Chicken of the Woods Mushroom

Scientific Name(s): Laetiporus sulphureus
Abundance: uncommon
What: mushroom
How: cooked
Where: dead trees in the woods
When: summer
Nutritional Value: minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates
Dangers: Older, pale ones can cause stomach distress, as well as those growing on pines or eucalyptus trees

COLLECTING MUSHROOM REQUIRES 100% CERTAINTY. WWW.FORAGINGTEXAS.COM ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR IDENTIFICATION ERRORS BY ANY READERS.

Growth Form: Laetiporus sulphureus typically grows in large, thick clusters on trees, logs, or stumps.

Cap Shape and Size: The individual caps are fan or shelf-shaped, measuring 2 to 12 inches across. They are bright orange to yellow in color. The orange color is often in bands.

Gills or Pores: This species does not have gills but features bright yellow pores underneath the cap.

Stipe Characteristics: Laetiporus sulphureus does not typically have a distinct stipe; the caps grow directly from the wood.

Odor: The mushroom has a mild, not distinctive odor.

Bruising: The flesh does not change color significantly upon bruising.

Spore Color: The spore print is white.

Substrate and Habitat: It is commonly found on dead/dying deciduous trees, especially oaks, and can also grow on conifers.

Other Characteristics: This mushroom is famous for its meaty texture and flavor reminiscent of chicken. It's important to note that some individuals may have allergic reactions to this species.

Clusters of chicken of the woods growing along a downed tree.


Chicken of the woods growing on dead tree roots.


Close-up of top of mushroom.


Side view of chicken of the woods.


Closer side view of mushroom.


Even closer side view after part was harvested.


Underside of can be white or yellow.


Chicken of the woods diced up and cooked in a little butter with garlic and Italian parsley.

Older, pale one like this may cause stomach upset.

Chicken of the Woods mushrooms are considered a great beginner's mushroom because there's nothing else out there that looks like this. The bright orange color is lacking in other similar-shaped shelf mushrooms. It's this color that makes it so easy to spot Chicken of the Woods in the gloomy, damp, hardwood forests it prefers. Look for them on dead or dying oak, pecans, and sweetgum trees during the warmer months. Note that even if they're going on a live tree they are killing it from the inside. You don't want to find this mushroom on a favorite tree as that tree won't be alive much longer. On the plus side, a tree producing Chicken of the Woods will continue to produce these mushrooms for years, until the tree has rotted away.

The top will have bands of "Cheeto" orange stripes while the bottom will be white or yellow in color. Chicken of the Woods don't have gills or false gills, releasing their spores via tiny tubes. The texture should be soft and flexible and moist like a raw chicken breast. As they mature they get firm and tough though the tough areas can be trimmed away. I like to dice up the mushroom into small cubes and sauté them with garlic in a touch of butter. These mushrooms can absorb a lot of butter or oil, leading to a heavy, oily flavor if too much oil is used. If you don't want to use the mushroom right away the best way to keep them is to pickle them using in a cup of vinegar + 1.5 tsp salt + 3 cups water then hot-can them like pickled okra. Additional spices can be added. Freezing these mushrooms can lead to an off flavor whereas pickling seems to hold the flavor the best.

Buy my book! Outdoor Adventure Guides Foraging covers 70 of North America's tastiest and easy to find wild edibles shown with the same big pictures as here on the Foraging Texas website.

Reishi Mushrooms

Scientific Name(s): Ganoderma curtisii, Ganoderma sessile
Abundance: rare
What: mushroom
How: tea, tincture
Where: woods, pine stumps, oak trees, wood duff
When: spring, summer, fall
Nutritional Value: very medicinal
Dangers: normal mushroom cautions apply

COLLECTING MUSHROOM REQUIRES 100% CERTAINTY. WWW.FORAGINGTEXAS.COM ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR IDENTIFICATION ERRORS BY ANY READERS.

Ganoderma curtisii Structural Features:

Growth Form: Ganoderma curtisii typically grows as a solitary bracket or in small groups on tree trunks and stumps.

Cap Shape and Size: The cap is kidney or fan-shaped, measuring 2 to 8 inches across. It has a woody texture and is brown to reddish-brown with a varnished appearance.

Gills or Pores: This species has pores rather than gills. The pore surface is white to light brown.

Stipe Characteristics: If present, the stipe is short and lateral, with a similar color and texture to the cap.

Odor: Ganoderma curtisii typically does not have a distinctive odor.

Bruising: The flesh does not change color significantly on bruising.

