Spring mushrooms of Europe

Spring in Europe's forests isn't a loud comeback — it's a quiet awakening. Even before the leaves unfurl and grass covers the clearings, the first edible mushrooms of the season are already popping up in damp broadleaf woods. The scarlet elf cup (Sarcoscypha austriaca) and morels come out while there's still wet snow on the ground — in March and April, when nobody's expecting them.

In spring, the mushroom season follows the temperature: daytime warmth above 8–10°C and no night frosts are what get the mycelium going. In May, the morels and knights are joined by the first chanterelles in the pine forests — golden-orange, firm, with a fruity scent. To catch the flush, keep an eye on the rainfall map and head out 5–7 days after the first warm rain.

Which mushrooms grow in spring? Europe's list of spring mushrooms is shorter than the summer or autumn one, but it holds some real delicacies. The edible spring mushrooms are, first of all, morels (the common morel and the black morel), knights (Tricholoma), and the first slippery jacks and chanterelles. In warm broadleaf woods, the bright red cups of the scarlet elf cup peek out — one of the very first spring mushrooms, and one many people don't even recognize as a mushroom.

The first mushrooms after winter appear as early as late March, depending on where you are. In the lowlands and the south spring arrives earlier; in the mountains and the cooler north the season starts 1–2 weeks later. The big spring harvest comes in May: that's when the forest gives up morels, wood blewits and the first chanterelles. If you're wondering when morels grow, go by April — the time when dandelions bloom and birch leaves open.