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Lost Pines / Bastrop Foraging Conditions — ForageIQ

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Lost Pines / Bastrop

300–700 ft · TX🚗 Directions

A

The Lost Pines — a loblolly pine island stranded ~100 miles west of the main East Texas Pineywoods, centered on Bastrop and Buescher State Parks near Austin. Pine-oak sandhills over the Carrizo aquifer hold chanterelles and boletes through summer, with oysters and chicken-of-the-woods on hardwood drainages, and the forest is recovering well from the 2011 wildfire. Dung-loving Psilocybe cubensis and Panaeolus species fruit in the adjacent cattle country.

Updated Aug 1, 4:25 AM MT

AI Conditions Report

AI-generated · verify in field

**Lost Pines is firing—Tier A across the board.** You're looking at sustained soil temps in the optimal range and a week-plus of consistent subsurface moisture that's checked every viable box simultaneously. The 87°F baseline with 0.15 VWC today and a 7-day average of 0.18 means fruiting conditions are locked in across your full species roster—from the culinary heavyweights (Chicken, Chanterelles, Oysters) to the medicinal infrastructure (Turkey Tail, Artist's Conk) to the woody decomposers (Polypores, Conks). This is a Goldilocks moment. The only real constraint is desiccation risk: your precip last 14 days is tissue-thin at 0.16", so surface-level moisture evaporates fast once morning dew burns off. That means afternoon flushes will be lean; early morning harvests during cooler hours will yield the densest fruit bodies. Watch the next 48–72 hours for any pre-storm moisture spike in the forecast—even 0.3" would extend your window considerably and push secondary flushes. Right now you're in a genuine-article golden window, but it's a sprinter's race, not a marathon. **Hot tip:** Hit the pines before 10 AM for Frost's Bolete and any ground-fruiting species; afternoon scouts should focus on woody substrates (logs, stumps) where Chicken and Oysters resist drying.

Generated by Claude (Anthropic) from the structured weather, soil, and phenology data on this page. The LLM can misread edge cases — treat this as a starting hypothesis, not a guarantee. Always verify conditions on the ground before committing to a long drive.

Foraging Potential75/100

✅Moisture

✅Soil Temp

✅No Freeze

✅No Drought

Precip 7d

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Viable Species

Confidence × Primordia state

HIGHPrimed

Frost's Bolete

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Oyster Mushroom

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Chanterelle

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Chicken of the Woods

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Wine Cap

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Giant Puffball

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Turkey Tail

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Witch's Butter

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Aspen Bolete

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Indigo Milk Cap

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Crown-Tipped Coral

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Jelly Ear

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Dead Man's Fingers

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Parasol Mushroom

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Shaggy Parasol

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Fairy Ring Champignon

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Artist's Conk

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Birch Polypore

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Tinder Fungus

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Bird's Nest Fungus

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Cinnabar Chanterelle

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Berkeley's Polypore

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Red-Capped Scaber Stalk

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Old Man of the Woods

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Horse Mushroom

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Mica Cap

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Two-Colored Bolete

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Smooth Chanterelle

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Caesar's Amanita

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Weeping Milk Cap

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Green-Gill Lepiota

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Bitter Bolete

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Green Cracked Russula

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Peppery Milk Cap

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Coker's Amanita

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Fool's Mushroom

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Alcohol Inky

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Fairy Inkcap

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Yellow-Stainer

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Red-Belted Conk

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Thin-Walled Maze Polypore

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Mossy Maze Polypore

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

False Turkey Tail

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Northern Tooth

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Snow Fungus

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Wood Ear

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Green Elfcup

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Ivory Funnel

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Aspen Oyster

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Wolf's Milk Slime

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Dog Vomit Slime Mold

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Fluted Bird's Nest

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

King Alfred's Cakes

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Dung Bird's Nest

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Oak Mazegill

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Golden Teacher

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Blue Meanies

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Ravenel's Stinkhorn

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Dune Stinkhorn

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Elegant Stinkhorn

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

HIGHPrimed

Banded Mottlegill

All conditions met (soil 87°F, sustained 7/7 days above threshold, today 0.15 VWC, 7d avg 0.18)

Primordia readiness: Cold = mycelium dormant. Activating = soil warming, primordia building. Primed = 5+ sustained warm days at species threshold; fruiting imminent if moisture cooperates. Based on Schmidt 1983 / Mihail 2007.