A company grows these (and other mushrooms) in a warehouse here in Zurich to supply restaurants and grocery stores, which is probably one of the reasons these mushrooms are now found in the wild.
I "hunt" (in German you use the verb "collect/gather") mushrooms in the forests around Zurich and I haven't seen these yet. They also don't appear in my Pilzfürher app specific to Switzerland. But I have heard they are here. From pictures I've seen of them in the wild I might dismiss them from a distance because I could mix them up with two common yellow mushrooms here - one poisonous.
A friend of mine went to a local mushroom picking course and among things they mentioned that morels are difficult to cook from fresh, because of the gastro problems. Apparently, the advice was to dry them before using in recipes.
"Mushroom hunting" is a fairly common phrase in English, too. It appears to have the top-level title for the page about that activity, on Wikipedia, even (mushroom foraging, mushroom picking, and mushrooming are all given as alternative terms)
Plus it's the title of a song on the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack, so it has that going for it.
The German term is "Pilze sammeln" which literally translates to: collect mushrooms.
There are many dialects of the German language - where I'm from, we would use "Schwammerl suchen" ("Schwammerl" as another term for "Pilz(e)"). This literally translates to: searching for mushrooms.
I had a mushroom farm in Northern Michigan some years ago and we grew Golden Oysters, among other species. I think our winters are too cold for them to really establish themselves, but I was hearing reports of them 'going native' in Southern Michigan as long ago as 15 years.
Like the farmer in the article, I also wondered about the apparent lack of effort in growing native species. My area has a wonderful native oyster Pleurotus populinus; exceptional in taste compared to other oysters, but I have never heard of anyone cultivating them.
I've been thinking about farming in Michigan. If global warming takes off, we should have a nice environment and plenty of water to grow...
I just can't imagine doing agriculture in 2026. I have a masters in Mechanical Engineering and 2 decades of experience. It just seems like something for uneducated people.
I often read about invasive species from a Western point of view and some of the most aggressive and hard to keep under control species come from Asia. Is the Asian ecosystem equally invaded by Western species? Are forests and gardens in Asia overrun by European carp and grey oyster mushrooms? Or is there something about the environment and ecosystem in Asia that makes those species uniquely invasive and resistant?
For example the Japanese knotweed evolved to grow on the side of volcanoes and survive the occasional lava flow. It's a uniquely harsh environment which prepares it for thriving in any "gentle" garden in the world. But the mushrooms didn't evolve in any particularly bad environment, so why are these species outcompeting local ones? Why are they so fit for a new environment?
I know I have some selection and survivorship bias because I only know of the species that made it, not the ones which try to invade and fail so that's why I'm curious if this is a special situation of more or less expected, a known percentage of species from any part of the world end up outcompeting local species from another.
Wikipedia: "The Last of Us is an action-adventure video game series and media franchise created by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.[a] The series is set in a post-apocalyptic United States ravaged by cannibalistic humans infected by a mutated fungus in the genus Cordyceps."
Wonder if I'll be able to add a new entry to the list of "mushrooms that supposedly grow in my region but cannot be located within 100 sq miles of my home" soon.
The iNaturalist.org map tab could help you determine whether it has been found in your area. [0]
I was hoping it had not made it to Texas since it was reported mostly in the NE US but it looks like some people have started cultivating it here and it may have escaped cultivation sometime during the last few years.
Considering that it is an invasive fungus that is known to degrade all the natives in the area it should be no surprise that the questions about whether the fungus was found growing on a grow block are rarely or never answered in the Texas reports. This could be due to the questions being asked by researchers trying to identify spread mechanisms from posts that are several years old. The original poster may not respond either because they don't remember or they are not as active as they used to be.
I think there are 8 reports in the state today and at least one is obviously in a grow medium of sawdust. [1] The fact that people placed most of their sitings on parks instead of home gardens when more than one case clearly shows a residential setting may suggest that they are growing something that they know can escape but they would like others to think they found it in the wild so it isn't their problem.
I have a great natural environment for them with several live oak widowmakers standing dead for around 25 years. I have not seen any yellow mushrooms though, yet. I think the native mulch industry in Texas will probably be their main spread vector since hardwoods are mulched locally and sold all over the state. As far as I know there are fewer restrictions on mulch sales from infected areas than there are on firewood sales across county lines. I think mulch may incorrectly be classified as compost in this case where the assumption is that there has been large scale degradation sterilization of weed seeds, fungal spores, etc due to decomposition temperatures.
