Top 20 Most Common Mushrooms in Whistler

The shaggy mane mushroom is commonly found in North American and European grasslands. Some peoples foraged for its young egg-shaped caps, but it has more recently been found to be a bioaccumulator of heavy metals, meaning it pulls toxic metals up from the soil where it grows. As a result, shaggy manes should not be eaten. The mushrooms usually appear in clusters or “fairy rings.”

Extremely popular in many cuisines, this edible wild mushroom grows around the world near the roots of forest trees. In some regions, king bolete mushrooms are collected in great enough volumes that their sale can support entire families during the harvest season. King boletes are reported to be high in fiber, vitamins B and C, calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc, and several antioxidants.

The woolly chanterelle, which looks only vaguely similar to its famed, edible chanterelle cousins, is vase-shaped and has large, pale folds and wrinkles on its underside (as opposed to having gills, like those of more sought-after chanterelles). Woolly chanterelles can cause upset stomach, vomiting, and diarrhea in some who eat them, while leaving others completely unaffected. Needless to say, the species is not considered a "choice edible".

Yellow-tipped coral(Ramaria formosa) is a pinkish, much-branched coral fungus known for its distinct appearance and many colorful varieties. It has been reported to cause gastrointestinal distress in some people, and so consumption is strongly discouraged. Older specimens may become brittle and chalk-like.

Distinctive and otherworldly, the irregularly-shaped fungal bodies of devil's tooth (Hydnellum peckii) produce red droplets all over their white or cream colored surfaces - almost as though they have been punctured dozens of times over and are bleeding out. The fungi's underside is not gilled, but is rather covered in white or pink tooth-like projections that disseminate its spores. Though inedible, this species is prized by dye makers, producing strong green and blue hues.

The lobster mushroom is actually not a species of mushroom, per-se. When Hypomyces lactifluorum mold attacks one of several common species of Russula mushrooms, it transforms them into lobster mushrooms: they shrivel, harden slightly, and turn bright orange or vermillion. Surprisingly, this only makes them more flavorful. Lobster mushrooms are highly sought after for their distinctive, seafood-like flavor when cooked. Upset stomachs have been reported when eaten raw.

Varied rag lichen grows on rocks, soil, and especially wood. Research has suggested that certain extracts from varied rag lichen can inhibit the growth of biofilms, which may lead to future commercial uses. The specific name, glauca, means "bluish-gray or green," though occasionally this species can appear a pale white color as well.

Bear's head is the most common variety of Hericium. It often grows on conifer logs in North America. The bear's head grows alone and is rather large, ranging from the size of a softball to a soccer ball.

Found in temperate forests, wetlands, and bogs across the northern hemisphere, the yellowfoot is a highly sought after member of the chanterelle family. Considered a choice edible, it boasts a lovely, complex flavor (though it is somewhat less fruity and sweet then some of its more popular cousins). Yellowfoots are sometimes called "winter mushrooms", as they tend to be very late-season fruiters.

The thallus is the vegetative body of a lichen that contains the lichen mycobiont (fungus) and the photobiont (algae and/or cyanobacteria). In P. acicularis, the primary thallus (thallus horizontalis) is spread out like a granular crust on the surface of its substrate. It is light green when young, but becomes gray in age or when dry. The pseudopodetia (upright stalk-like extensions of the thallus made of vegetative tissue) range from 0.5 to 3 cm (0.2 to 1.2 in) high, and are about 1 mm thick; they grow in dense clusters. Most pseudopodetia are either unbranched or forked into two branches, with the stalks curved so as to appear as if combed; less frequently, they are erect like pins, and up to 1 cm (0.4 in) tall. Some specimens are highly branched in the upper part of the pseudopodetia, causing them to bear some resemblance to P. robustus, although this morphology is uncommon. Internally, the pseudopodetia are solid when young, becoming hollow with age, and are composed of long, thin, highly gelatinized hyphae with narrow cavities about 0.5 μm wide. The lower part of older pseudopodetia becomes blackened internally. The algal layer is not continuous—contrasting with lichen species that have thalli that stratify into discrete tissue types, including a photobiont layer—and occurs with the mycobiont in the form of granules. These granules may be absent from some parts of the thallus surface. Pycnidia (flask-like structures, resembling perithecia, in which conidia are produced) occur in the tips of small sterile pseudopodetia or in the tips of small lateral branches of older pseudopodetia. The conidiophores of P. acicularis are 30 μm long, and unbranched. They have terminal sickle-shaped conidia that measure 6 by 1 μm. The apothecia (reproductive structures covered with the spore-producing asci) are abundant, usually with one or several on the tips of the pseudopodetia. They are black, hemispherical or roughly triangular, and measure up to 1.5 mm in diameter. The hymenium (the fertile spore-bearing layer of cells containing the asci) is up to 240 μm thick, and about two-thirds of it is pigmented; the lower part of the hymenium is sterile, consisting of only paraphyses. The asci are eight-spored. The ascospores are rounded when young, becoming spindle-shaped when mature, with dimensions of 21.0–29.5 by 4.5–5.5 μm. The generative tissue (hyphae that eventually forms the thallus) is closely interwoven with short, broad cells that have large cavities. The generative tissue is pigmented black-brown, with the color being most intense below the paraphyses, becoming less so towards the stalk region. Pilophorus acicularis is a tripartite lichen—containing a fungus, a green alga, and a cyanobacterium. Cephalodia (lichenized aggregations of nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria) are present on the primary thallus; smaller cephalodia are also on the pseudopodetia. Hemispherical to irregularly shaped, and light to dark brown in color, they contain species from the genus Nostoc. The green algal photosynthetic symbiont (photobiont) associated with P. acicularis is Asterochloris magna (formerly Trebouxia magna).