Photo by Public domain (iNaturalist) on iNaturalist · CC0 (public domain)
Matsutake (pine mushroom)
Tricholoma murrillianum
This one has a dangerous look-alike
Amanita smithiana grows in the same forests, is also white, and causes kidney failure. It has no matsutake smell and its base is bulbous with a fragile veil.
- When
- Typically September – November — September, October, November. Earlier in the south, later in the north.
- Where it grows
- Sandy soil under pine, fir and tanoak; often pushing up a hump of needles.
- How to know it
- White to buff, dense and heavy, with a distinctive cinnamon-and-gym-socks smell you can identify blindfolded. Gills white, with a partial veil.
- Harvest and use
- Highly prized in Japan; sliced thin in broth or rice.
- Caution
- The smell is the identification. If it does not smell strongly of spice and socks, leave it.
Found in these regions
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Also ready in September
FruitAugust – SeptemberBeach plum
Prunus maritima
Low sprawling shrub in the sand, with dusty purple plums about the size of a marble.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Tom Norton · CC BY 4.0
NutSeptember – OctoberBlack walnut
Juglans nigra
Tennis-ball green husks lying under a tall tree with long compound leaves; the husk stains everything it touches brown.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Sandy Wolkenberg · CC BY 4.0
FruitAugust – SeptemberChokecherry
Prunus virginiana
Long drooping clusters of dark red-to-black cherries on a small tree with finely toothed oval leaves.
How to know it & its look-alikes →Photo: Tom Norton · CC BY 4.0
Educational information only. Never eat a wild plant or mushroom identified from a single photograph or description — confirm with a regional field guide or an experienced forager, and know the poisonous species in your area first.