Common Edible Mushrooms of Vermont

White flesh, forked ridges (not true gills), solid stem, smell like apricots when cut

Chanterelles

Grow on dead or dying hardwoods, notably sugar maple, Decurrent gills (gills run partially down stem), grows in groups, white to light brown

Oyster Mushrooms

toothy underside, 1-2” cap width, short

Hedgehog mushrooms (Hydnum spp.)

reddish brown to yellow brown, bun shaped cap, white solid stem and flesh, wire or webbing pattern on stem

Porchini

Looks like a spreading hen or pile of leaves, grows under old oaks, fruit in late summer through fall, fruit on same trees every year

Hen of the Wood

AKA Dryad’s Saddle, grows as a saddle shaped shelf, best when eaten young (2-3” across), saprophitic, sprout annually in same place, find in early June, sometimes September too, find on elm and other hardwoods, honeycomb pores

Pheasant Back Mushroom

Emerges in fall, AKA bears tooth, grows attached to trees (often dying beech, but other hardwoods too), kills trees, yellows as it ages, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory, immune boosting,

Lions Mane

AKA jelly fungus, emerges anytime of year from downed logs, edible raw, there are both yellow and orange- yellow found on hardwood with bark attached and orange found on softwoods with no bark, medecinal mushroom for lung-related issues

Witches Butter

grayish to black on outside of trumpet and black on inside, very fragrant, grow singly but often densely under hardwoods to 3” tall, Chanterelle family and similar to chants except for color

Black trumpet

Bicolor bolete (boletus bicolor)

Cinnabar-red chanterelle (cantharellus cinnabarinus)

grow in disturbed areas and open areas, will have no gills when sliced open and will be white. As mushroom matures, the body turns into spores and then are eventually released if mushroom is stepped on.. giant puffballs are famous

Puffballs

AKA Winecap, grows in wood chips, deep burgundy red caps and pale gills when young, cap fades to muted tan and gills darken as it ages, lilac-grey gills indicate ready for harvest.

Wine Cap (Stropharia rugosannulata)

Scaber stalk boletes (Leccinum spp.)

Chicken of the woods

Lobster mushroom