Now, this entry is not here to help you identify to eat these mushrooms. For that, I would recommend you start training with professional mycologists and mushroom foragers.
These mushrooms are very hard to spot because of their dark brown/gray color, they perfectly blend in with the forest floor and leaf matter. However once you do spot them, like morels, you start to get the eye for it! They are often found near beech or oak trees.
These mushrooms have a delicate and thin structure, and they kind of feel like suede. They are shaped like a funnel (or trumpet) and are usually dark brown, gray or black. The edges of the cap roll outward. They don’t have gills or visible spore-bearing structures (like pores) and the underside is typically smooth or slightly wrinkled.
People love their flavor, which is sometimes described as smokey. Supposedly (and I’m definitely going to have to try this) you can dry them and then their flavor acquires black truffle notes – which you can crumble and use as a condiment. Mmmm!
Also, if they get wet….like, for instance, you’re on a hike and it starts pouring, but you come across a huge swath of Black Trumpets, so you have to stop and forage them for a nice risotto even though you’re soaked with no raincoat… and you gently pile them into your cloth bag, and everything is wet…when you get home, your cloth back will be stained dark brown!
Alternate Names: Horn of Plenty, Black Chanterelle, Trumpet of the Dead Size: up to about 10 cm (4") tall Family: Cantharellaceae Habitat: Forest floor, near beech or oak trees, mossy areas. Identifiers: Funnel shaped, dark brown, gray or black.
