When: 2003-10-11
Seen at: Old Maid Flats, Clackamas Co., OR [Search]
Who: Daniel B. Wheeler (Tuberale)
No herbarium specimen

Notes: Perhaps the best known edible wild mushroom of the Pacific Northwest is the matsutake. The Japanese name literally means Pine (matsu-) and Mushroom (take, taki). The odor is distinctive, reminding me of cinnamon red-hots and sweat (some people say dirty socks, which I would interpret as the same thing). This particular bed was one of the larger collections of matsutake I have taken from a single location. About 1/3 of the mushrooms were, in my opinion, too small to harvest. I suspect others found them later, since they were gone a week later. When first found this bed of matsutake showed only a single mushroom above ground hiding under salal. It likes sandy or well-drained locations. I have found it at 3200 feet elevation in the Cascades Mountains near Little Crater Lake, Clackamas Co., OR; along the Pacific Ocean in sand dunes near Tillamook, Tillamook Co., OR; and associated with very old-growth Douglas fir in the Timothy Lake area, Clackamas County, Oregon. I find it is beneficial in controlling my diabetes mellitus (type 2) as well, which is just one of the reasons I avidly search it out.

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Proposed Name		User		Community Vote
Tricholoma magnivelare (Peck) Redhead		Tuberale		85% (1)
Recognized by sight Used references: The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms; Mushrooms in Color, Mushrooms of North America, Mushrooms Demystified.

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Observation Created: Sun Aug 10 16:16:10 -0700 2008
Last Modified: Sun Aug 10 16:16:10 -0700 2008 by Daniel B. Wheeler (Tuberale)
Viewed: 4 times, last viewed: Fri Nov 28 19:58:43 -0800 2008
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