An evaluation of regional distribution patterns of macrofungi should be based on an even sampling of the data. A test at randomly selected grid points of the Swiss forest inventory indicates yield (species richness) for a given time investment which can be compared to the database of macrofungi based on incidentally collected data. Two regions of Switzerland (on 40 stripes of 200m² each) displayed within two months a high fungal diversity of 253 (Arlesheim) and 351 (Payerne), respectively, macromycete species. 18% (region of Arlesheim) and 12.5% (region of Payerne), respectively of all species can be classified as widely distributed, among these were several edible fungi. The total number of species observed per stripe and grid point remained surprisingly similar, however, the various stripes shared only a few species. Two stripes of 200m² had on the average only 18% species in common, two grid points with a total area of 800m² each shared 11% species. The mycoflora within the stripes at a given locality displayed a higher similarity on species level than between different localities of a given region indicating a reaction of the mycoflora to small local habitat differences. The random sampling method was compared with the existing database for macrofungi of Switzerland based on entries from various mycologists. The random sampling method resulted in only 22 and 19% of species already reported for this region, when compared on species level.