The most valuable wild mushroom in Japan, with a spicy cinnamon-pine aroma. Beware its Amanita mimic.
Side by side
Amanita smithiana
Tricholoma matsutake
In this game
Poisonous
Edible
Habitat
Conifer woodland in the Pacific Northwest, on the same ground as matsutake.
Under pine on poor sandy soil, half-buried in needle litter.
Season
Autumn.
Autumn.
Spore print
White.
White.
This comparison cannot make a mushroom safe to eat. It sets out the few characteristics this game records, in general terms, for two species that vary by region, age and growing conditions. Real specimens overlap in ways no table and no photograph can separate, and the deadly one here is deadly in a single meal. Ask a qualified local expert, every time.