Mushrooms of The Sunshine Coast

Meronwood Mycology Centre

Velvet Overground Take 2

Velvet Overground Take 2

Check out the shape of this velvety Phaeolus schweinitzii. Looks like a flower, and fresh bread. Oh yeah!

Sunshine Cobwebs

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

Jellies

Jelly-like, translucent and colourful, these Tremella mesenterica always make us smile.

2022

2022

2022. Not a mushroom fruiting body to be found in the hot dry forests. We searched high and low but nada.

2021 Chanterelles

2021 Chanterelles

How lucky are we to live where chanterelles grow. Love love love them! Mount Elphie.

Velvet Overground

Velvet Overground

Soft velvety tops and a bit strange looking. Phaeolus schweinitzii. And who doesn’t love a bit of strange!

Candysticks

Candysticks

Supercool Allotropa virgata is a plant that enjoys the taste of matsutake mycelium. Mount Elphie.

November 2020 Misc

November 2020 Misc

Misc mushrooms and landscapes from our November 2020 foraging. You know them all!

Gandydancer

Gandydancer

Check out the layers on this beauty. Lovely colouring and pristine condition. Lower Mount Elphie.

October 2020 Misc

October 2020 Misc

Misc mushrooms and landscapes from our October 2020 foraging. See how many you recognize.

So Cool Helvella crispa

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

Amanita pantherina, we feel cool just saying it. Hanging with the A.muscaria in Upper Roberts Creek.

Clustered Lyophyllum

Clustered Lyophyllum

Healthy, chubby, adorable. Found these on a hike through a beautiful, misty forest. Upper Roberts Creek.

Pig Ears

Pig Ears

Does this look like pig ears? It does, it does. And hence the common name for Gomphus clavatus.

Hawkwing Elder

Hawkwing Elder

After 7 years, Balfour and McDowell are lucky enough to spot another hawk wing. Happiness on Mount Elphinstone.

Laccaria Amethysteo

Laccaria Amethysteo

Little gems – the beautiful mauve Laccaria amethyst-occidentalis. Lower Mount Elphinstone.

Red Coral

Red Coral

Corals are so intriguing. And this is the first red coral we’ve ever seen! Sweet. Upper Roberts Creek.

Angel Wings

Angel Wings

Delicate trumpet shaped angel wings against a dark wood and green forest setting. So cool. Upper Roberts Creek.

Western Saffron Milk Cap

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

August Hedgehogs

Teeth. Oh baby how we love finding hedgies! And in August already. Found on Lower Mount Elphinstone.

Russula blackula

Russula blackula

Russulas like charcoal. So very cool. But what shall we call them? This blacker than black russie was found at TrailFest.

Lobsters

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

2019 Summer Chanterelles

July 1 – Earliest Summer Chanterelles – EVER! for Balfour & McDowell. And they were everywhere!

420 Ghost Pipes

420 Ghost Pipes

This 420 summer of love. Pipes are plants who say pffftt to chlorophyll and rock on with mushrooms and trees.

Puffballs

Puffballs

Still reminding McDowell of her youth. Jewels, studs, devil’s snuff-boxes… Vive La Punk Puffballs.

2019 Summer Forest

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

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 misc

Amanita, hold me tighter… McDowell sings Warren Zevon when she sees Amanita anything. Cougar Trail. Sprockids

Clavulina cristata

Clavulina cristata

So many corals and so different. This grouping was up the B&K where we rocked some 4x4ing.

Crown-Tipped Coral

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

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

Cutie-Pie Cauliflower

This little cutie-pie cauliflower mushroom was sitting right by the path just waiting for us. Mount Elphie.

Fomitopsis pinicola

Fomitopsis pinicola

Shiny happy polypore. And why not? This Fomitopsis pinicola lives on Mount Elphie – you’d smile too!

Hypholoma fasciculare

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

Valley of Giants: chanterelles, pines and honeys on the way to BenofDares. Bags heavy with mushrooms. What a day!

Teeth (Phellodon melaleucus)

Teeth (Phellodon melaleucus)

Sunshine, red ooze, dramatic colouring and teeth! A rockin’ Phellodon melaleucus on the way to BenofDares.

Chanterelle Anniversary

Chanterelle Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to McDowell’s Mom & Dad and to everyone in the mushroom world kicking off another fall season!

Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum)

Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum)

Gem-Studded devil snuffboxes. Reminds McDowell of her punk years. Sex Pistols, studs, snuffboxes… Rock the Casbah

Big Summer Chantie

Big Summer Chantie

Where are all the mushrooms. Hot weather and no rain. Then Balfour finds the biggest summer chanterelle ever!

Chanterelle Hat

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

Summer hedgehogs. Is this possible? All we know is McDowell’s face lights up whenever she’s Hedgehog Dreaming!

Trametes versicolor

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)

Oyster (Pleurotus)

Perfection oysters: firm / delicious. Deck dried by the sunshine and lava lamp, to rock that ergosterol into vitamin D.

Craterellus tubaeformis

Craterellus tubaeformis

Welcome to winter 2016, winter chanterelles that is! Deelish, give them a nice dry fry and enjoy around the fire.

Trametes versicolor

Trametes versicolor

February offers the ever-subtly beautiful Trametes versicolor or turkey tail. Upper Mount Elphinstone.

Chanterelle (Solstice +6)

Chanterelle (Solstice +6)

Latest-in-the-year chanterelle mushroom we’ve found on the Coast. 2015 December 27. Joy to the world!

Chanterelles

Chanterelles

Sweet chanties just keep on giving. Rain brings out these beauties to shine against the green forest background.

Amanita pantherina

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)

FalseMorels (Gyromitra infula)

False morels popping in cleared forest areas. Cool to look at, toxic unless really, really cooked. Lower Mount Elphie.

Hydnellum geogenium

Hydnellum geogenium

Tricky one but McDowell is calling it. Not common, may be rare and she may be incorrect. Mid Mount Elphie.

Hawkwing-Sarcodon imbricatus

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

Hedgehog-Hydnum repandum

McDowell is crazy for teeth. Balfour found the biggest hedgehog we’ve ever seen. Lower Roberts Creek.

Honeys (Armillaria)

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)

Bristly (Pholiota squarrosa)

A sucker for crunchy toppings and shaggy hairdos, McDowell was overjoyed to find these. Mount Elphinstone.

Pretty Fly (Amanita muscaria)

Pretty Fly (Amanita muscaria)

You don’t have to be Alice to adore Amanita muscaria. Soma, entheogen, rabbit holes, magical beauties. Creek.

Chanterelle

Chanterelle

Early fall and the chanterelles are calling us. Wake up thinking about foraging, talk about foraging, dream foraging.

Oyster (Pleurotus)

Oyster (Pleurotus)

Run the trails in April and harvest fresh oyster mushrooms for dinner with friends. Perfect. Cliff Gilker Park.

Morels (Morchella)

Morels (Morchella)

Fresh wood chips and cleared spaces in spring can inspire these beauties. Downtown Sechelt.