What mushrooms to pick in November in Ukraine

November is the month when most foragers have already washed their baskets and put them away until spring. But the woods only look empty at first glance: until hard frosts set in, mushrooms you won't see at any other time of year are still holding on on wood and in the cool forest.

Let's look at which mushrooms grow in November, where to find them, and how long this quiet late season lasts.

Why November isn't the end

In autumn the mushroom season doesn't stop abruptly; it gradually fades. As long as daytime temperatures stay above zero and the ground hasn't frozen, the mycelium can still fruit — especially species adapted to the cold.

The November forest is quiet and nearly deserted, so there's no competition for mushrooms. The key is to catch the thaws: after a warm rain, fresh mushrooms pop up on stumps even in November. To pick the right moment, try the mushroom radar.

Velvet shanks and oyster mushrooms

The stars of late autumn are wood-loving mushrooms that the cold can't stop.

• Velvet shank (Flammulina). Bright rusty-orange caps appear on trunks and stumps after other mushrooms are long gone. We have a separate article about this remarkable winter mushroom — it grows even under snow during a thaw.
• Oyster mushroom. Look for the gray-brown oyster mushroom on dead hardwood; it grows wonderfully in winter too.

Both hold on almost until hard frosts and come back with every thaw.

Late knights and bay boletes

Until the snow arrives, you can still come across these in the cool forest:

• Knights — the soapy knight and poplar knight hold on until the first serious frosts.
• Yellow knight — a late mushroom of sandy pine forests, often picked after the first light frosts.
• Bay bolete — you can find the last ones in early November in warmer regions.

All of them love sun-warmed spots, not damp hollows.

Where and when to look for mushrooms in November

• Check the wood. Stumps, fallen trunks and tree bases — that's where velvet shanks and oyster mushrooms hold on.
• Catch the thaws. After a warm rain, give the mushrooms two or three days.
• Look in the sun. Sun-warmed forest edges and slopes are warmer than the deep woods.
• Know the limit. We cover when the mushroom season finally ends and how mushrooms behave in the first frosts in separate articles.

After hard frosts set in, fresh mushrooms disappear, but the first winter thaws aren't far off — and the velvet shanks will be back.

Sources

• “Key to the Fungi of Ukraine” (Kyiv, Naukova Dumka publishing house).
• Flammulina velutipes in GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
• Pleurotus ostreatus in MycoBank, the international fungal nomenclature database.
• Winter mushroom on Wikipedia.