Looking for mushrooms in the santa monicas

wesweswes · Post by **wesweswes** » Thu Mar 26, 2020 2:05 pm

Howdy all, I live nearby the santa monicas so tend to go there fairly often. It being mushroom season with all this rain, I've had some luck finding edibles out there, like chanterelles and A. velosa. Any non-foragers out there spotting mushrooms on their hikes? I'd be particularly interested in anything in this side of town, photos if you got 'em, etc. I'm gonna go take a look this afternoon... This is the what you want to find (typically under oak):

Gene · Post by **Gene** » Fri Mar 27, 2020 8:18 am

All mushrooms are edible, some only once.

Disclaimer: Never eat any mushroom you find outside the supermarket, unless you are an expert on mushrooms.

JerryN · Post by **JerryN** » Wed Apr 01, 2020 8:29 am

Wes, where did you find these? I have not seen any this season. I have found some lactarius, some corts and some assorted lbm's but no velosas or chanterelles

wesweswes · Post by **wesweswes** » Wed Apr 01, 2020 11:38 am

These are from the santa monicas, in oak woodland, in canyons. I was honestly pretty surprised to find the chanterelles, but after finding the first batch I started looking around more and found them growing in several other spots... score! I thought for sure that month long lapse without rain was going to do the season in, but they seem to be out there.

This last weekend I've also found some edible boletes in various stages of decomposition, along w/ lactarius, various grassland LBMs, and several dessicated A. velosa (though did not go for it since the characteristics are harder to appreciate in that state).

Girl Hiker · Post by **Girl Hiker** » Tue Apr 07, 2020 7:26 pm

I found these in the SMMC. I was hiking earlier today at Happy Camp Canyon. First time I have seen these type of mushrooms

LARiver · Post by **LARiver** » Wed Apr 08, 2020 10:28 am

Cool post! Years ago I did some volunteer work in the Santa Monica mountains (during a wet period) and one of the other volunteers who was a serious So Cal forager, showed up with three grocery bags of chanterelles. Where he found them he would not say but they were from somewhere nearby under some oaks. He shared them with our crew and I had amazing omelettes for a week or two. Stoked you found some. I am inspired.
Bernard

Girl Hiker · Post by **Girl Hiker** » Wed Apr 08, 2020 10:33 am

Hi, thanks I didnt know they were edible.

wesweswes · Post by **wesweswes** » Wed Apr 08, 2020 3:15 pm

Yes, even some mushroom foragers don't realize we get chanterelles in the santa monica mountains! I've found a few patches, and I'm sure there are many more.

But watch out Girl Hiker, those aren't chanterelles you found but rather a coprinoid mushroom (one of the "inky caps"). You could key them out here for an identification, and they might be edible, but some of these can cause a transient intolerance to alcohol... so watch out. Either way, they look pretty neat
https://www.mushroomexpert.com/coprinoid.html

JerryN · Post by **JerryN** » Wed Apr 08, 2020 3:22 pm

typically inky caps don't hold up well, so I pass on them. A few years ago (maybe 10?) we had a big flush of chanterelles in the Santa Monicas, but they have been few and far between since then.