Mushrooms of Norway

For the rest of the photos, click here.

On a hike this Saturday, Matt and I discovered an fascinating trail peppered with colorful mushrooms near the local reservoir. Everywhere we turned we found a new varieties, some as small as sewing pins and others the size of dinner plates. We've seen people harvesting mushrooms on our weekly runs with the HHH club, but we didn't dare taste these ones (see images at the bottom of the page). I don't know anything about Norwegian species, but they look suspicious.

Mushroom hunting is a very popular activity in Norway and there is at least one safe and tasty choice in the woods around Olso. Kantarells are yellowish orange and have irregularly shaped caps that curve upwards like a trumpet (see image on the left). According to others, they have a delicate, nutty (sometimes fruity) flavor and a somewhat chewy texture. Unfortunately we didn't find any on this expedition because it was a popular area near a residential neighborhood. Good kantarell hunting locations are closely gaurded secrets.

The city of Oslo offers a free mushroom verification service, and experts are available on the weekends at designated locations to inspect wild mushrooms for novice hunters.

As soon as I can find a good identification guide, I'll fill in the real names. But, until then we made up our own names. Can you guess which is which? Daisy plates, Fire twigs, Purple marshmallow clouds, Dutch crunch, Red shelf, Soft peaches, the Purple projectile, the Epidomy of an absolutely perfect baby mushroom.