Fores;;;ology

Management

ELSEVIER

Forest Ecology and Management 72 ( 1995) 13-20

Natural production of wild edible mushrooms in the southwestern

rural territory of Mexico City, Mexico
Marisela C. Zamora-Martinez*, Cecilia Nieto de Pascual-Pola
Centro National de Investigacidn Disciplinaria en Conservacidn y Mejoramiento de Ecosistemas Forestales, Institute National
de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias, Ave. Progreso No. 5, Coyoachn, 041 IO Mkxico, D. F., Mkxico

Accepted14July 1994

Abstract
Wild edible mushroomsare important as dietary products in the rural communities of Mexico, and provide
additional income during the rainy season.The present study wascarried out during the summersof 1990and
1991 in two Christmastree stand plots near the town of Topilejo, in Distrito Federal, Mexico, to determine the
natural production of wild edible mushrooms.The relationshipsbetweenproduction, dasometricand soil characteristics were established;the best emergencecame under open canopy.
Keywords: Mushrooms;
Wild ediblemushrooms;
Fungi;Naturalproduction

1. Introduction

Non-woody forest resources have been used

since the pre-Hispanic period, one of the most
appreciated being fungi as they are complementary of rural diets of people who live near or in
forests. They also provide additional income
during the production period. These natural
products fulfil ornamental, medical, ceremonial,
insecticide, handicraft and fuel purposes.
In several states of the central part of Mexico
(Puebla, Hidalgo, Estado de Mexico and Distrito Federal), interest is focused on these products due to their real and potential value. For example, in a small rural area near Mexico City,
Reygadas ( 1991) identified 52 species,with 97
popular names; of these, Russula brevipes
(trompa) and Tricholoma magnivelare (hong0
* Corresponding
author.

blanco de ocote) are very appreciated in national and international markets.

There are a few quantitative studies about the
productivity of fiuctiferous bodies in situ and
their relationships with their tree stands. Sanchez ( 1982) calculated the production of R.
brwipes in a Pinus spp. plantation; Vi&u-real and
Guzmdn ( 1985, 1986a,b) made a serial assessment in the forests of Cofre de Perote, Veracruz,
Mexico. Bandala et al. ( 1991) continued their
experiments in mixed evergreen cloudy forests.
Moreno ( 1990) examined production of fungi in
two vegetation conditions in the Estado de Mexico. Alvarado et al. ( 1992) did the same in
Puebla.
The present study had the following objectives: ( 1) to make a quantitative assessmentof
the natural productivity of wild edible mushrooms in a 2 year period; (2) to determine the
stational distribution of wild edible mushrooms;

0378-l127/95/$09.500 1995ElsevierScience B.V. All rights reserved

SSDIO378-1127(94)03450-8

I4

M.C. Zamora-Martinez,

C. Nieto de Pascual-Poia / Forest Ecology and Managernertt

(3 ) to identify the environmental factors that affect wild edible mushroom production.
2. Study area

Mexico City belongs to Distrito Federal, and

is located in the Central part of Mexico. The
study area lies in Sierra de1Ajusco, which is the
mountain chain that surrounds Distrito Federal
at the Southwest (Fig. 1). It is the orographic
limit south of the Valley of Mexico Basin. To the
South, it neighbors Morelos State,to the East and
West, Estado de Mexico State, and to the North-

ARROYO

EL ZORRILLO

7.T(199.5) 13-20

east, Mexico City (Nieto de Pascual, 1987).

The sampling lots are in the Arroyo El Zorrillo
Basin in a former Christmas tree plantation of
Abies religiosa, Pinus maximartinezii and Pinus
cembroides.
The climate is subhumid, mild-cold with average temperature between 10 and 12C, and
1250 mm annual precipitation, at 3700 m.
Vegetation consists of Pinus montezumae, Pinus patula, Pinus ayacahyuite and Pinus pseudostrobus forests as well as mixed forests of Abies
rehgiosa, Quercus spp., Alnus jorullensis spp. jorullensis and grasslands (Muhlenbergia spp.) to
a smaller extent.

