Black trumpets (horn of plenty): where they grow now and when
Black, invisible in the leaf litter and delicious. Those who can see it would not swap it for anything.
The black trumpet (Craterellus cornucopioides) comes out from September to December, at its best in October, in woods of beech, pedunculate oak, sessile oak, sweet chestnut, holm oak, downy oak and Portuguese oak, mostly in the middle mountains. It is also known as horn of plenty, trumpet of the dead.
See where it is ready this week
Right now, the best day forecast for black trumpets is 19 September.
The black trumpet hides in damp beech and oak woods, among the fallen leaves, and is as hard to see as it is easy to recognise. It comes up in the middle of autumn, when the forest has already had several rains and the ground is well soaked.
It needs more water than almost any other mushroom: one rain is not enough, it needs a whole autumn. That is why it lights up late on the map, and only in the areas where the moisture has really sunk in.
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 beech, pedunculate oak, sessile oak, sweet chestnut, holm oak, downy oak and Portuguese oak, mostly in the middle mountains, always on acid soils.
Black trumpets by province (in Spanish)
- Black trumpets in Barcelona · 211 zones with habitat
- Black trumpets in Burgos · 277 zones with habitat
- Black trumpets in Girona · 200 zones with habitat
- Black trumpets in Huesca · 229 zones with habitat
- Black trumpets in La Rioja · 112 zones with habitat
- Black trumpets in León · 366 zones with habitat
- Black trumpets in Lleida · 182 zones with habitat
- Black trumpets in Lugo · 431 zones with habitat
- Black trumpets in Navarra · 242 zones with habitat
- Black trumpets in Ourense · 220 zones with habitat
- Black trumpets in Segovia · 69 zones with habitat
- Black trumpets in Soria · 105 zones with habitat
- Black trumpets in Teruel · 205 zones with habitat
How the forest is doing this week
- Asleep 2849 zones
Forecast of 11 September, updated every day.
Mushrooms that share its woods
- Bronze bolete: The bolete of the holm oak woods: dark, stout and firm-fleshed. The most prized of its family.
- Caesar's mushroom: The queen. Orange as a golden egg, scarce and ever more sought after.
- Chanterelle: Yellow, fragrant and loyal: once it finds its corner, it comes back every year.
- March mushroom: The one that comes up under the retreating snow. Cold, hidden and among the most sought after of the year.