For our last multi-day field survey this year, we planned a trip to the Kőszeg Mountains. We are very fond of this habitat, yet we visit it only occasionally. Last year, we were delighted that the 25th National Fungal Meeting was held in Velem, which gave us the opportunity to explore strictly protected areas under the guidance of conservation rangers. On the final day, we crossed over to the Austrian side of the mountains and, to our great surprise, we encountered significantly more rare species there than on the Hungarian side—including some that are protected in Hungary.

We didn’t expect it to turn out this way, but history—at least in this regard—repeated itself. Unfortunately, only a few species appeared again this year around Kőszeg and Velem. Since we were already in the area, we decided to include another Austrian day in our trip. We took long walks around Rechnitz and Lockenhaus, and while it wasn’t exactly a mycological paradise there either, we still found species we had never encountered before but had long hoped to see.

We discovered Suillus cavipes f. aureus with beautiful golden fruiting bodies. Just a few steps further, we stumbled upon large fruiting bodies of Albatrellus subrubescens.

Perhaps our most cherished experience comes from a clearing, meadow, and hayfield between pine forests. We found several waxcap fungi here, and it was our first encounter with Hygrocybe miniata. From the same spot, we also collected a Phaeocollybia species, deeply „rooted” in moss, which we initially thought to be Phaeocollybia christinae, but microscopy proved otherwise. Based on spore size and appearance, we currently suspect it to be Phaeocollybia jennyae, but Bálint has taken the sample, so we will later confirm the identification.