Mark Moynier, DDS, is a Thornton, Colorado general dentist who guides BrightNow! Dental and offers a coordinated suite of care that includes the services of a periodontist and orthodontist. Dr. Mark Moynier has a passion for organic gardening and also enjoys foraging for mushrooms in the area where he lives.
Encompassing myriad elevations, the Rocky Mountains offer abundant mushroom varieties in their lower elevations, with fungi concentrated in riparian areas surrounding streams and bogs. Among the sought after species is the Morchella esculentoides, or common morel, which fruits in spring beneath cottonwood trees. Other edible varieties include the red pine mushroom which is part of the milk cap genus, and the diminutive Laccaria laccata, which often appears in large groups.
One unique fungi that makes an appearance in late fall is the Tricholoma populinum, or sand mushroom, which appears in sandy, dried up riverbeds in the vicinity of cottonwoods. One way to find this edible treat is to look for the paw marks of foraging deer that have hunted for the mushroom under fallen leaves.
Higher up in montane forests from 5500 to 9000 feet, mushroom hunters seek out premium varieties such as the Tricholoma magnivelare, or white matsutake, which is found amidst fallen lodgepole pine needles. Another favorite at this elevation range is the Boletus barrowsii, or white king bolete, which is often found near ponderosa pine and white oak.
