Western Washington has a variety of habitats unto itself, from the temperate rain forests of the Olympic Peninsula, to the relatively dry San Juan Islands, to the urban lawns and parks of Seattle, to the valleys and farmland near the Sound, to the Western slopes of the Cascades. This page is a catch-all for mushrooms found in Western Washington that weren't in any of the other locations.
Agaricus augustus is a common find in the city, but rarely of this size! This mushroom, along with another almost as big, was found in Discovery Park not far from the sewage treatment plant. We ate it anyway. It did not taste quite as good as a typical A. augustus but was still plenty good after being grilled.
The size of this guy sort of suggests alternative uses... as an umbrella, perhaps. These photos were taken on 9-1-04.
Large A. augustus are far from unheard-of, though. This sizeable one was found in Bellevue on 10-8-03.
Also compare to domestic Agaricus grown in Bellevue, or wild Agaricus at Denny Creek
This is a photo of a mature Laetiporus sulphureus, or sulphur shelf
mushroom. At the time I took this photo, I didn't know that it was a good edible, and this individual is probably a little past its prime for the table, anyway. It is plenty large and pretty nonetheless, though. This photo was taken on 9-10-01 on the trail up Granite Mountain. This mushroom will grow back year after year, so if you want to haul a bucket up Granite one September to find it, more power to you.
If you've been reading these pages first to last, then I bet you know which genus these belong to, by now! Yes, it's another photo of an unknown Mycena species. I really like the variation in color and the pretty little fringe made by the gills. This photo was taken on the Twin Falls trail on 10-15-03.
This Mycena is almost blue in tone. It was photographed along the trail to Second Beach in the Olympic National Park around 9-1-04.
This is another one of those unusual stalked polypores. This one is a lovely gray and white. It was also growing along the trail to Second Beach around 9-1-04.
This is the more typical appearance of a polypore, although they are usually a boring wood brown rather than the bright reds and pinks of this one. I particularly like how the purple flowers bring out the colors in this photo, too. I admit to being a naughty amateur mycologist – I did not even try to key out this mushroom, nor any other conk
that I have encountered. It was photographed near Rattlesnake Ridge on 5-21-03.
The same day I photographed the polypore, I happened to spot this little spider, clearly well adapted to life in a dandelion. Unfortunately, I scared him off when I first tried to take his picture, and so I walked away for a while. When I returned, he had caught this fly, and was preoccupied enough to let me photograph him.
A closer look at the spider. If you look closely, you can count her eyes.
I believe these little mushrooms are a Hygrocybe or waxy cap
species. Notice the slight sheen to the gills that makes them look rather waxy.
Also, most waxy caps are brightly colored... and these are certainly beautifully colored, if not exceptionally bright. These were photographed at the Weyerhaeuser Rhododendren Species Garden on 12-23-03.
These little guys, probably also in the Hygrocybe genus, were growing along the trail/sidewalk that leads to the Rhodie garden. At the same location is the Weyrhauser Bonsai Garden, the irony of which never ceases to amuse me. I really want to shop drop
a display there one day – get a nice, traditional bonsai pot, and set up an exquisitely detailed miniature clearcut – complete with muddy hillsides, piles of bone-white sticks stacked like kindling, and little miniature stumps.
Both the Rhodie garden and the Bonsai garden are actually pretty nice, and are free during the winter months.
Another resident of the Rhodie Garden that day was this little purple Cortinarius. At least, I suspect its a Cort given the fine cortina clearly visible in this shot, and the rusty-brown spores visible in the right-most mushroom in the background.
It is somewhat ironic that the best photos I have of of Cortinarius violaceus were taken with my old digi. It is probably not coincidence, though, that I got the shot by plucking the mushrooms from their native habitat (in the deepest and darkest old growth forest) and depositing them in the sunshine of my yard in Bellevue.
Contrast the purple Corts above with these violet Corts. It is an important distinction, as the purple Corts above are not edible, and these violet corts are...
In this particular case, we made pizza with them. It was quite tasty. They were consumed on 9-30-01.
These were found alongside the purple Corts, on Tinkham road. They are Gomphus clavatus, the pig's ear mushroom. They are a in the chanterelle family and are edible, although I didn't know that when I found these.
I was well aware when I found these, though! This photo and the next are meant to illustrate the bounty of the fall of '04. There were many areas like this one, which is nearly covered in golden chanterelles. This is a hillside near Sheldon, WA on 11-3-04.
This is a cluster of chanterelles from one of my favorite hunting grounds, a friend's property off of Tokul road. This were big mushrooms in the perfect condition for eating. The cluster on the right is growing so close you can't really tell where one mushroom starts and other ends! This photo was taken on 10-13-04.
Also, compare these to the poisonous Gomphus floccosus or "scaly chanterelle"
All in a day's work... this photo was the harvest from the garden, plus the harvest from a couple of good chanterelle spots, on 10-13-04. It was a good day indeed.
Mmm, tasty B. edulis....
Eric poses with the very first Boletus edulis that I found... and a fine example it was! This mushroom is from a park in West Seattle, believe it or not, and was found on 10-9-02. B. edulis are found in Western Washington only in the fall (except in a few unusual microclimates), and on the Eastern side of the Cascades only in the spring. As you might expect, they are found high in the mountain passes in mid to late summer.
... wherever you look, there they are.
Highway 101, 8-31-05.
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