Spore Color: The spore print is brown.

Substrate and Habitat: Commonly found on hardwoods, especially oaks and other deciduous trees.

Other Characteristics: The mushroom is inedible due to its tough, woody texture.

Ganoderma sessile Structural Features:

Growth Form: Ganoderma sessile typically grows solitarily or in small groups on tree trunks and stumps.

Cap Shape and Size: The cap is fan or hoof-shaped, measuring 2 to 10 inches across. It is reddish-brown to dark brown with a shiny, varnished surface.

Gills or Pores: This species has pores instead of gills. The pore surface is white to light brown.

Stipe Characteristics: Ganoderma sessile typically does not have a distinct stipe, as it grows directly from the wood.

Odor: This fungus usually does not have a notable odor.

Bruising: The flesh does not change color significantly on bruising.

Spore Color: The spore print is brown.

Substrate and Habitat: Commonly found on deciduous trees, particularly oaks and maples.

Other Characteristics: It is also recognized for its tough, woody texture, making it inedible.  

Reishi (Ganoderma sessile) mushrooms growing from an oak.


Reishi (Ganoderma sessile) mushrooms growing on a fallen tree.


Fresh topside of a Reishi (Ganoderma curtisii) mushroom. The stem, if present, is always off-center making it look kind of like the saucer-section of the starship Enterprise. ;-)


Underside of the same mushroom shown above. Note it has pores instead of gills.


Reishi (Ganoderma curtisii) mushrooms harvested from a dead root beneath the forest floor. These are just past the time to harvest and will not have much medicinal value. The lower, left-hand mushroom is upside down to show the bottom which has turned from white to yellowish.


Young Reishi (Ganoderma curtisii) growing on an oak tree stump under a birdbath (March in Houston).


Same Reishi in early April.


Same Reishi in late April.


Same Reishi in May. The beige powder everywhere is Reishi mushroom spores.


Same Reishi (Ganoderma curtisii) mushrooms in June.



The only public lands you can legally harvest mushrooms are National forests and grasslands.

Reishi mushrooms abound throughout the wooded areas of Texas. Most commonly found growing at the base of dead pine tree stumps, they will also be seen poking up through the pine needles and wood duff of forest floors. Dying hardwood trees such as oaks, sweetgums, elms and locusts are also common homes for these shiny, red mushrooms. Spores of Reishi are brown so make spore prints on white paper. These are hard, woody mushrooms. Originally from the tropics, look for them during hot weather though old, dry, unusable ones can be found all year long.

Being polypores, these mushrooms do not have any gills on their underside. Instead, the bottom of fresh Reishi mushrooms will appear white and smooth, but upon closer inspection/magnification many tiny holes/pores will be seen. This mushroom, especially when growing from the forest floor, will often be kidney-shaped with the stem located at the center of the back/non-curved edge of the mushroom. When growing directly from a dead/dying tree Reishi mushrooms will grow flush off the tree bark and be fan shaped, usually with no stem. The topside of Reishi while be a shiny red, looking as if it were coated with a varnish, while the bottom will be white. There may occasionally be layers of red or white in between the top and bottom. The stems, when present, will be the same red as the top of the Reishi.

The medicinal benefits of this mushroom are almost legendary. It contains compounds that function as anti-virals, anti-tumor and anti-cancer, antibiotics, immune system stimulants, respiratory aids, antioxidants, anti-aging and more. The traditional method to consume these mushrooms is to grind dried Reishi into a fine powder which is then used to make a tea or added to coffee. Once dried, these mushrooms are very tough and hard to grind so a good mortar and pestle are needed or a very powerful coffee grinder.

Another way to extract the medicinal properties of these mushrooms is by making an alcohol tincture. Shredded Reishi are soaked in 80-100 proof alcohol. Half-fill a jar with chopped/shredded Reishi then add enough alcohol to fill it twice as high as the Reishi. Tightly cap then vigorously shake the bottle. Shake it 1-2 times a day for six weeks then strain out any mushrooms solids. Place the filtered tincture in a colored, stoppered bottle and store in a cool, dark place. Traditionally, 1-2 teaspoons of this tincture would be taken daily, though do not consider this medical advice.

Often the alcohol-extracted mushroom material was then be boiled in water to extract any water-soluble medicinal molecules. Starting with twice as much water (by weight) as mushrooms, this was boiled down to half. The decoction was allowed to cool, solids were strained out, and then added to an equal amount of the alcohol tincture. This gave a solution that was over 40% alcohol which was enough to preserve it. The dosage of this solution was still 3-5 drops a day.

