A Pseudo-Big Day in Santa Cruz
I have always wondered how many mushroom species it would be possible to see in one day in Santa Cruz County. Since this fall has been so exceptionally fruitful for mushrooms, I decided to give it a go… How else to find out?
I chose this time of the year because the fall mushroom assemblage is rapidly transitioning into the winter assemblage, briefly bumping up easily-seen diversity during the period of overlap. Since I didn’t have a full day to commit start to finish (Christmas parties, work, etc.), I had to spread out my efforts over four days. 5 hours were spent on the 18th, 2 hours cumulatively on the 19th and 20th, and 2 hours on the 21st (drive times included, without overlapping drive times removed). Totaled up, this roughly equals the amount of available daylight (plus maybe a little headlight hunting) that is usually available during this period of fall/winter overlap. I’m quite sure that all the mushrooms I encountered could have been found on either the 18th or the 21st. I ended up with 270 species (not all identified to species, but recognizable RTUs).
I think this is clear evidence that 300 species could be seen by one person in a single day during a good year in Santa Cruz County. I think it’s even feasible to get well over this number, keeping in mind:
1. Start with a prioritized list of expected species. I missed many common species.
2. Scout the week ahead of time to locate rarer taxa - I did no scouting.
3. Plan an efficient driving route. I made mine up as I went, and some driving time is double-counted in my 9 hours.
4. Learn to distinguish Mycena and other tough taxa by sight (at least with provisional names) - I put no real effort into distinguishing gray Mycenas and other difficult groups (Galerina, Leptonia), although I did so with Cortinarius.
5. Spend most of your time at a few high-productivity areas that are relatively close to one another but very different from one habitat-wise (minimizing drive time while maximizing species turnover between sites). Driving time was the single biggest detracting factor.
6. Go alone, and don’t photograph species for which a photo is not helpful in later distinction. I spent a lot of time photographing mushrooms and talking to my companions, which was very pleasant but didn’t serve this particular bizarre goal.
The areas I visited were: Ponderosa Lodge, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park (near Graham Hill Road), Fall Creek Unit (near Empire Grade), UCSC (oaks northwest of the Arboretum), Big Basin State Park (visitor center area to Pine Mountain Trail and part of Skyline to the Sea), Pogonip, the San Lorenzo River corridor (including the Cemetery near Ocean Street Extension), and a few neighborhood spots including my yard.
Below is the list of mushrooms I encountered:
Agaricus albolutescens (prime fruiting at Henry Cowell)
** Agaricus fuscofibrillosus (first time I have seen it in the county, urban cypress)
Agaricus praeclaresquamosus (new name pending)
Agrocybe praecox (only saw it in my front yard!)
Amanita baccata (sandhills around Henry Cowell Observation Deck)
Annulohypoxylon thouarsianum
Antrodia sp. (a small, large-pored species on SCZ Mtn. manzanita)
Bjerkandera adusta (one large fruiting in Pogonip near the Koi Pond)
Cantharellus californicus
Cheimonophyllum candidissimus
Chlorophyllum brunneum (many under Eucalyptus along San Lorenzo River)
Claudopus sp. (on sand at Ponderosa Lodge)
** Clavaria flavipes - very rare, perhaps 4th North American collection? Big Basin.
Clavariadelphus occidentalis (small fruiting under Live Oak, Pogonip)
** Clavariadelphus cf. truncatus (rare for this area, Fall Creek)
Clitocybe "shallow gills"
Coprinellus Section Micacei
Coprinopsis (fuzzy white on horse dung)
Coprinus comatus (one fruiting near Koi Pond, Pogonip)
Cortinarius (Section Anomali)
Cortinarius (subgenus Dermocybe)
Cortinarius (subgenus Myxacium)
Cortinarius (subgenus Telamonia) tawny
Cortinarius (subgenus Telamonia) 1
Cortinarius lilacinocolossus
Cortinarius section Anomali
Cortinarius subgenus Myxacium (bluish-lilac)
Cortinarius subgenus Phlegmacium (dull)
Cortinarius subgenus Phlegmacium (colorful)
Cortinarius subgenus Telamonia purple cap
Cortinarius subgenus Telamonia silvery
Cortinarius viridirubescens
Cortinarius xanthodryophilus
Craterellus cornucopioides
Entoloma subgenus Leptonia 1
Entoloma subgenus Leptonia 2
Entoloma subgenus Nolanea
** Fomitopsis officinalis (large fruiting on Douglas-fir, Felton-Empire)
Gymnopilus (small bright conifer wood)
Gymnopus (large, madrone bark)
Helotiales (yellow disco swarm)
Hygrocybe aurantiosplendens
Hygrophorus roseibrunneus
Hypocrea (yellow, on polypore)
Hypomyces microspermus group
Laccaria amethysteo-occidentalis
Lactarius pallidiolivaceus
Leotia lubrica (one fruitbody, Big Basin)
Lepiota spheniscispora (late-ish, Pogonip)
Lichenomphalia umbellifera
Lycoperdon molle (oak, UCSC)
Lyophyllum semitale group (fairly abundant, Big Basin)
Mucronella small white clustered
Mycena epipterygia (uncommon here, one fruitbody, Big Basin)
Onnia (triquetra?, one fruitbody, pine, Henry Cowell)
Paxillus "oak undescribed"
** Phallus hadriani (thanks to Linda Rosewood! San Lorenzo corridor)
** Postia caesia (uncommon here, Empire Grade, on Douglas fir)
Pseudobaeospora deckeri (Big Basin)
Pseudobaeospora stevensii (Big Basin)
Pseudohydnum gelatinosum (abundant, Big Basin)
** Ramaria apiculata - uncommon here (Big Basin)
Ramaria “red”- (uncommon here, Fall Creek)
** Ramaria violaceibrunnea (uncommon here, Fall Creek & Big Basin)
** Rhodocollybia oregonensis - (rare here, Big Basin, first county record?)
Rhodocybe nuciolens (two fruitbodies, redwoods at Pogonip)
Roridomyces roridus (one fruitbody, Big Basin)
Russula (greenish-brown-capped oak-associated cyanoxantha-type)
Sowerbyella rhenana (one fruiting, Ponderosa Lodge)
Suillellus amygdalinus (a few lateish fruitbodies at Pogonip)
Tremellodendropsis tuberosa
** Tricholoma aurantia - (quite rare here, Fall Creek)
Tricholoma griseoviolaceum
Tricholoma pessundatum (a few fruitbodies with planted pine, Ocean Street cemetery)
Tricholoma saponaceum (both yellow form with pine and gray-white form with tanoak)
Volvopluteus gloiocephalus