╔══ Sightings from 24 September 202612 sightings
speciesArmillaria mellea
locationSagenhafter Bergwald (Grainau)
habitatAt the base of living and dead trees, stumps and roots of broadleaves and conifers
edibilityEdible only after thorough cooking; some people are intolerant to it
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Honey-coloured to olive-brown caps growing in dense clusters at the base of trees
- │ ▸ White to cream decurrent gills
- │ ▸ Zigzag ring or ring zone on the upper stem
- │ ▸ Dark, dense scales in the middle of the cap
└─ A weakly parasitic fungus whose black, bootlace-like rhizomorphs spread through the soil and can kill trees — the mycelium of a single colony can rank among the largest living organisms on Earth.
└─ Decaying. There were so many clusters of dead and decaying mushrooms on stumps, they chances of them being honey fungus are quite high, as those seen living are usually honey fungus.
speciesCaloboletus calopus
locationSagenhafter Bergwald (Grainau)
habitatConiferous and deciduous woodland esp. beech / oak
edibilityPoisonous
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Beige to olive cap
- │ ▸ Yellow pores
- │ ▸ Yellow to pink-red stipe with straw-coloured network
- │ ▸ When mature: ochre-brown stipe
- │ ▸ Stains blue when bruised or cut
└─ Extremely bitter taste; even small pieces can spoil an entire dish
speciesClathrus archeri
locationSagenhafter Bergwald (Grainau)
habitatGardens, wood-chip mulch and disturbed ground, also broadleaf woodland
edibilityInedible — foul smell
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Starts as a whitish, leathery 'egg' at the base
- │ ▸ Opens into 4–6 (rarely 8) bright red, tentacle-like arms
- │ ▸ Inner surfaces covered with a dark, olive-brown spore mass (gleba)
- │ ▸ Strong smell of rotting flesh
└─ Originally from Australasia, now a widespread invasive species across Europe; the odour attracts flies that disperse the spores.
speciesGomphidius glutinosus
locationSagenhafter Bergwald (Grainau)
habitatMycorrhizal with spruce in mossy coniferous forest
edibilityEdible
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Cap covered in a thick, slimy, grey-brown glutinous veil
- │ ▸ Soft grey-violet cap that darkens to brown-black with age
- │ ▸ Distant, waxy white-grey gills, decurrent on the stem
- │ ▸ Stem base is chrome-yellow
└─ Glutinous veil and yellow base of stem on proud display here.
speciesHydnum repandum
locationSagenhafter Bergwald (Grainau)
habitatMycorrhizal with beech, oak and spruce in broadleaf and mixed forest
edibilityExcellent edible mushroom
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Fleshy, irregular cap in warm cream to orange-buff tones
- │ ▸ Soft spines (teeth) instead of gills under the cap
- │ ▸ Spines run decurrently down the short, often off-centre stem
- │ ▸ Firm white flesh with a pleasant fruity smell
└─ Unmistakable thanks to its spines, which makes it safe to collect; young specimens can be pickled.
speciesLactarius deterrimus
locationSagenhafter Bergwald (Grainau)
habitatUnder spruce (Picea), more rarely in mixed forest, from lowland to subalpine
edibilityEdible
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Orange to carrot-red cap with faint concentric zones, greening with age
- │ ▸ Orange, later greenish milk that stains weakly orange on exposure
- │ ▸ Gills bruise green where damaged
- │ ▸ Stem without distinct pits; latex mild to slightly bitter, never hot
speciesLactarius deterrimus
locationSagenhafter Bergwald (Grainau)
habitatUnder spruce (Picea), more rarely in mixed forest, from lowland to subalpine
edibilityEdible
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Orange to carrot-red cap with faint concentric zones, greening with age
- │ ▸ Orange, later greenish milk that stains weakly orange on exposure
- │ ▸ Gills bruise green where damaged
- │ ▸ Stem without distinct pits; latex mild to slightly bitter, never hot
speciesLaetiporus sulphureus
locationSagenhafter Bergwald (Grainau)
habitatA brown-rot decay fungus of trunks and stumps of broadleaf trees, especially oak and cherry
edibilityEdible when young and properly cooked, though it disagrees with some people
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Bright sulphur-yellow bracket fans with an orange centre, in overlapping clusters
- │ ▸ Soft, watery, crumbling sulphur-yellow flesh
- │ ▸ Tiny, sulphur-yellow pores underneath; no stem, attached directly to the wood
- │ ▸ Usually on trunks and stumps of oak, wild cherry and other broadleaves
└─ The "chicken of the woods": a large, unmistakable bracket whose young fans are a celebrated wild food. It must always be thoroughly cooked, and it upsets some people, so a first taste should be small.
speciesPanellus mitis
locationSagenhafter Bergwald (Grainau)
habitatDead conifer wood, especially spruce and fir twigs and branches
edibilityInedible — tough and gelatinous
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ White to cream, kidney- to fan-shaped, translucent caps, often with a pinkish tinge
- │ ▸ Gelatinous, rubbery cap skin that can be peeled off
- │ ▸ Dense white gills and a short, lateral, rudimentary stem
- │ ▸ Grows attached to the underside of lying conifer branches, often from autumn to spring
└─ This could be another type of oysterling. This one says it can be white to grey, which would match these which are sort of grey. These seem to have short stems attaching the mushrooms to the deadwood, which could see this sighting moving to another type of mushroom entirely in the future.
speciesPodofomes mollis
locationSagenhafter Bergwald (Grainau)
habitatSaprotrophic on dead broadleaf wood, especially beech trunks and stumps
edibilityInedible — tough, corky and without culinary value
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Effused-reflexed brackets and crusts on dead hardwood, grey-brown to fuscous
- │ ▸ Pore surface whitish to grey-brown with angular pores that become irregular, maze-like and cracked with age
- │ ▸ Soft and tough when fresh, drying hard and brittle; paler, sterile margin
- │ ▸ Typically at the base of standing trunks and on fallen beech logs, well into winter
└─ Long known as Datronia mollis (a name still in wide use); molecular work places the species in Podofomes. The English name Common Mazegill points to its ageing, maze-like pores.
speciesRussula delica
locationSagenhafter Bergwald (Grainau)
habitatConiferous and mixed forest, often under pines; in moss and needle litter
edibilityEdible after thorough cooking
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Pure white to ivory convex cap that becomes funnel-shaped with age
- │ ▸ Firm white flesh that stains ochre-brown, especially towards the base
- │ ▸ Decurrent, crowded cream-white gills
- │ ▸ Short, stout, often buried base
- │ ▸ Faint, oily or fishy odour
└─ One of the largest and most robust brittlegills, often growing partly buried in moss and pine litter, making it easy to overlook until the cap breaks the surface.
speciesSarcodon imbricatus
locationSagenhafter Bergwald (Grainau)
habitatConiferous forest, mycorrhizal with spruce and pine
edibilityEdible when young, but often bitter
├─ Key Features
- │ ▸ Large brown cap covered with coarse, dark brown, roof-shingle-like scales
- │ ▸ Grey-brown, brittle teeth instead of gills under the cap
- │ ▸ Becomes broadly funnel-shaped with age, sometimes with greenish zones
- │ ▸ Stout, grey-brown stem
└─ Often deeply bitter; cooking does not remove the bitter taste, making most finds unusable.