'Shrooming in Central Oregon

Mushrooms - fungi to the enthusiast - are all around us. Aficionados of all ages delight in hunting the sometimes otherworldly looking organisms, many of which are edible for humans (some are deadly). A few are prized delicacies served in the world's finest eateries.

A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. Toadstools are generally poisonous to humans.

In Central Oregon, mushrooms are a big business. Dozens of commercial hunters gather in the Deschutes National Forest under permits. For a fe...