The Himalayan Blackberry produces untold numbers of very large fruits and it's still so aggressive you have to ruthlessly clear it before it grows under your foundations and into your driveway and walls. It takes over every patch of ground it gets access to and it will send runners down 20 or 30 foot concrete walls from the top of the freeway. I once saw it grow a runner up to the top of a 40-foot tree and then back down to the ground 10 feet away. The thorns are so thick it will penetrate everything but duck cotton. I have to wear welding gloves when I'm clearing it because it can go right through gardening gloves. It is a hell plant sent to torment us for our hubris.
If you've ever bought or eaten "marionberry" this plant is where it grows.
Kudzu's threat has been long overstated. It thrives especially near forest edgelands which are always visible on highways, so concern of prevalence was partially based on individual sampling error. In reality, its presence in southern forests is higher than desired but still not disastrous (~0.1% of southern forestland), which is a fraction of worse invasives: Japanese honeysuckle (4.4%) and Asian privet (1.4%).
I would say that it's more accurate to say that kudzu is not poisonous. I definitely would not say it tastes good. It's got that "green plant" taste that you get from just chomping on any ol' leaf you might find. I mean, if you're poor and starving you could maaaaaybe survive on Kudzu, but it will be rough, it's not very calorie dense, even for a leafy green. Goats won't even eat it unless there is literally nothing else to eat. This whole, "oh you, can eat kudzu!" thing is just crunchy-mom Instagram influencer bullshit.
A company grows these (and other mushrooms) in a warehouse here in Zurich to supply restaurants and grocery stores, which is probably one of the reasons these mushrooms are now found in the wild.
I "hunt" (in German you use the verb "collect/gather") mushrooms in the forests around Zurich and I haven't seen these yet. They also don't appear in my Pilzfürher app specific to Switzerland. But I have heard they are here. From pictures I've seen of them in the wild I might dismiss them from a distance because I could mix them up with two common yellow mushrooms here - one poisonous.
(I'm going out to search for morels this weekend)
> I'm going out to search for morels this weekend
I don't have any addictions in my life, but one. That's when morel season is in swing, I am in full hunt mode.
A friend of mine went to a local mushroom picking course and among things they mentioned that morels are difficult to cook from fresh, because of the gastro problems. Apparently, the advice was to dry them before using in recipes.
What's up with that?
The verb I've most commonly heard for this activity in English is "forage". What's the equivalent German word?
"Mushroom hunting" is a fairly common phrase in English, too. It appears to have the top-level title for the page about that activity, on Wikipedia, even (mushroom foraging, mushroom picking, and mushrooming are all given as alternative terms)
Plus it's the title of a song on the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack, so it has that going for it.
Thank you for clarifying!
The German term is "Pilze sammeln" which literally translates to: collect mushrooms.
There are many dialects of the German language - where I'm from, we would use "Schwammerl suchen" ("Schwammerl" as another term for "Pilz(e)"). This literally translates to: searching for mushrooms.
I had a mushroom farm in Northern Michigan some years ago and we grew Golden Oysters, among other species. I think our winters are too cold for them to really establish themselves, but I was hearing reports of them 'going native' in Southern Michigan as long ago as 15 years.
Like the farmer in the article, I also wondered about the apparent lack of effort in growing native species. My area has a wonderful native oyster Pleurotus populinus; exceptional in taste compared to other oysters, but I have never heard of anyone cultivating them.
I've been thinking about farming in Michigan. If global warming takes off, we should have a nice environment and plenty of water to grow...
I just can't imagine doing agriculture in 2026. I have a masters in Mechanical Engineering and 2 decades of experience. It just seems like something for uneducated people.
Why do you think that?
I often read about invasive species from a Western point of view and some of the most aggressive and hard to keep under control species come from Asia. Is the Asian ecosystem equally invaded by Western species? Are forests and gardens in Asia overrun by European carp and grey oyster mushrooms? Or is there something about the environment and ecosystem in Asia that makes those species uniquely invasive and resistant?
For example the Japanese knotweed evolved to grow on the side of volcanoes and survive the occasional lava flow. It's a uniquely harsh environment which prepares it for thriving in any "gentle" garden in the world. But the mushrooms didn't evolve in any particularly bad environment, so why are these species outcompeting local ones? Why are they so fit for a new environment?
I know I have some selection and survivorship bias because I only know of the species that made it, not the ones which try to invade and fail so that's why I'm curious if this is a special situation of more or less expected, a known percentage of species from any part of the world end up outcompeting local species from another.
