Hope Miller - Wild Edible Mushrooms: Tips and Recipes for Every Mushroom Hunter

Hope H. Miller has coauthored three mushroom books with her late husband, Orson K. Miller Jr.: North American Mushrooms (FalconGuides); Mushrooms in Color: How to Know Them, Where to Find Them, What to Avoid; and Gasteromycetes. She coauthored Mushrooms of North America in Color: A Field Guide Companion to Seldom Illustrated Fungi with Alan E. Bessette, Orson K. Miller Jr., and Arleen R. Bessette. She has been on television and radio, appeared at the Denver Botanical Gardens, and has led many forays and mycology classes, doing cooking demonstrations. She taught classes at the Open University at Virginia Tech; lectured at a workshop in Thailand explaining collecting, recording, and preserving fungi; and has been the recorder at more than 200 fungus forays. She has also had a cooking column in a Blacksburg, Virginia newspaper and has received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributions to Amateur Mycology from the Texas Mycological Society. She lives in McCall, Idaho.

Until Orson K. Miller Jr.s death in June 2006, the Millers worked extensively in North America, including Alaska, Canada, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Belize, as well as in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Asia. In addition, they joined a large group of scientists conducting studies of Great Smoky Mountain National Park. This entailed the study and recording of all living things found in the park, including mushrooms, plants, insects, and animals. Similar studies are being conducted in many parts of North America.

I can never forget all the wonderful people who joined us in our searches for the elusive mushrooms. The graduate students who are spread all over the globe were special to both Orson and me. They are the future of the science and represent him so well. He was proud of them all. The many amateur mycologists were ready to drop everything at a moments notice to go and look for a special fungus Orson needed. They were responsible for finding many new species to science. A special debt of gratitude is given to the late Leeds and Marie Bailey who worked tirelessly to record and find species at all the Forays of the Southern Idaho Mycological Association. Leeds and Marie even joined us for 2 months in Australia, working as our field assistants. Our colleagues from around the world have been an inspiration as well. We had the good fortune to visit many of them over the years and bring back fond memories of good times.

This manuscript would not have been completed in time without the expert help from Eddie Culver, a friend and computer guru.

I can highly recommend this kind of life to anyone. I feel privileged to have been part of a wonderful life with a wonderful person.

Bessette, A. E., O. K. Miller, A. R. Bessette, and H.H. Miller. 1995. Mushrooms of North America in Color: A Field Guide Companion to Seldom-Illustrated Fungi. Syracuse University Press: Syracuse, NY. 172p.

Bessette, A. E., W. C. Roody, and A. R. Bessette. 2000. North American Boletes. Syracuse University Press: Syracuse, NY. 396p.

Binion, D. E., S. L. Stephenson, W. C. Roody, H. H. Burdsall Jr., O. K. Miller Jr., and L. N. Vasilyeva. 2008. Macrofungi Associated with Oaks of Eastern North America. West Virginia University Press: Morgantown. 467p.

Evenson, V. S. 1997. Mushrooms of Colorado and the Southern Rocky Mountains. Westcliffe Publishers: Boulder, CO. 207p.

Hall, I. R., S. L. Stephenson, P. K. Buchanan, W. Yun, and A. L. J. Cole. 2003. Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms of the World. Timber Press, Inc.: Christchurch, New Zealand. 371p.

Huffman, D. M., L. H. Tiffany, G. Knaphus, and R. A. Healy. 2008. Mushrooms and Other Fungi of the Midcontinental United States. University of Iowa Press: Iowa City, IA. 370p.

Kimbrough, J. 2000. Common Florida Mushrooms. University of Florida Extension: Gainesville, FL. 342p.

Lincoff, G., and D. H. Mitchel. 1977. Toxic and Hallucinogenic Mushroom Poisoning. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.: New York. 267p.

Metzler, S., V. T. Metzler, and O. K. Miller Jr. 1992. Mushrooms of Texas. University of Texas Press: Austin. 350p.

Miller, H. H. 1993. Hopes Mushroom Cookbook. Mad River Press: Eureka, CA. 220p.

Miller, O. K., Jr. 1977. Mushrooms of North America. E.P. Dutton, Inc.: New York. 350p.

Miller, O. K., Jr., and H. H. Miller. 1980. Mushrooms in Color: How to Know Them, Where to Find Them, What to Avoid. E. P. Dutton, Inc.: New York. 286p.

Miller, O. K., Jr., and H. H. Miller. 1988. Gasteromycetes: Morphological and Developmental Features with Keys to the Orders, Families, and Genera. Mad River Press: Eureka, CA. 157p.

Miller, O. K., Jr., and H. H. Miller. 2006. North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi. Falcon Field Guide: Guilford, CT. 583p.

Pomerleau, R. 1980. Flora Des Champignons au Qubec. Les ditions la Presse: Ottawa, Canada. 623p.

Roody, W. C. 2003. Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians. University Press of Kentucky: Lexington. 520p.

Spoerke, D. G., and R. H. Rumack. 1994. Handbook of Mushroom Poisoning, Diagnosis, and Treatment. CRC Press: West Palm Beach, FL. 456p.

Trudell, S., and J. Ammirati. 2009. Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest. Timber Press, Inc.: Portland, OR. 349p.

Spring brings out morel hunters around the world, as the morels are the first fungi to come out each year. Those who want a great meal feel comfortable hunting morels since they are so distinctive. Those who will not hunt for anything else will be the first ones to go hunting for them in the spring. Morels are not easy to spot in forests and meadows. They are found in the East along streams, where old apple orchards grow, where elm trees are dying, and on east-facing slopes under oaks, pines, and mayapples. In the Northwest they are found the year or two years after forest fires. Central parts of North America host morels along streambeds and in tall grass prairies. In other words, they are found in many places. The important thing is to remember where you found them last year, as they will return for many seasons.

When is spring? It occurs at different times depending where you are. Fruiting generally starts in March in the Deep South; early April in Georgia and South Carolina; and late April through May in Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and throughout New England. Middle America usually has its best collecting in May or early June. The Canadians enjoy morels in June at low elevations but on into July at higher elevations.

Morels can be found at high elevation as late as late July to early August. The Rocky Mountain morels are primarily found in open parklike stands of Ponderosa pine and Engelmann spruce in May, but often at higher elevations in June and early July. Moisture is vital. As the forests dry out, the morels leave. Morels also seem to be more abundant where limestone occurs or on chalky (calcareous) soils.

This book includes a number of true morels but a general description will be given for most of them. This is because new information has revealed that North Americas species are different from those found in Europe and Asia. The original names came from Europe, but DNA studies have indicated that it will be necessary to give new names to the North American species. But to the person wishing to eat morels, the names are not important. All the true morels are good to eat as long as you personally do not have a sensitivity to certain ones. Try a little at a time if its your first time eating morels. Do not eat false morels (page 8). Never eat morels raw.