Anatolian matsutake

It belongs to the same group but is a separate species. Tricholoma anatolicum was described by Intini, Doğan and Riva (2003) as a new member of the matsutake group. Japanese matsutake (T. matsutake) has not been recorded in Turkey (Allı & Şen 2016); in the trade, the cedar mushroom is also called matsutake.

Locally it is called sedir mantarı (cedar mushroom) and katran mantarı (tar mushroom) (Doğan & Akata 2011). The epithet anatolicum refers to Anatolia.

In mature Lebanon cedar forests of the Taurus Mountains, at about 1,400–1,700 m. Feke in Adana province is the best-known area; it has also been recorded in Antalya, Karaman, Kahramanmaraş, Konya, Muğla and Osmaniye.

No, it is not cultivated. Because it lives in partnership with living cedar roots, it is only wild-picked, and it does not even appear in young cedar stands.

It is considered the most valuable mushroom around Feke and is exported to East Asia, mainly Japan, with more than 100 tonnes a year going there. Closed, young caps are the most sought after.

Sources note there have been no specific picking rules and that over-harvesting threatens the species. The forestry directorate's 2022–2026 action plan targets picker training and sustainable use; check with the local forest office before picking.

We wipe the cedar mushroom clean, slice it and cook it simply so its spicy pine scent stays: grilled with a little salt, in clear soups, or steamed with rice as in Japanese matsutake gohan.

Other white Tricholoma species and some Amanitas can look similar. The cedar mushroom has a strong spicy-pine smell, a ring-like band on the stem and firm white flesh; we check the base for a sack, which would point to an Amanita.

Yes, anatolian matsutake is an edible species. Eat a wild one only after an expert has identified it with certainty: it can be confused with destroying angel (Amanita virosa), death cap (Amanita phalloides) and pear-scented fibrecap (Inocybe pyriodora). Any large white mushroom with a ring could be a deadly Amanita. Never pick the Anatolian matsutake on colour or smell alone: dig out the stem base to check for a sac (volva), and show it to an expert if in doubt. When picking, cover the soil and needle litter again and leave very young mushrooms in place: sources note that unregulated over-harvesting threatens the species (Doğan & Akata 2011; Allı & Şen 2016).

In our calendar, anatolian matsutake season runs Sep–Nov. Doğan and Akata (2011) report fruiting in October and November; samples collected at Feke in 2015 date from September (Taşkın et al. 2018). Most GBIF records from Turkey are from November. The Feke study describes a window of about three months in the wet, humid autumn between summer drought and winter cold; a dry autumn means a poor crop.

The Anatolian matsutake lives in partnership with the roots of Lebanon cedar (Cedrus libani). According to Doğan and Akata (2011), it grows in the Taurus Mountains at roughly 1,400–1,700 m, on poor, well-drained sandy soils in cedar forests more than 25 years old. The Feke study (Duran et al. 2011) found sandy clay loam soils, very slightly acidic, low in lime and rich in organic matter, with mycelium mostly 10–30 cm deep. It is absent from young cedar stands and is thought to appear once the trees reach seed-bearing age at 25–30 years; crops are larger in heavy seed years.

The Anatolian matsutake is known only from Turkey. Doğan and Akata (2011) recorded it along the Taurus Mountains in Adana, Antalya, Karaman, Kahramanmaraş, Konya, Muğla and Osmaniye. The best-known picking area is the Feke district of Adana, where it is considered the most valuable mushroom. The forestry directorate's 2022–2026 cedar mushroom action plan covers Adana, Antalya, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Konya, Mersin and Muğla, and more than 100 tonnes a year are shipped to Japan.

Anatolian matsutake can be confused with destroying angel (Amanita virosa, deadly), death cap (Amanita phalloides, deadly), pear-scented fibrecap (Inocybe pyriodora, poisonous) and grey knight (Tricholoma terreum, inedible). Look-alikes are compared on this page.

In Turkish, anatolian matsutake (Tricholoma anatolicum) is called Sedir mantarı; other local names include katran mantarı.