Partner trees

Fir

In Europe, fir forests are found mostly in the mountains, often mixed with beech and spruce. Fir (Abies) has a dark, dense crown and soft needles that do not drop as quickly as spruce needles. The fungal flora of this tree is very distinctive.

23 species in the database.

The particular mycorrhiza of fir

In her "Key to the Fungi of Ukraine", M.Ya. Zerova notes that fir forms an ectomycorrhiza similar to that of spruce, but it has a few exclusive macrofungal partners of its own.

David Arora and Roger Phillips describe the most important mushrooms you can find in association with fir:

1. Lactarius salmonicolor: This is the most beautiful and the largest of all the saffron milk caps. Its cap is a bright salmon-orange with no concentric rings. The key feature of this milk cap is that it never turns green where it is damaged, unlike the spruce and pine saffron milk caps. It grows only under fir.

2. Porcini (Boletus edulis): The classic porcini does very well in mixed stands of fir with beech or spruce, forming a strong mycorrhiza.

3. Chanterelles and webcaps: Fir forests with their damp mosses are an ideal place for the chanterelle and for particular conifer-loving webcaps.

David Arora warns that, like other conifers, fir can support the deadly poisonous destroying angel (Amanita virosa), which is easy to mistake for Agaricus mushrooms.

Saprotrophs on fir wood

Dead fir wood is a wonderful substrate for one of the most beautiful mushrooms. On the fallen trunks of old firs high in the mountains grows Hericium alpestre — a large, coral-like edible mushroom with a spiny hymenophore, listed in the Red Data Book. Various species of honey fungus and bracket fungi also colonize fir.

Questions and answers

How does the fir milk cap differ from the others?

Lactarius salmonicolor grows only in mountain forests under fir. Its flesh and milk are salmon-colored. The most important difference is that it never develops green or bluish-gray spots from handling or with age, staying perfectly orange.

Can you plant a fir to grow porcini?

In theory, yes, since fir forms mycorrhiza with porcini. However, fir grows very slowly and is demanding about air and soil humidity (it does best in the mountains). If you want a mycorrhizal tree quickly, pine or oak is a better choice.

Which poisonous mushrooms grow under fir?

In fir forests you can come across the fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) and the destroying angel (Amanita virosa), as well as poisonous species of fibrecaps and webcaps.

What is the Hericium on fir, and can you eat it?

Hericium alpestre is an incredibly beautiful mushroom that looks like a white waterfall or a coral hanging from a dead fir trunk. It is a choice edible mushroom, but in Ukraine it is rare and protected.

Sources

1.Зерова М.Я. та ін. Визначник грибів України. 1979
2.Roger Phillips. Mushrooms (Roger Phillips)
3.David Arora. Mushrooms Demystified
4.Index Fungorum