• Mushrooms tend to prosper after rain and thunderstorms.wild mushrooms image by Heng kong Chen from Fotolia.com
  
  Wild mushrooms are pungent fungus that can be healthy and abundantly flavorful, although quite expensive. Avid growers, cultivators and agricultural organizations are reliable resources for distributing wild mushrooms, but there are a wide variety of specialty mushrooms that grow in the forest and harvested annually during their respective seasons. Wild mushrooms can be found across the globe, but due to poisonous varieties, caution must be heeded when consuming. Once you know how to spot them, however, mushroom picking can become a fascinating and delicious past time.
  
  

Matsutake

• Matsutake, meaning "pine mushroom," grows from the November to January season, most commonly in Washington state, Oregon, Northern California and Canada. Quite popular among Japanese cuisine, the meat of the matsutake mushroom is white and brown, with a dry, smooth cap and a stout stem.
  
  

Truffles

• Truffles are not as widely found as other wild mushrooms, usually popping up in Croatia, Slovenia, France and Italy, as well as the west coast of the United States. They range in size, from a nut to a fruit, and grow about 1 foot underground among the roots of oak, elm, chestnut, pine, and willow trees. Truffles are typically harvested from fall to spring and can be detected by their wrinkly caps.
  
  

Gold Chanterelle

• Typically found growing among oak trees and conifers, gold chanterelle mushrooms are harvested from late summer through early winter. They are distinguished by their funnel-shaped body, which takes on a trumpet-shape at the cap. With a rich aroma, chanterelle mushrooms are more frequently found in European dishes.