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Yes, wild mushrooms are food, if you find and know the right ones. I read some time ago that there's a Croatian proverb that all mushrooms are edible, but some only once. For gathering wild mushrooms, the trick is clearly to know the difference, but that difference is worth knowing.
Mushrooms in nature are mysterious living things, seeming to appear unpredictably. When we moved into our house in 1971, there were some parasol mushrooms (Lepiota procera) in our back yard. I photographed them, had them as a fine meal, and looked forward to more. They never appeared again.
Boletus edulis =>
A real find that's one of the best for eating, Boletus edulis (aka Steinpilz, cèpe, or porcini). Books call it "edible and choice", and it's next to impossible to mistake it for another. The picture (on the right) was taken after I brought it home and does not represent its natural habitat.
Boletus edulis is very firm and dense, and barely shrinks during sautéeing. Some butter and salt, and a sprinkle of parsley, and this mushroom about 5" in height made a substantial side dish.
<= Grifola frondosa: Well-known as "hen of the woods", this is not only edible but very good. It's firm and meaty, and can last a long time with some refrigeration. Two of these grew at the base of some old oak trees. Sauté in butter and sprinkle with some minced parsley and a bit of salt.
They were also served in a very fine restaurant just a few days after I had found them on our trees.
Three years later (2021) there were more, from two of our oak trees. Laid out on a 16" x 10" tray (at the right) they must have weighed about ten pounds.
Laetiporus sulphureus (at the left): Sulfur shelf or chicken of the woods, not to be confused with hen of the woods. Edible when young, although it toughens with age.
Agaricus placomyces (above): When I saw a couple of these mushrooms growing in front of our house, I had high hopes for edibility because they looked like some kind of Agaricus, most of which are really good (Agaricus includes the ubiquitous white store mushrooms). Alas, no such luck; all the mushroom books gave these a thumbs-down.
Bondarzewia berkeleyi (above): A real nuisance, we had these huge mushrooms growing at the roots of one oak tree for years. They grow fast and then envelop the branches of ground cover around the tree, which makes them hard to remove. I've taken out ones that must have weighed thirty pounds. The one in the picture is still fairly young, and is at least 18" across.
It's former name is Polyporus berkeleyi.
Cantherellus cinnebarinus (above): Rather small, this red chanterelle is edible and good. A number of these grew in various spots around our garden and woods; the picture is of a small dish after picking and a bit of cleaning.
Boletus frostii (below): The carmine color of cap and pores, the veins on the stem, and the droplets on the pores make it unmistakable.
Suillus luteus (above). Commonly known as "slippery jack" for its cap that has a certain sliminess when wet. As a member of the boletus mushroom family with its yellow pores, it's edible after removal of the top skin but, in my opinion, not choice.
Below: a boletus type of mushroom with red pores, likely Rubroboletus dupainii
Calvatia gigantea (above). Giant puffball, on the ground and in the kitchen. Very much edible, but not that flavorful.
Below: a smaller type of puffball, some open to release their spores
Amarillaria mellea aka Yellow Honey Mushroom (below),
growing in clusters at the base of hardwood trees - not good news for the trees
Updated May 7, 2026
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