Forest litter

The ideal environment

Forest litter is the most comfortable environment for mushrooms.

- The needles in it keep it loose and airy.

- The leaves provide quick nutrition for saprotrophs.

- The twigs hold moisture.

Even in a dry summer it's always damp and cool under the litter layer, which lets the mycelium survive.

What grows in forest litter?

This substrate hosts both saprotrophic mushrooms (which feed on it) and mycorrhizal ones (whose mycelium passes through the litter to the tree roots). According to David Arora, it's the most species-rich substrate:

1. Chanterelles (Cantharellus): They love hiding in deep, loose litter in mixed forests where there's plenty of moisture. Sometimes only their yellow edge peeks out, while the rest of the mushroom sits in the humus.

2. Brittlegills (Russula): All-round residents of forest litter. When you pick a brittlegill, you'll often notice its stem is clean, because it grew not from dirty soil but from soft humus.

3. Webcaps (Cortinarius): A huge genus of mushrooms (both edible and deadly poisonous) that blanket the litter of the autumn forest.

4. Death cap (Amanita phalloides): Its volva (the sac at the base) usually hides right in the litter layer, camouflaged among leaves and humus.