BASIN

DISTRITO FEDERAL

Pine
Plr

forest
foreat

Broedfeclf
Grassland

Of

Fig. 1. Location of the Arroyo

El Zorrillo Basin within the Distrito Federal.

fore

Id

M. C. Zamora-Martinez,

C. Nieto de Pascual-Pola /Forest Ecology and Management

3. Methods

4. Results

Basidiomycete production assessmentwas estimated in two experimental sampling plots

(20 x 20 m2) where Christmas trees 1.12 m high
were planted; they belong to a P. montezumae
stand, where trees are 22 m on average, a fact that
suggestsa former forest land use.
Sampling was performed at one session per
week, from May to October during the rainy season until the last fructiferous bodies emerge,
through dasometric measuring (total height,
canopy cover, and dbh at 1.30 m high), re-collection of edible fungal speciesand of soil ( 1 kg
O-30 cm deep).
The collected fungi were determined macrostopically and microscopically, through a dichotomic taxonomy key (Singer, 1962; Moser, 1978;
Guzman, 1979; Cifuentes et al., 1991) and with
the support of the herbarium samples from the
Herbario de la Escuela National de Ciencias
Biol6gicas de1 Instituto Politecnico National
(Biological Sciences National School Herbarium at the Politechnological National Institute)
and the Herbario de la Facultad de Ciencias de
la Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico
(Science School Herbarium at the National Autonomous University of Mexico). Fungal species biomass was estimated through the fresh
weight of the fiuctiferous bodies with the aid of
a granatarious balance. The identified fungi were
given to the Herbario National Forestal (National Forest Herbarium) aspart of the scientific
collection.
The total production per hectare of each identified fungal specieswas calculated from the total amount and the weight from the fructiferous
bodies from the 800 m* sample. Also, the economic value of the fiuctiferous bodies emerging,
through re-collection of the edible fungal species,
of this production was estimated in regard to average price in the national market present at the
time when the study was conducted.
Mushroom biomass was related with dasometric measurements, edaphic characteristics (humidity content, pH and organic matter), with
annual average temperature and total
precipitation.

4.1. Basidiocarp

72 (199.5) 13-20

15

diversity

Twenty-nine different species were collected

and identified in the two sampling plots. They
belong to 13 families and 20 genus (Table 1);
from these, Russula aff. alutaceae was the only
species collected in one plot; 72% of the identitied taxa have terrestrial habits, 24% humicole
habits and 3% have lignicole habits. Thus, most
of the fungi found must have an important role
in the nutrient cycle due to their decomposing
properties.
The total number of the collected species are
equivalent to 40% of all the wild edible species
reported for the study area (Guispert et al., 1984;
Reygadas, 1991) .
According to Villarreal and Guzman ( 1985,
1986a,b), phenology of the observed speciescorresponds to the following categories: 21%to early
short (June-July), 27.6% to early long (JulyOctober), 13.8% to the short half-season (JulySeptember), 27.6% to the late short (September-October ) , 10% to the late long (August-October ). Around 52% of the taxa can be collected
during most of the rainy season (Table 2 ) .
4.2. Basidiocarp

production

During the 1990 season Lactarius deliciosus

was the most abundant specieswith total weight
of 25.98 kg ha-, followed by R. brevipes with
19.83 kg ha- . The latter has vigorous and large
fleshy individuals ( 12- 15cm in diameter), while
the former is smaller and less fleshy, a fact that
implies higher carpophore production to yield
high biomass values.
Boletus aestivalis recorded the highest biomass per collection ( 1.2 kg), in spite of being
large and of fleshy consistency.
The production for the 1991 season was perceptibly lower than in 1990, a fact that might result from annual variations in temperature and
rainfall. Thirteen new species were collected
during this period too, within which R. aff. alutaceae, Amanita
rubescens and Amanita aff.
gemmata are outstanding in relation to biomass

16

M.C. Zamora-Martinez,

C. Nieto de Pascual-Pola /Forest Ecology and Management

72 (1995) 13-20

Table 1
Edible wild fungi species collected from two Christmas tree stands
Species
Agaricales
Amanitaceae
Amanita caesarea (Stop. ex Fr. ) Pets. ex
Schw. Grev.
Amanita fulva (Schaeff. ) ex Pers.
Amanita aff. gemmata (Fr. ) Gill.
Amanita rubescens (Pets. ex Fr. ) S.F. Gray
Amanita vaginata (Bull. ex Fr. ) Vittadini
Bolbitiaceae
Agrocybe verbacti (Fr. ) Romagnesi (Sensu
Lange, Kuhn & Romagnesi)a
Boletaceae
Bole&s aestivalis Paulet ex Fr.
Suillus brevipes (Peck) 0. Kuntze
Coprinaceae
Psathyrella spadicea (Schaeff. ex Fr. ) Sing.
Cortinariaceae
Hebeloma fastibile (Pers. ex Fr. ) Kumm.
Russulaceae
Lactarius deliciosus ( L. ex Fr. ) Gray
Lactarius scrobiculatus (Stop. ex Fr. ) Fr.
Russuia aff. alutacea (Pers. ex Fr. ) Fr.
Russula brevipes Peck
Russula aff. queletii Fr.
Tricholomataceae
Clitocybe sp.
Collybia cot&ens (Pers. ex Fr.) Kumm.
Hohenbuhefia petaloides (Bull. ex Fr. ) Schulze?
Laccaria amethystina (Bolt. ex Hook.) Murr.
Laccaria laccata (Stop. ex Fr. ) B. & Br.
Lyophyllum decastes (Fr. ) Sing.
Tricholoma ustaloides Romagn.
Aphyllophorales
Clavariaceae
Ciavuiina rugosa (Fr. ) Schroet.
Ramariajlava (Fr. ) Q&let
Lycoperdaceae
Lycoperdon perlatum Pers.
Pezizales
Helvellaceae
Helvella crispa Stop. ex Fr.
Helvella elastica Fr.
Helvella lacunosa Afz. ex Fr.
Macropodia sp.

