Mushroom Hunting in Pennsylvania: Supporting Graduate Student Research

Pennsylvania is a state known for its commercial mushroom production, especially in the Kennett Square region in the Southeast. However, there is a long and deeply ingrained tradition of harvesting, or hunting, wild mushrooms throughout the state. The season normally starts in early spring with the emergence of morels and wraps up in the mid or late fall, with the first hard frost.

While mushrooms are often appreciated on forestlands for their striking beauty and interesting forms, people also have many uses for wild mushrooms. Some select species of mushrooms are edible (e.g., morels, chanterelles, chicken-of-the-woods) and bring unusual and tasty flavors to all sorts of foods. Other mushrooms in the region are known for their medicinal properties (e.g., Ganoderma, turkey-tail).

Mushroom hunting is a tradition that is passed through families, between friends, within mushroom clubs, and more recently, over social media. With funding from the Pennsylvania State University Huck Institute Flower Grant, my research seeks to understand which mushrooms people like to hunt in Pennsylvania and surrounding regions, and how they learn about mushroom hunting. I am also interested in how COVID-19 might have changed how people learn about mushrooms. You can learn more about the study and take the survey (or request a paper copy) at: https://acw208.wixsite.com/mushroom-hunting-in

Whether you simply admire mushrooms on hikes, enjoy in the thrill of the hunt for choice edibles, or like to grow mushrooms yourself, I would appreciate your assistance in this research:

• Learning to Hunt for Mushrooms

I am surveying mushroom harvesters in Pennsylvania and the surrounding states and would love to include forest landowners who take a hobby or commercial interest in mushrooms. If you or someone you know identifies, harvests, grows, or sells wild mushrooms, and would like to participate in this study, please contact me or share the survey with them.

•  Mushroom events

There are a variety of local mushroom-based events held around Pennsylvania. These can range from hikes and walks to special dinners or workshops. I am looking to connect with these events in the region. If you know of any local events in your region that involve wild mushrooms, I ask that you please share information about these with me.

If you have any questions or are willing to assist us with any of these research efforts, please contact Amy Wrobleski at acw208@psu.edu.