Mushrooms of the Lowland Pacific Northwest

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The cool, damp climate of the lowland Pacific northwest is the perfect place for fungi to grow. There are several hundred different kinds, with a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors.  The mushrooms in this guide are limited to those which are particularly common and showy and have fairly distinctive characteristics. For more complete coverage of mushroom, consult the references.
Mushrooms are amazing chemical factories that are responsible for the breakdown of much of the organic material in nature.  The part of the mushroom we are familiar with is the fruit, like an apple on an apple tree. The main part of the mushroom is hidden under the ground in the form of tiny filaments called mycelia.  These microscopic engines of decomposition secrete a variety of enzymes which break apart complex molecules into their component elements, freeing nutrients for plants to use. The mycelia fuses and envelopes the roots of many local plants exchanging nutrients and water for sugars from photosynthesis. As much as 40% of the photosynthetic process of a mature tree is pumped out through the root hairs into the matrix of mycelia, where it can be transported several tens of meters from the tree and absorbed and used by other plants.  These underground mycelia systems actively move nutrients from place to place and act almost as a forest soil vascular system that we are only just beginning to understand. 

Mushrooms reproduce from spores which are light and can carry in the wind. The  fruits are eaten by insects, slugs, and mammals which also help to  disperse the spores. 

 People also eat mushrooms, and the vast majority of mushrooms are not harmful. There are a few species of mushrooms however which carry toxins that are damaging or deadly and so eating mushrooms requires a positive identification. Some edible mushrooms look very similar to toxic species,  so In addition to the information on this site you need to cross check any mushroom you intend to eat with one of the resources listed on the reference pages.  There are also local mushroom clubs which can assist you with the identification of mushrooms.

Mushroom fruits need warmth and moisture and there are two main seasons in which mushrooms fruit, spring, and fall.  There are several parts to a mushroom which are important to its identification.