Mexico Mushroom Field Guide: Identifying The Mushrooms of Oaxaca's Cloud Forests

Mexico is ranked fourth in biodiversity worldwide and the country is considered a mega-diversity hotspot.

The southern Pacific states of Oaxaca and Chiapas have the highest biodiversity and the best mushroom culture for foraging.

Oaxaca is renowned for magic mushrooms and many people travel here to experience the local mushroom lore and psychedelic mushroom experiences.

The best places for mushroom hunting is in the clouds forests at the higher elevations of the Sierra Norte de Oaxaca, especially around the towns of Ixtlán de Juárez and Huautla de Jiménez.

There are also equally good places for mushroom hunting in the
Sierra Madre del Sur closer to the Oaxacan coastal resort towns of Huatulco and Puerto Escondido.

San José del Pacífico is an excellent town high in the cloud forests around 2500 m above sea level. It is one of my favourite places in Mexico and it is an incredible place for mushroom hunting in the cloud forests.

It is about a 3.5 hour drive from the resorts on an extremely windy roads from Puerto Escondido and Huatulco, as well as the the city of Oaxaca.

I recommend finding a local guide, as the local indigenous cultures such as the Zapoteca are very experienced in mushroom hunting.

The rainy season is from June to November and naturally that's the best time for mushroom hunting.

This Oaxaca Mushroom Identification guide covers most of the common wild mushrooms you will find in the cloud forests of Mexico's state of Oaxaca.

For your reference: In Spanish, mushrooms are called hongos, fungi is generally called el hongo and mycelium is called micelión.

Questions? Feel free to contact me through my iNaturalist profile or at kyle@animist.eco.

You can watch my full medicinal mushrooms training at www.animist.eco/training less ↑