Frozen Hedgehogs

Is the Admirable Bolete really that Admirable?

Well, yes actually, it is a very admirable bolete. Many say it is second only to the King Bolete in our area, but I wouldn't know because I've never found a King. Jessica Wolf says she just found a Queen Bolete. Lucky girl. So far, for me, Boletus mirabilis is the best boletus I have tasted.

Mostly in the past I've seen it growing on old stumps and very well decomposed logs. Like this one:

But this year they are everywhere, on ground which I can only surmise is full of rotting logs and woody mass.

They supposedly love hemlock, so the further up-island the better, but I have found that they like older forests, generally 30 years old or older.

And they tend to pop up in strange places, usually very dense dark woods, although this year, many are on mossy ground usually spotted with Chanterelles.

The above beauty was growing out from between a tangle of roots and sticks.

This one was at the base of a stump.

My video from today showing a variety of the ones I collected today.

And this one of some nice Winter Chanterelles.

Happy hunting!

Winter Chanterelles, Elfin Saddle, Bleeding Milk Cap, Admirable Bolete.

Graham and I were out looking for rocks, for a back yard project, and we ended up driving up the Cameron Main because the rivers are all really high, so no accessible rocks. I asked him if I could have 3 minutes to look for mushrooms and the above is what I found, just off the side of the road. How cool is that???

Then I asked him if we could visit another forest where I knew there to be Admiral Boletes from time to time. There had been some pickers there before us as evidenced by cut stipes, but we still found a good number of that most impressive of boletes in our area, but unfortunately all but one was past prime or full of bugs. Gray found two, the below being the largest. Too bad it was so far mature. Jessica Wolf tells me there are still some young ones out there, so planning a short excursion later this week.