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HABITAT

Mushrooms: mixed forest

Mixed forest — a habitat where mushrooms grow

A mixed forest, where pines and spruces stand side by side with birches, oaks and aspens, is the richest mushroom habitat in Europe. Partners of both conifers and broadleaf trees live here together, so the variety of species is striking, and the mushroom season stretches from spring to the first frosts.

It's in a mixed forest that your chances as a forager are highest: a birch bolete waits under one birch, a slippery jack under a pine a few steps away, and a porcini under an oak at the forest edge. This mosaic of trees creates dozens of microhabitats in a small area.

200 species in the database.

Why there are so many mushrooms here

Each tree species forms mycorrhiza with «its own» mushrooms. A mixed forest has many tree species, so it has many mycorrhizal partners too. Add saprotrophs breaking down the mixed litter of leaves and needles, plus parasites on old trunks — and you get a true mushroom metropolis.

Different trees provide shade and moisture in different ways, so even in a drought there's always a damp, cool corner somewhere in a mixed forest where the mycelium keeps fruiting.

What grows here

1. Porcini (Boletus edulis): The king of the forest loves oaks, birches and spruces alike — in a mixed forest it feels right at home.

2. Brown birch bolete (Leccinum scabrum): Look under birches, which are always plentiful in a mixed forest.

3. Red-capped scaber stalk (Leccinum aurantiacum): A bright orange cap under aspens and poplars.

4. Chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius): Grows in groups in grassy and mossy patches of a mixed forest.

5. Honey fungus (Armillaria mellea): In autumn it blankets stumps and the bases of trunks.

Questions and answers

Why does the mushroom season last longer in a mixed forest?
Because early and late species grow side by side here. Morels appear in spring, the first birch boletes and chanterelles in summer, and porcini, honey fungus and yellow knights in autumn. Different trees «switch on» their fungal partners at different times, so the fruiting waves overlap.
Which tree should you look under for porcini?
Porcini aren't tied to a single tree species: you'll find them under oak, birch, spruce and pine. In a mixed forest, pay attention to bright forest edges and small clearings with old trees — that's where porcini turn up most often.

Sources

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

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