Learn wild, edible mushrooms fruiting in Texas after rain.
Comes with download of a Wild Edible Mushroom Calendar.
True Morel, Morchella americana
Description: Honeycomb cap with a off-white, bulbous, wrinkly stem. Hollow on inside. Fruits after rain and while soil temps are between 45-50°.
Habitat: Found in alkaline soils near limestone and cedar duff.
Spore Color: Creamy Yellow Size: 1–4" in Height
Edibility: Edible when cooked and toxic when raw
Look-alikes: Gyromitra, Verpa , Helvella genera have some toxic species. Get confirmation with expert before eating. Death by morels is real.
As the dewberries blossom, the choice edible morel, starts to fruit in Central Texas. These distinctive fungi have a honeycomb appearance due to the network of ridges with pits composing their caps. I'm already thinking about how to preserve morels so I can pair them with dewberries.
I found my first morels in Texas in 2019 as the pandemic shut everything down. SXSW was canceled and in my new found free-time I wandered near creeks looking under junipers for the honeycombed, yellow mushrooms. Morels are found to be saprophytic, mycorrhizal and endophytes during different parts of their life cycle. In Texas, I have found morels in riparian areas growing in limestone with grasses and duff near cedars or Juniperus ashei, hackberries, possomhaw, and cedar elms. They are illusive and require moisture from rain. The last few years have been really terrible for morels because of the severe droughts in Central Texas. There is a lot of hope for this morel season because they need at least six weeks of freezing temperatures to grow but obviously they have adapted to our shorter winters in Texas.
Wood Blewit Collybia species, formerly Lepista, Clitocybe
Description: Lilac to purple-pink. Gills are attached to short, stout stem with bulbous base.
Habitat: Grows in and decomposes leaf duff
Size: 3-6" cap diamter Spore Color: Light pink to white
Edibility: Good. Try in breakfast tacos
Look-alikes: Purple webcaps in the Cortinarius genus can be toxic and grow in same habitat. Spore print is rust colored.
OYSTER Pleurotus ostreatus
DESCRIPTION: Color can vary white, tan and gray.White to cream gills, run down stem.
HABITAT: Grows in clusters and decomposes hardwood.
SPORE COLOR: White
SIZE: Cap fan shaped, 2"-8" across.
EDIBILITY: Choice. Delicious meat replacement in all types of cuisines
LOOK A-LIKE: The Southern Jack-o-lantern, Omphalotus subilludens is the toxic look-a-like and is orange to brown in color. They do grow at the same time but their habitat and morphology is different.
Shoehorn Oyster Hohenbuehelia petaloides
Description: Pale to brown funnel-shaped caps with decurrent gills. Considered carnivorous because it traps nematodes with “sticky knobs” in the mycelium to obtain nitrogen and grow.
Habitat: Fruits after rain in mulch or woody debris
Spore Color: white or yellowish Size: 5-10" wide
Edibility: Edible when cooked but can be tough and mealy
Look-alikes: Pluerotus species or Lentinellus cochleatus (none observed in Texas) but grow on decomposing wood.
WOOD EAR Auricularia 6+- species in Texas
DESCRIPTION: Brown to amber in color. Jelly texture that is irregular, wavy, and ear-shaped. Lacks gills or pores.
HABITAT: Grows in clusters on decaying hardwood after rain
SPORE COLOR: White
SIZE: 4-6" in width and > 1/4" thick
EDIBILITY: Wood ear mushrooms are a popular ingredient in many Chinese dishes, such as hot and sour soup, and also used in Chinese medicine. It is also used in Ghana, as a blood tonic. Modern research into possible medical applications has variously concluded that wood ear has anti-tumor, hypoglycemic, anticoagulant and cholesterol-lowering properties.
LOOK-ALIKES: Amber Jelly, Exidia recisa which is also edible.
Puffball: Lycoperdon and Calvatia, 15+- species in Texas
DESCRIPTION: Smooth and spherical, deflate and turn purplish or brown on inside with age making inedible. Some peal and have spines.
HABITAT: Overgrazed Prairie or grasslands.
SPORE COLOR: Purple-brown
SIZE: 2- 60" diameter
EDIBILITY: Doesn’t have a strong flavor of its own and absorb flavors. Try making a Giant Puffball Pizza.
LOOK-ALIKES: Amanita species which can contain toxins and be fatal. If center of puffball is not white, it can cause GI distress.
TURKEY TAIL Trametes versicolor
DESCRIPTION: Variable coloration, distinct striping pattern. No gills, pores are small and round, white to light brown
HABITAT: Grows in overlapping clusters on logs and stumps
SPORE COLOR: White
SIZE: Cap fan shaped, 2"-8" across.
EDIBILITY: Medicinal. Tough, leathery flesh. Can be brewed into a tea, broth, or extracted into a tincture.
LOOK A-LIKE: False turkey tail. or Stereum ostrea and is non-toxic. Mushroom Expert has a useful check list to determine if it is true medicinal turkey tail.
Become a member and learn more about wild mushroom foraging in Texas!
Membership benefits include early access and discounts to walks, workshops, and more. Your membership helps support the larger community! Tag us to get help with ID and add your observations to iNaturalist.org. If you are trying a new mushroom, confirm the ID with an expert, then try a small amount to make sure you don't have an allergic reaction. Texas Mushroom Identification Facebook group is great for quick responses and ID help. Also, don't forget to add your finds on the Mushrooms of Texas project on iNaturalist.