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Los Alcornocales Natural Park is the largest cork oak tree forest in Europe. Its diverse topography and landscapes are home to a wealth of flora and fauna which, combined with the local climate offer an ideal place to visit and enjoy outdoor activities of which mushroom picking is popular.
In the mountainous areas, the high levels of precipitation and humidity generated by the climatology of the Straits of Gibraltar produce abundant cloud-fed (“ombrotrophic”) soil and vegetation.
Here the mountains are populated by cork oaks and gall oaks, and a thick undergrowth. The area is still free from the degradation that human activity can produce.
The proliferation of the Kingdom of the Mushroom requires organic matter and humidity throughout is life cycle. Here, in the heart of the Mediterranean climate, nourishment is plentiful, and humidity sufficient during the rainy season. However, in the summer months the drought is almost absolute in this area and in those conditions no superior fungus can produce spores; so, unlike the Atlantic part of Spain and elsewhere in neighbouring Europe, you will not find them here between the months of June and September. By contrast the autumn and winter rains will, if sufficiently heavy and frequent produce abundant and varied harvests for the rest of the year.
“The different terrains that we find in the parks and natural places of the Campo de Gibraltar, and its surroundings are very diverse and complex”, says botanist and member of the Institute of Studies of the Campo de Gibraltar, Luis Sánchez Tundidor.
The rocky peaks of hard sandstones and limestones are covered over with shallow soil called leptosols, which areless prone to supporting fungi, but there are surprising exceptions such as the Myriostoma coliforme, a fungus in the shape of a star. The more xeric or arid limestones and pastures develop accumulations of lime calcisol of the kind that can be found in La Señora de la Cabras, where puffballs (a type of fungus with no open cap or visible stalk) are plentiful and a wide range of Coprinus (a small genus of mushroom-forming fungi).
In flat areas where calcarenites are common , such as in El Pinar del Rey, within the Alcornocales natural park, with there are abundant there grow calcarenites, kastazonems, which are rich in Lactarius (Milk-caps), Xerocomus (similar to Boletus), Amanita (a genus that includes some of the most toxic mushrooms), Macrolepiota (a parasol mushroom) and many others. Walking through the high areas of Pico Aljibe or Cruz del Romero, you will come across regosols, (weak soils of unconsolidated materials) , in which can be found such fungi as Peziza, Otidea, Phallus, and Cortinarius.
On the middle slopes of Los Alcornocales Natural Park, there is a mixture different soils such as cambisols, luvisols and alisols acidic soils where the cork oaks, arbutus (Irish strawberry tree) and heather grow; these soils provide a good harvest of Amanita Caesarea (king´s egg or egg yolk), Ramaria aurea, Boletus eduli, Russula and Craterellus cinereus and many other fungal variants.
At the edge of these quartzite rocks, there is never a shortage of the clays associated with the flysch (sedimentary rock layers), and which have a clear preference for vertisols (soil with high content of clay minerals), in which we will find fungi such as Xylaria, Entoloma, Pleorutus eryngii (known as thistle mushroom) and Collybia among many others.
In soils with recent sediments and abundant water, such as in ravines and in gorges, greyzems (soils rich in calcium carbonate) are found, with a wide range of scientific classifications of mushrooms such as Hygrocybe, Tricholoma, Entoloma, Lactarius, as well as varied species like Clathus ruber, Calocera cornea, Dichomitus campestris, and Pulcherricium caeruleum.
Finally, in the hyper-humid gall oak groves, you will come can study the a type of soil called phaeozems, which supports such emblematic species as Chantarela, Amanita phalloides or Boletus aereus, among others.
Here are some recommendations from the Confederation of Spanish Forestry Organisations (CSFO) on how to be a good mushroom picker:
- Always go accompanied when visiting the mountainside; to avoid any mishaps well equipped (map, GPS, mycological guide, suitable clothing and footwear).
- Collect only those mushrooms that you are sure are edible, but be aware of the toxic varieties: all of which can be found in the forest..
- Do not pick young mushrooms; collect only mature specimens.
- Leave those specimens that you have picked cut but decide not to take away, upright on the ground to allow them to release their spores.
- Do not step on areas where the mushrooms grow; soil compaction impairs their growth
- Do not collect mushrooms in contaminated areas, such as industrial areas or road sides as they may contain have metallic content.
- When you collect mushrooms, cover the holes, protect the mycelium and help them grow back next season.