A comprehensive review of the medicinal properties, including many scientific journal referneces, of Reishi mushrooms can found in MycoMedicinals.

The only mimic to Reishi mushrooms are Red-Belted Brackets (Fomitopsis pinicola) which are native to Europe. Being polypores, Red-Belted Brackets are non-toxic though care should always be used when trying a new mushroom. These mushrooms produce yellow spores and grow into thick, many-layered "conks".

When identifying mushrooms always cross reference them with several books to achieve the proper level of certainty. I'm not trying to sell you books, I'm trying to help you avoid a mistake.


Buy my book! Outdoor Adventure Guides Foraging covers 70 of North America's tastiest and easy to find wild edibles shown with the same big pictures as here on the Foraging Texas website.

Wood's Ear Mushrooms

Scientific Name(s): Auricularia americana
Abundance: uncommon
What: mushroom body
How: in soup
Where: dead trees, especially elderberry trunks
When: spring, summer, fall, winter
Nutritional Value: protein, iron, calcium, phosphorous
Dangers: don not mistake Raisin Jelly Cup (Ascotremella faginea) for Wood's Ears.

COLLECTING MUSHROOM REQUIRES 100% CERTAINTY. WWW.FORAGINGTEXAS.COM ACCEPTS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR IDENTIFICATION ERRORS BY ANY READERS.

Growth Form: Auricularia americana, known as "jelly ear," grows in clusters on hardwood or conifer wood, often in cooler, wet conditions.

Cap Shape and Size: Cap is wavy, ear-shaped to irregular, approximately 1 to 4 inches across, thinner than 1/4", and attached to wood along one strip.

Gills or Pores: Lacks gills or pores, features a finely hairy lower surface when young.

Stipe Characteristics: Does not have a stipe.

Odor: Not distinctive.

Bruising: Does not show bruising (color change) when scratched or pressed.

Spore Color: Produces white spores.

Substrate and Habitat: Saprobic on decaying hardwood; found in spring, summer, and fall.

Other Characteristics: Upper surface brown to fuzzy gray and less wrinkled than underside. Lower surface is dark brown and smooth skinned but with ridges.

Clusters of Wood's Ear mushrooms. Note the gray tops and brown/dark purple undersides.








Close-up of the topside and edge of Wood's Ear.


Close-up of the bottom side. Note the ridges just like a human's ear.


Assorted Wood's Ear ready for cooking.


The only public lands you can legally harvest mushrooms are National forests and grasslands.

Mushrooms of all types spring up after a heavy rains but few are as distinctive as the brown-gray, rubbery Wood's Ear. They appear only on dead wood which they slowly break down. Wood Ear mushrooms prefer the dead trunks of Elderberry bushes but pretty much any hardwood can be overrun by these oddities of nature any time of the year as long as hard rains have recently fallen. Shady areas are more likely to have a growth of Wood's Ear as these cooler spots don't dry out as quickly.

Wood Ear's actually do look like ears in size and rough shape. Often they will form upside down cup shapes when young (~1" across) and then widening out into broad fans as they mature. However big they grow these mushroom never thicken, remaining under 1/4" thick. The topside of these mushrooms is usually gray and powdery. Underneath they are shiny, dark-brown to very dark-purple. Held up to the light Wood's Ear are semi-translucent rather than opaque.

If the rains stop and dry weather appears the Wood's Ear mushrooms will shrink down to half their size and harden into a shell-like mass. Once shrunk, the gray exterior is still easily recognized. These dried mushrooms can be harvested from the tree and stored for use later.

Wood's Ear mushrooms are the traditional Black mushrooms used in Chinese Hot and Sour soup. Tasteless by themselves, they readily absorb the flavors of whatever broth they are immersed. Cut the mushrooms, either fresh or dried, into finger-sized strips and add them to soups, hot pots, pot roasts, or any other dish that involves a broth.

Beware the somewhat similar looking Brown Jelly Cup Mushrooms Exidia recisa. These edible Jelly Cups grow both as ear-like and lumpy, brain-like clumps but without the grayish "fur" found on the out surface of Wood's Ear mushrooms.

Wood's Ear on the left, Jelly Cups on the right.

Jelly cups growing on dead wood.

Buy my book! Outdoor Adventure Guides Foraging covers 70 of North America's tastiest and easy to find wild edibles shown with the same big pictures as here on the Foraging Texas website.