Thanks to Colorado’s new and growing cohort of healing centers providing psychedelic-assisted therapeutic experiences, magic mushrooms continue to dominate the news cycle. But interest in edible, culinary fungi has also mushroomed.

According to Colorado Mycological Society president Alexis Murray, the club’s ranks swelled from 250 members to 2,000 during the pandemic. Meanwhile, fungi appear on the menus of most of Colorado’s top restaurants, from wild mushrooms in Alma Fonda Fina ’s rajas con crema to foraged porcini in Frasca ’s summer venison dish.

In 2024, Colorado even became the first state in the nation to officially designate a state mushroom, agaricus Julius, a native, edible woodland species, marking a major milestone in fungal recognition and conservation efforts. “It’

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