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How to Find Ontario Wild Mushrooms

Wild mushrooms can be found in a variety of ecosystems throughout Ontario's wilderness. Found in forests, grasslands and marshlands these fungi grow in dead and living trees, soil and animal feces. Though around 90 percent of the fungus can be below the soil, they are recognized by their exposed stems and caps. Do to the existence of some poisonous varieties it is important to recognize the different types of wild mushrooms when attempting to harvest them.

Things You'll Need

Appropriate clothing such as long pants, long sleeves and hiking shoes
Visual reference guide on wild mushrooms
Gardening gloves
Pocket knife
Plastic storage container with lid

Instructions

- 1
  Search the forest floor for edible wild mushrooms. The black morel, a popular edible mushroom found in Ontario, is often hidden under low lying shrubs or areas with dead ferns from March to May. The fruiting bodies of this type of mushroom can grow up to 20 centimeters. The caps have many ridges in colors ranging from brown to brownish-black and are attached to stems that are off-white in color. Wear your gardening gloves and use your pocket knife to remove the fungi and store them in your plastic container.
- 2
  Examine the forest floor in southern Ontario's hard wood forests to find the yellow morel mushroom. This edible type is found in rich soils from March to May and, like the black morel, thrives in the nutrient rich environment left after forest fires. Reaching up to 15 centimeters tall, the cap of the yellow morel is pale brown to yellow in color. The body is attached to a white stalk that is usually around 2 to 5 centimeters in length.
- 3
  Check the roots of most varieties of hardwood trees to find the edible honey mushroom. Growing in clusters this parasitic fungus feeds from the roots of living trees. This type appears from summer to fall particularly after a heavy rain. The caps tend to be convex or flat in appearance and a honey to beige color. The cap is attached to a stem 5 to 20 centimeters in length.
- 4
  Ensure the mushrooms you find are not poisonous. Ontario has thousands of species of mushrooms that grow wild. Always have a visual reference guide on hand and understand the anatomical features, scent and taste of the edible types. The genus Amanita, for example, contains extremely toxic varieties, such as the jack-o-lantern mushroom. The species within this genus usually have a cup, or volva, which lies at the base of the stem. These toxic varieties will also have a ring, or annulus. This thin tissue connects the cap to the stem during its early stages of development but eventually detaches and hangs below the cap.

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