Central Pennsylvania Wild Mushroom Club

I was out trimming trees near the house today and stopped to look around a bit.  There are lots of mushrooms continuing to fruit here in the Huntingdon area and I figured a quick survey was in order.  I had not seen the previous blog regarding them so I was surprised to find a few Black Trumpets.  They were in an area where I had found them previously.  I was curious if this was just a fluke, or if they were fruiting over a larger area.  I checked two other nearby locations where I have previously found them and found Trumpets fruiting in both of those locations as well.  This is much later in the season than I have found Trumpets previously.  Last year it was the middle of June (see link below) when I found them, this is the final day of September!   But it was way too dry here for mushrooms during the "normal" season, so I guess they decided better late than never.  

If someone asked me where to look for Trumpets, I would suggest the oak woods, generally shaded, with some moss growing in the area.  That is the nature of the areas in which I find them most often.  But I also find them in one odd location.  There is a small patch of Trumpets that fruit about ten feet from our house.  What's surprising is that it's a rather uninviting area for fungal growth, as you can see in the photo below.  There doesn't seem to be much at all in the way of topsoil, just some gravel.  But it's shaded from the sun and apparently remains moist enough to foster fungal growth.  I have to say it's convenient to have gourmet mushrooms growing so close to home, even if there are only enough to serve as an indicator of when to look further afield. 

If the Trumpets are fruiting in two areas as widely separated as Reading and Huntingdon, they are probably growing in other areas as well.  And I will note I have also recently found a small number of Chanterelles, Chicken of the Woods, and other mushrooms that typically would have fruited several months ago.  And I noticed the Lion's Mane that I found in May is fruiting again!  So check your patches, you might be surprised by what you find.  But be cautious as always.  As recently noted, the Amanitas are still fruiting and I have been finding a lot of Cortinarius and other unsavory mushrooms in this area. 

https://centralpamushroomclub.org/node/34

Dave