Which mushrooms love warm weather

Most of the mushrooms we go after in summer love warmth. They wait until the soil has warmed up well, and then after rain they give the most abundant flushes. Knowing which mushrooms love warmth is useful, because it tells you when and in what weather to expect them.

Let's look at the main warmth-lovers of our forests, the conditions they like best, and where to look for them in the warm season.

Why some mushrooms love warmth

Every species has its favorite temperature range. Warmth-loving mushrooms are active once the soil has warmed to roughly summer levels, and that's when their mycelium fruits willingly.

That's why their season falls in the warm half of the year, from late spring to early autumn. In spring they appear only after a steady warm-up, and when the autumn chill arrives they give way to cold-hardy species.

Warmth-lovers need not just warmth, but warmth combined with moisture. To track the right moment, use the mushroom radar, which accounts for both temperature and accumulated moisture.

The main warmth-loving mushrooms

Here's who fruits best in the warm season.

• **Porcini.** The summer porcini loves warm broadleaf and mixed forests, bright oak woods and forest edges under oaks and beeches.
• **Slippery jack.** It sticks to young pine stands and sun-warmed pine forest edges. It responds to warmth and moisture just about the fastest.
• **Suede bolete.** An undemanding warmth-lover that grows from early summer into autumn in mossy clearings.
• **Chanterelle.** It starts with the warmth in June and stays all summer, growing in family clusters among the moss.
• **Brown birch bolete.** The birch bolete appears near birches as it warms up and fruits in several summer flushes.

They all have one thing in common: they wait for warm soil and then respond quickly to rain.

What weather brings out warmth-loving mushrooms

The ideal conditions for warmth-lovers are fairly simple.

1. Warm soil. Steady summer warmth, without sharp nighttime cold snaps.
2. Enough moisture. Rains that soak the forest litter, but without a prolonged chill.
3. Moderate heat, not scorching. In intense heat even warmth-lovers hide, because the soil dries out.

Warmth-loving mushrooms do best in warm, damp weeks with thunderstorms, when warmth and moisture alternate. But at the height of a dry heat wave they, like everyone else, wait for rain.

Where to look for warmth-loving mushrooms

In the warm season, keep a few landmarks in mind.

• Sun-warmed forest edges and clearings. On bright, well-lit forest edges, warmth-lovers appear earlier than in deep shade.
• Young, bright forests. Young pine stands for slippery jacks, bright oak woods for porcini, birch groves for birch boletes.
• In a heat wave, shade instead. When it's very hot, look for the same mushrooms in cooler, shady spots where the soil hasn't dried out.

And if the warmth is fading, it's time to turn to cold-hardy species. We cover them in our piece on mushrooms of cool weather and first frosts.

Sources

• “Key to the Fungi of Ukraine” (Kyiv, Naukova Dumka publishing house).
• Suillus luteus in GBIF, the global biodiversity database.
• Fungi in MycoBank, the international fungal nomenclature database.
• Mushroom on Wikipedia.