It’s All About A Tree

The Grand Fir (abies grandis) is a favorite tree that we look for when mushroom hunting. Both morels and spring porcinis seem to associate with this tree, especially when part of a conifer forest that includes other firs, pines, hemlocks, etc.

It isn’t just the big grand firs either! We find mushrooms under the 2 foot or 20 foot version as much or more than the 200 ft versions. These trees live on the Eastern slope of the Cascades, which we like to hunt during the Spring because they have both morels and spring porcinis in abundance.

We often find ourselves cruising national forest roads looking for spots with nice Grand Firs… or when we are on foot we often walk from one stand of firs to the next. Learning to identify the firs took some time. During the spring they don’t have pinecones in the branches, and, you won’t see their pinecones underneath the tree. That is because they don’t “drop” pinecones: their cones disintegrate into 100 small individual seeds and get blown by the wind.

Here are some pics to help you out:

: I don’t know if the trees on the right are Grand Firs, but the one on the left is. Note it is sickly? Mushrooms love that! Also, notice how all the branches hang with a bit of a droop droopily a bit with the tips of the branches lifting back up again. That is also classic and what I look for in big trees in the distance