MushroomObserver.org — A Place to Share What We Discover

However, she also knew that she didn’t know a lot of the species we were finding, so we got some books and joined the Mycological Society of San Francisco. At the time I assumed that all these mushrooms we were finding had names and it was just a matter of getting the right books or finding the right person to figure it all out.

Ever since then I have continued to collect and study mushrooms. Ultimately, I broke mom’s rule about the Amanitas, but only after David Arora taught me to recognize Amanita velosa and Amanita calyptrata. Along the way I have also learned that there is a huge amount of basic research that still needs to be done. By some estimates less that 5% of the world’s species of fungi are known to science. While things are slightly better for the large fleshy fungi known as mushrooms, it is still a common experience to come across a mushroom that cannot be easily identified in the available books or which doesn’t really fit the definition of any recognized species.

For example, one of those familiar and tasty Amanitas David taught me still needs more scientific work. In particular, it is not completely clear whether the proper scientific name is Amanita calyptrata, Amanita calyptroderma or Amanita lanei. Personally, and I believe David agrees with this, I now call them Amanita calyptroderma. However, there’s still that pretty light-yellow form that shows up in the spring that may or may not be the same species.

One of the other things I’ve learned is that there are far too few professional mycologists in the world. However, there are a lot of us amateurs and if we could find a way to channel some of our enthusiasm, I believe it is possible for us to make a meaningful contribution to these problems. With that in mind I have created the website www.mushroomobserver.org. The purpose of this site is to record observations about mushrooms, help people identify unfamiliar mushrooms, and expand the community around the scientific exploration of mushrooms (mycology). Ultimately, I hope this site will become a valuable resource for both amateur and professional mycologists. I like to think of it as a living field journal of mushrooms.

The site is designed to provide a permanent place for anyone to contribute to our basic knowledge about mushrooms. Anyone who joins can record mushroom observations, upload images, and get help in identifying mushrooms. All contributions are welcome. The site allows people to make comments on others’ observations and create lists of observations to use as species lists for events or locations. There are still a bunch of features I want to add, but it’s now at a point where I think it’s useful and interesting. The membership has been growing and people are really starting to add data. There are currently over a 1000 photographs of more than 500 species.

I hope you get a chance to check out the site and look forward to getting to know those of you who decide to dive in and share what you find.

- Nathan Wilson