Northwest Botanicals,Inc. SPECIALIZING IN MARKETING, PROCESSING, AND COTTAGE INDUSTRIES

1212 SW 5th Street Grants Pass, OR 97526-6104 (541) 476-5588 (541) 476-1823 (FAX)

Back to Mushrooms

DRIED MUSHROOM RESOURCES FROM NWB

A number of wildcrafted mushrooms from the Pacific Northwest are available through our diverse network of foragers. Northwest Botanicals has taken a position of offering dehydrated forms for export and larger end-users. These include the following varieties:

JANUARY - FEBRUARY

Hedgehogs or Sweet Polypore, Dentium repandum
This is a yellow mushroom that requires special care while picking. It is brittle and will break easily. Keeping it clean while picking is a must. It is marketed fresh.

Sheep Polypore, Albatrellus ovinus
This is a white variety; often marketed with Hedgehogs. Price to the picker is $5.00 to $6.00 per pound. Higher prices reflect drier years with less production. They taste like oysters.

Yellow Footed Chanterelle, Cantharellus xantthopus
This is a very smooth mushroom used more for a garnish. They grow in the same area with the Hedgehogs. Foragers are paid $2.00 to $3.00 per pound.

Black Trumpets, Craterellus fallax
This is a fragrant and fruity mushroom, and smells like juicy fruit gum. It is brown to black, and is marketed both fresh and dry. Pickers will get $5.00 to $6.00 per pound.

APRIL - JUNE

Yellow Morel, Morchella esculenta The yellow morel or common morel is the first marketable mushroom to appear in the Spring. They are marketed both fresh and dried. They don't hold up very well, so they should be shipped daily, 3 day maximum, if a cooler is available. Prices are too speculative to project prices for this earliest of mushrooms.

Black Morel, Morchella elata

Peck's Morel, Morchella angusticeps

Conical Morel, Morchella conica
This group of mushrooms come on right after the yellow morel. They are usually quite abundant, and are marketed both fresh and dried. They command one of the largest dried mushroom markets in the world because they are so abundant and sought after. The price and availability is very competitive. They are hollow mushrooms, and it takes about eleven pounds of fresh mushrooms to get one pound dry-weight. Prices last year ranged from $2.00 to $4.00 per pound fresh.

King Bolete, Boletus edulis
There are over 200 species of Bolete, this is the most sought after marketed Spring Bolete. They are large solid heavy mushrooms with many different varieties of shape and color. They are mostly a brownish color on top, with a white underside becoming yellow to green with are. They are marketed both fresh and dried. They start showing up mid-way into the Black Morel season, with prices ranging from $5.00 to $6.00 per pound. This is a high elevation Bolete.

JULY - SEPTEMBER

Chanterelle, Cantharellus cibarius Fr.
This is a very good yellow mushroom; odorless or slight apricot fragrance, mild to spicy taste (often like a peanut). Marketed both fresh and dried. Prices paid range from $4 to $6/lb. to the forager.

OCTOBER - DECEMBER

Hedgehogs, Dentinum repandum
This is a fragrant and fruity mushroom, and smells like juicy fruit gum. It is brown to black, and is marketed both fresh and dry. Pickers will get $5.00 to $6.00 per pound.

Chicken Mushroom, Lactiporus sulphureus
This is a large layered mushroom that is marketed fresh. It tends to get tough if you try to hold them for any length of time. Must have established markets to harvest or buy. Pickers get $3.00 to $4.00 per pound.

Hen of the Woods, Grfola frondosa
Same as Chicken of the Woods. Must have established markets and the product moves quickly. Same price.

Lobster Mushroom, Hypomyces lactiflurorum
This mushroom has been banned in some locations (like California) due to someone's inability to properly identify and/or handle properly. It is marketed fresh and the picker usually gets up to $3.00 per pound.

King Bolete, Boletus edulis Same as the higher elevation Bolete harvested in June. This one is harvested in September and October along the coastal strips of Oregon. Price is up to $8.00 per pound to the picker because of drier productions.

Black Trumpets, Craterellus fallax
Same as above.

OCTOBER - DECEMBER

Chanterelle, Cantharellus cibarius Fr.
Same as the July item, with optimum conditions.

Hedgehogs or Sweet Polypore, Dentium repandum
Same as January - February, this mushroom normally starts to produce in the same time frame.

Black Trumpets, Craterellus fallax
Same as above.

White Matsutaki, Armillaria ponderosa
Also known as the Pine Mushroom, this is the most highly sought fungus in the woods is sold almost exclusively to Japan. Marketed fresh and dried. There are four grades, and is worth the most when still in the vale stage. Prices paid to forager range from $60 to $20, depending on quality and time of purchase.

Oregon White Truffle, Tuber gibbosum
This is the most expensive mushroom in the world, and is often rated as highly as the European White Truffle. Pickers get as high as $60.00/lb., and are only marketed fresh.

Pricing is based on quantities purchased, or on contract. Highest prices are for spot purchasing, while lowest represent 1,000-lb. contracts. Mid-range is for 100-lb. plus contracts. Since these are seasonal, off-season inventories are discouraged. Payment schedules allow for further discounts. Tonnage is available with lead-time and contracts firmly in place.

CONTACT: Richard Alan Miller,
Agricultural Consultant.

[Latin references: THE AUDUBON SOCIETY FIELD GUIDE TO NORTH AMERICAN MUSHROOMS]