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I recently got into mushroom foraging after a family trip to Willow Springs lake on the Mogollon Rim. We had gone up during late August which for us in Az the end of monsoon season. The forest floor was littered with mushrooms of all different colors, size and shape. I was hesitant to touch any because of all the North American propaganda that all mushrooms are scary and poisonous except the ones at the grocery store.
Pictured to the left is my first day's haul of mushroom foraging.
Summer 2022 Mushroom Finds
Amanita Muscaria
Reishi Mushroom
Yellow Coral Mushroom
King Bolete
Here's some I haven't been able to identify yet. Hopefully by next season I will be able to properly identify a lot more.
From my understanding, Arizona has two main mushroom foraging seasons, with the spring and monsoon rains. Other than that it's pretty dry and not much is fruiting, at least not the more sought after varieties. Most of which fruit in higher elevations. It's said that the Mogollon Rim is one of the most abundant places to find mushrooms. Strange enough, the Mogollon Rim gets some of the most lightening strikes out of anywhere in the world and some people believe that because of this the mycelium is much more active. Who knows how true that really is. Regardless, I found many mushrooms of all sizes and colors while hiking around the lakes along the Rim.
It's crazy to think we are only just scratching the surface when it comes to understanding all the roles mushrooms play in the wild. Many people are afraid of them and believe you cant even touch some of them. From my understanding, none of this is true. Many mushroom foragers taste raw mushrooms in the wild to help properly identify it. As long as you do not actually ingest the mushroom and just chew it up and spit it out, you should be alright. I am no expert though, make your own choices and use your best judgement before putting anything in your mouth.
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