiful thing. And McDowell is happy with even one. Upper Roberts Creek.
Red Coral
Corals are so intriguing. And this is the first red coral we’ve ever seen! Sweet. Upper Roberts Creek.
Angel Wings
Delicate trumpet shaped angel wings against a dark wood and green forest setting. So cool. Upper Roberts Creek.
Full Monty Boletus mirabilis
This boletus mirabilis goes full monty: fruit body and mycelium. Totally awesome! Upper Roberts Creek.
Western Saffron Milk Cap
Finally a milk cap. A cousin of the true European species and living in limbo. Oh the drama. Mount Elphinstone.
August Hedgehogs
Teeth. Oh baby how we love finding hedgies! And in August already. Found on Lower Mount Elphinstone.
Russula blackula
Russulas like charcoal. So very cool. But what shall we call them? This blacker than black russie was found at TrailFest.
Lobsters
Thumbs up to this lobster found by a trail in Sprockids. A great place to find lobsters, if the bugs don’t find them first!
2019 Summer Chanterelles
July 1 – Earliest Summer Chanterelles – EVER! for Balfour & McDowell. And they were everywhere!
420 Ghost Pipes
This 420 summer of love. Pipes are plants who say pffftt to chlorophyll and rock on with mushrooms and trees.
Puffballs
Still reminding McDowell of her youth. Jewels, studs, devil’s snuff-boxes… Vive La Punk Puffballs.
2019 Summer Forest
We love the forests of the Sunshine Coast. Open space to forage, creeks, friendly people and lots of room for everyone.
Orange Spine Hydnellum
Teeth! McDowell loves them. Both Balfour and McDowell think the Orange Spine is one cool looking mushoom. Cougar Trail.
Amanita misc
Amanita, hold me tighter… McDowell sings Warren Zevon when she sees Amanita anything. Cougar Trail. Sprockids
Clavulina cristata
So many corals and so different. This grouping was up the B&K where we rocked some 4x4ing.
Crown-Tipped Coral
Artomyces pyxidatus. Say that 10 times fast. A regal beauty of a coral with tips that resemble a crown. Sprockids.
Strict Branch Coral
The coral that started it all for Balfour and McDowell to really look at corals. These strictlies were found just off B&K.
Cutie-Pie Cauliflower
This little cutie-pie cauliflower mushroom was sitting right by the path just waiting for us. Mount Elphie.
Fomitopsis pinicola
Shiny happy polypore. And why not? This Fomitopsis pinicola lives on Mount Elphie – you’d smile too!
Hypholoma fasciculare
Sulfur Tufts as we’ve not seen them – so orange. Hypholoma fasciculate cute but poisonous. Valley of Giants.
Valley of Giants
Valley of Giants: chanterelles, pines and honeys on the way to BenofDares. Bags heavy with mushrooms. What a day!
Teeth (Phellodon melaleucus)
Sunshine, red ooze, dramatic colouring and teeth! A rockin’ Phellodon melaleucus on the way to BenofDares.
Chanterelle Anniversary
Happy Anniversary to McDowell’s Mom & Dad and to everyone in the mushroom world kicking off another fall season!
Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum)
Gem-Studded devil snuffboxes. Reminds McDowell of her punk years. Sex Pistols, studs, snuffboxes… Rock the Casbah
Big Summer Chantie
Where are all the mushrooms. Hot weather and no rain. Then Balfour finds the biggest summer chanterelle ever!
Chanterelle Hat
McDowell enters forest with hat in hand and comes out loaded – with chanties. And the dogs get their walk.
Summer Hedgehogs
Summer hedgehogs. Is this possible? All we know is McDowell’s face lights up whenever she’s Hedgehog Dreaming!
Trametes versicolor
May and the Trametes v. is gorgeous. So too are the Mom bear and two teeny tiny cubs we met on the mountain.
Oyster (Pleurotus)
Perfection oysters: firm / delicious. Deck dried by the sunshine and lava lamp, to rock that ergosterol into vitamin D.
Craterellus tubaeformis
Welcome to winter 2016, winter chanterelles that is! Deelish, give them a nice dry fry and enjoy around the fire.
Trametes versicolor
February offers the ever-subtly beautiful Trametes versicolor or turkey tail. Upper Mount Elphinstone.
Chanterelle (Solstice +6)
Latest-in-the-year chanterelle mushroom we’ve found on the Coast. 2015 December 27. Joy to the world!
Chanterelles
Sweet chanties just keep on giving. Rain brings out these beauties to shine against the green forest background.
Amanita pantherina
These cutie-pie buttons popped up in springtime right near where their red sisters grow in fall. Lower Roberts Creek.
FalseMorels (Gyromitra infula)
False morels popping in cleared forest areas. Cool to look at, toxic unless really, really cooked. Lower Mount Elphie.
Hydnellum geogenium
Tricky one but McDowell is calling it. Not common, may be rare and she may be incorrect. Mid Mount Elphie.
Cauliflower (Sparassis radicata)
We’d been looking everywhere, hearing, dreaming about them and Balfour comes through. Lower Roberts Creek.
Hawkwing-Sarcodon imbricatus
What beautiful patterns and big teeth you have Hawk Wing. And someone we know loves teeth. Upper Wilson Creek.
Hedgehog-Hydnum repandum
McDowell is crazy for teeth. Balfour found the biggest hedgehog we’ve ever seen. Lower Roberts Creek.
Honeys (Armillaria)
Some pooh-pooh them. McDowell doesn’t drink much so she’s always onboard for a honey fest. Cliff Gilker.
Bristly (Pholiota squarrosa)
A sucker for crunchy toppings and shaggy hairdos, McDowell was overjoyed to find these. Mount Elphinstone.
Pine (Tricholoma magnivelare)
Balfour can smell them a mile away. McDowell can eat them! The prize of the forest. Lower Roberts Creek.
Brown Velvet (Boletus mirabilis)
Brown velvet cap, lemony-green sponge pores, sturdy reticulated stalks. Who wouldn’t fall in love? Mnt Elphinstone.
Pretty Fly (Amanita muscaria)
You don’t have to be Alice to adore Amanita muscaria. Soma, entheogen, rabbit holes, magical beauties. Creek.
Coriolus (Trametes versicolor)
Yes we do chew on springy coriolus as we forage – and chew and chew… Upper Mount Elphinstone.
Chanterelle
Early fall and the chanterelles are calling us. Wake up thinking about foraging, talk about foraging, dream foraging.
Oyster (Pleurotus)
Run the trails in April and harvest fresh oyster mushrooms for dinner with friends. Perfect. Cliff Gilker Park.
Morels (Morchella)
Fresh wood chips and cleared spaces in spring can inspire these beauties. Downtown Sechelt.