Terricole

Humicole

Lignicole

X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

X
x

X
X
X

X
X
X

X
X
X
X

Not ever recorded as mycorrhizal.

values (Table 3 ); in general terms, the number

of carpophores was low.
The estimated average production for the 2

years was 64.3 kg ha-, which means that I3 kg

ha- of edible wild mushrooms per month can
be collected. This is a good utility that might

M.C. Zamora-Martinez,

C. Nieto de Pascual-Pola /Forest Ecology and Management

72 (1995) 13-20

17

Table 2
Phenology of the edible wild mushrooms in two Christmas tree stands
Species
Agrocybe verbacti
Amanita caesarea
Amanita fulva
Amanita aff. gemmata
Amanita rubescens
Amanita vaginata
Boletus aestivalis
Clavulina rugosa
Clitocybe sp.
Collybia confluens
Hebeloma fastibile
Helvella crispa
Helvella elastica
Helvella lacunosa
Hohenbuhelia petaloides
Laccaria amethystina
Laccaria laccata
Lactarius deliciosus
Lactarius scrobiculatus
Lycoperdon perlatum
Lyophyllum decastes
Macropodia sp.
Psathyrella spadicea
Ramaria Java
Russula aff. alutacea
Russula brevipes
Russula aff. queletii
Suillus brevipes
Tricholoma ustaloides

June

July

August

X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X

September

October

X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X

X
X
X

X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X

X
X

X
X
X
X

X
X

X
X
X

X
X

X
X

come from the great species variety (Table I )

and their high commercial value. For example,
Morchella elata and Lyophyllum decastes reach
US$l 1 and US$5 per kilogram, respectively;
these prices give an estimated income per collector during the season in the study area of
US$ 1000 (Reygadas, 1991) .
Even if these data might suggesta stimulating
situation, a great effort must be made to obtain
reasonable profit. Thus, a collector covers over
11.3 ha during an 8- 12 h period to pick around
6 kg day-.
As in every productive process,there is a long
chain of intermediaries from collection to marketing of fungi, a condition that over-prices the
product. However, there are a good number of
edible wild mushroom speciesthat are unknown
in the local popular cuisine, such as Hohenbuhe-

X
X
X
X
X
X

lia petaloides, Agrocybe verbacti and Laccaria

amethystina. This fact is favorable for preserv-

ing the diversity of this natural resource as it is

thus not thoroughly exploited.
Comparison of the estimated edible wild
mushroom production per hectare from the
studied area with the results of Villarreal and
Guzman (1985, 1986a,b) and of Bandala et al.
( 1991) who worked in a pine-fir forest at the
Cofre de Perote in the Mexican state of Veracruz, gave apparently, higher values, which varied from 453 (1983 season) to 135 kg ha-
( 1990 season) with a top production of 747 kg
ha- ( 1984 season). The observed differences
might come from the well-preserved vegetation
in the case of Veracruz, while the study area in
Distrito Federal is subject to human activity,
such as sheep grazing, continuous cropland

18

M. C. Zamora-Martinez,

C. Nieto de Pascual-Pola / Fores& Ecology and Management

Table 3
Annual yield of edible wild mushrooms from the two Christmas tree stands

Species

1990
equivalent
values
in kg ha-

1991
equivalent
values
in kg ha-

Lactarius deliciosus
Russula brevipes
Boletus aestivalis
Lyophyllum decastes
Hebeloma fastibile
Helvella lacunosa
RussuIa aff. queletti
Collybia co&ens
Amanita caesarea
Suillus brevipes
Psathyrella spadicea
Helvella crispa
Helvella elastica
Amanita vaginata
Tricholoma ustaloides
Amanita jiilva
Lycoperdon perlatum
Clitocybe sp.
Agrocybe verbacti
Lactarius scrobiculatus
Laccaria amethystina
Amanita a& gemmata
Amanita rubescens
Clavulina rugosa
Macropodia sp.
Hohenbuhelia petaloides
RamariaJIava
Laccaria laccata
Russula aff. alutacea

