Gurumelos (Amanita ponderosa): where they grow now and when

The mushroom of the south-western spring. It breaks out of the ground like a white stone and smells of wet earth.

Gurumelos peeping out of sandy soil under cork oaks, their white caps stained pinkish and covered in earth
Gurumelos breaking through sandy soil among rockroses and cork oaks in spring: they come up half buried, with a dirty white cap and pink stains.

The gurumelo (Amanita ponderosa) comes out from February to April, at its best in March, in woods of holm oak, cork oak and gum rockrose, mostly on low ground.

See where it is ready this week

No area is ready for gurumelos this week: the forest is still asleep.

The gurumelo is the best-loved mushroom of Huelva, Badajoz, Seville and the Alentejo. It lives in rockrose scrub, holm oak and cork oak woods on acid soil and appears in late winter and spring, half buried, its volva stained with earth.

It needs plenty of rain in February and March on soil that warms up quickly. It is a mushroom of local festivals and fairs, and picking it is regulated in several areas: check before you go out.

What it needs to come out

First, a generous rain, the kind that soaks down to the roots. Then patience: it usually appears after two or three weeks, as long as the soil holds on to that moisture and stays mild. If a frost, too much water or a drying wind comes in between, the flush is aborted and never shows.

Where to look

It comes out in woods of holm oak, cork oak and gum rockrose, mostly on low ground, always on acid soils.

Gurumelos by province (in Spanish)

How the forest is doing this week

Forecast of 11 September, updated every day.

Mushrooms that share its woods

How we know when the forest wakes up (in Spanish).