Our mushrooms

Our department is a land of mushrooms... Corrèze ceps, truffles, chanterelles, shiitake - you're bound to find what you're looking for if you're patient and attentive! As you can imagine, we can't tell you where to find mushrooms - these places are secret and you'll have to discover them by wandering through our woods. We can, however, remind you of certain forestry code regulations.

Forest code regulations :

1. Authorisation from the owner of the wood is required (95% of the forest is private in Corrèze): "The natural or industrial fruits of the land belong to the owner by right of accession" according to the law. The owner does not need to put up a "picking prohibited" sign to be within his or her rights.
2. "Picking mushrooms on private property without authorisation is punishable by a 4th class fine. In excess of ten litres for mushrooms other than truffles, it is considered theft and punishable by three years' imprisonment and a €45,000 fine".
3. Collecting is tolerated but limited in public forests: reserved for local residents in communal woods, and possible in state-owned forests provided it is for family consumption (not exceeding five litres). Excessive harvesting can result in severe penalties: it is an offence punishable by a fine of €135 between 5 and 10 litres; and three years' imprisonment and a fine of €45,000 above 10 litres. This tolerance does not apply to truffles.

Now that you know the rules to follow when picking mushrooms, we can guide you through some of the varieties found in Corrèze, how to recognise mushrooms and whether or not they are edible...