26
19.8
16.6
4.8
2.5
1.6
1
0.1
0.7
0.6
0.6
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
30.3
9.3
0.3
0.6
0.1
0.5
0
0
0.9
0.5
7
0.3
I
0.3
0.5
0.1
0
0.3
0.2
0.2
0.3
2.1
0.8
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.3
1.2

Total

16.3

52.4

opening for forage oats, soil extraction and wild

edible mushrooms collection itself. Moreno
( 1990) reported 35.7 kg ha- in a pine forest at
Santa Catarina de1 Monte in the Mexican state
of Estado de Mexico during one rainy season;in
this case,in addition to the climatic differences
between these two regions (Santa Catarina and
Sierra de1Ajusco) , their dasometric components
were important too.
When reviewing production of fungi in regard
to rainfall and monthly average temperature from
the two sampled plots (Fig. 2)) it is evident that
biomass increases rapidly until it reaches its top

72 (1995) 13-20

value in July (58.49 kg ha- ), after which it decreases rapidly to a low of 11.94 kg ha- in
October.
In general terms, the increase in the number of
fructiferous bodies occurs in most rainy months,
in which the relative humidity rises with a resulting up-swing of the soil organic matter decomposition rates, a fact that stimulates the macromycete production as featuring elements of this
process.
Maximum fungal production coincides with a
slight decrement in rainfall ( 14.38 mm) during
the heaviest rainy months (Fig. 2); however, humidity conditions remain favorable for the development of the fructiferous bodies, since they
generally emerge when rainfall precipitation is
over 100 mm (Moreno, 1990).
The soil in both plots is classified as andosol
of volcanic origin, dark, varying texture from
loam to sandy-loam, bulk density 0.69, acid (pH
5.7), organic matter 7.05%, and total nitrogen
0.37%. These data resulted from two soil samples collected at O-30 cm deep.
Sandy-loam texture, low density, high organic
matter percentage and acid pH are properties that
stimulate the development of fungi and their decomposing function over other microorganisms,
such as bacteria and actinomycetes (Gaucher,
1971; Pritchett, 1986).
In regard to the dasometric values of the adult
trees (P. montezumae) present in the sampling
plots, the data show average cover of 6.12 m2,
average total height 22.9 m and average dbh
43.13 cm. From a global viewpoint, these fungi
actually developed under an open canopy, because the trees are young and lower than 2 m
(average height, 1.12 m ), since they belong to a
2 year plantation. This, too, might explain the
estimated great production of fructiferous bodies in the study area (64.3 kg ha- ) , compared
with that obtained in different forests from the
central part of Mexico (Moreno, 1990)) since in
the successional process in the symbiotic relationship between mycelium and root, the young
trees have a more intense mycorrhizal activity of
the roots of adult trees, which stimulates the outcome of greater fructification.
Finally, it is interesting to point out that the

MC. Zamora-Martinez,
Temn.

C. Nieto de Pascual-Pola /Forest Ecology and Management

72 (199-F) 13-20

19

lC

250

MONTHS
-

PRECIPITATION

PRODUCTION

STAND

-+-

TEMPERATURE

PRODUCTION

STAND

Fig. 2. Total fungal production in relation to average monthly temperature and rainfall precipitation

edible mushroom production of 64.3 kg ha- is

between the 50 and 350 kg ha- estimated interval by Wasterlund and Ingeliig ( 1981) asthe potentially attainable production in a good year for
the emergence of fructiferous bodies.

( 1990- 199 1).

Marcio A.R. Nahuz and David Zavala Zavala,

who kindly reviewed this paper before its publication and made valuable suggestions.
References

4.3. Conclusions

The wild edible mushroom diversity in Topilejo, Distrito Federal, Mexico, is high, since 29
different taxa were identified in 800 m2.
The collection of wild edible mushrooms reports complementary profits to the rural families
during the rainy season, and acts as an alternative for global forest exploitation.
The collection of wild edible mushrooms must
be made carefully under forest management programs based upon their ecologic conditions, since
the great majority of these species are
mycorrhizal.
Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their gratitude to

the Instituto National de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias for its support for this study
(catalog number 1.27). Also, thanks are due to

Alvarado, L.G., Manzola-Cruz, J.M. and Zamora-Martinez,

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