2026 was already quite interesting and now I have marked “Unstoppable Carnivorous Mushroom” on my Bingo Card.
Wikipedia: "The Last of Us is an action-adventure video game series and media franchise created by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.[a] The series is set in a post-apocalyptic United States ravaged by cannibalistic humans infected by a mutated fungus in the genus Cordyceps."
I don't recall if The Triffids were delicious when fried in a little butter.
Wonder if I'll be able to add a new entry to the list of "mushrooms that supposedly grow in my region but cannot be located within 100 sq miles of my home" soon.
TIL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleurotus_citrinopileatus
The iNaturalist.org map tab could help you determine whether it has been found in your area. [0]
I was hoping it had not made it to Texas since it was reported mostly in the NE US but it looks like some people have started cultivating it here and it may have escaped cultivation sometime during the last few years.
Considering that it is an invasive fungus that is known to degrade all the natives in the area it should be no surprise that the questions about whether the fungus was found growing on a grow block are rarely or never answered in the Texas reports. This could be due to the questions being asked by researchers trying to identify spread mechanisms from posts that are several years old. The original poster may not respond either because they don't remember or they are not as active as they used to be.
I think there are 8 reports in the state today and at least one is obviously in a grow medium of sawdust. [1] The fact that people placed most of their sitings on parks instead of home gardens when more than one case clearly shows a residential setting may suggest that they are growing something that they know can escape but they would like others to think they found it in the wild so it isn't their problem.
I have a great natural environment for them with several live oak widowmakers standing dead for around 25 years. I have not seen any yellow mushrooms though, yet. I think the native mulch industry in Texas will probably be their main spread vector since hardwoods are mulched locally and sold all over the state. As far as I know there are fewer restrictions on mulch sales from infected areas than there are on firewood sales across county lines. I think mulch may incorrectly be classified as compost in this case where the assumption is that there has been large scale degradation sterilization of weed seeds, fungal spores, etc due to decomposition temperatures.
[0]https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/504060-Pleurotus-citrinopil...
[1]https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/163199817
The good news is that's edible and apparently tastes good.
The Himalayan Blackberry produces untold numbers of very large fruits and it's still so aggressive you have to ruthlessly clear it before it grows under your foundations and into your driveway and walls. It takes over every patch of ground it gets access to and it will send runners down 20 or 30 foot concrete walls from the top of the freeway. I once saw it grow a runner up to the top of a 40-foot tree and then back down to the ground 10 feet away. The thorns are so thick it will penetrate everything but duck cotton. I have to wear welding gloves when I'm clearing it because it can go right through gardening gloves. It is a hell plant sent to torment us for our hubris.
If you've ever bought or eaten "marionberry" this plant is where it grows.
Same with Kudzu, and apparently that's an unstoppable plant too
Kudzu's threat has been long overstated. It thrives especially near forest edgelands which are always visible on highways, so concern of prevalence was partially based on individual sampling error. In reality, its presence in southern forests is higher than desired but still not disastrous (~0.1% of southern forestland), which is a fraction of worse invasives: Japanese honeysuckle (4.4%) and Asian privet (1.4%).
Unstoppable until you acquire a bunch of goats.
But what if your goats become unstoppable?
You start an unstoppable business cleaning up dams and freeways of brush.
Then you have found the goat
Apply wolves!
If they became unstoppable, we'll need unstoppable humans! Wait~~
We must continue this chain until we reach unstoppable sapient topological "aberrations" in space-time with reversed arrows of time.
But what if the wolves become unstoppable?
Goatherd's pie.
I would say that it's more accurate to say that kudzu is not poisonous. I definitely would not say it tastes good. It's got that "green plant" taste that you get from just chomping on any ol' leaf you might find. I mean, if you're poor and starving you could maaaaaybe survive on Kudzu, but it will be rough, it's not very calorie dense, even for a leafy green. Goats won't even eat it unless there is literally nothing else to eat. This whole, "oh you, can eat kudzu!" thing is just crunchy-mom Instagram influencer bullshit.
You might want to tell the japanese and vietnamese that it doesn't taste good then, they seem to have been using it as food for quite a while now
The root, not the leaves.
Well it's lucky I didn't say anything about the leaves then
Wonder if this will have the Wolf phenomena: Where wolf populations explode until there is no food left.
https://youtu.be/ZcJjMnHoIBI
Here's one for "The last of us". The fungi will get us all.
In Interstellar as well, I think. The blight felt like a similar fungi.