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Three common types of mushrooms are regularly sought out. While using the mushroom foraging calendar key, Iowans can find peak times to hunt for common, white, black or half-free morels in the Spring; Chicken of the Woods in late summer; and oysters May through September. Many commercial sellers also sells mushrooms in Iowa that are grown in controlled environments.
Mushrooms in Iowa enjoy rain without excessive heat. When searching, also avoid aged mushrooms. If a mushroom is of an older age, then you are more likely to find insects and decay. If the fungal tissue is degrading, this can make you ill. A common mushroom in Iowa is the dryad saddle, which is best found in its younger stages when it has a more fleshy outside. As this mushroom grows and gets older, it becomes woodier.
To legally sell eight different types of wild-harvested mushrooms in Iowa, sellers must complete a certification workshop that covers identifying and distinguishing them from look-alikes.
