News & Stories / Field Reports 2007 Spring Foray Species List Here is a species list from the spring camping foray up at Eldorado National Forest. The big mushroom for the weekend were the morels, black and blond. Douglas Smith • September 2, 2007 Morchella. © Douglas Smith (from mushroomobserver.org) Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Sierra Boletes in Spring 2007 2008 Spring Foray Species List Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Field Reports Another 2007 NAMA Foray Perspective Extreme heat and a lack of rain for the previous couple of weeks made conditions on the ground quite challenging for hopeful finders of fungi. Debbie Viess • September 2, 2007 Cantharellus lateritius. Photo by Debbie Viess Our host and travel guide, Coleman McCleneghan, took me on a few pre-NAMA forays in Virginia, where conditions were much improved. My very first walk ever along the Appalachian Trail, at the foot of Mt. Rogers, Virginia, was delimited by a huge, local species of lepidella: Amanita rhopalopus (rope-uh-low- pus). This monstrous, off-white, deeply rooting amanita was the most abundant fleshy fungus collected; they covered most of a specimen table in great stinking piles. Amanita jacksonii . Photo by Debbie Viess Better even than fat, stinky lepidellas were the big and beautiful fruitings of Amanita jacksonii , or the American Caesar's mushroom. Coleman and I found a fairy ring of these edible amanitas along the Appalachian Trail. They were cloaked in gorgeous shades of bright orange, in a moist, verdant and delightfully unfamiliar woodland, alive with tulip poplars and green-barked birch, rhodies and oaks. Drawing the eye away from the spectacular amanitas were colorful boletes, with unfamiliar genera names like Gyroporus , and Pulveroboletus , tucked amongst the many shades of forest green and brown. Patches of Indian Pipe, the ghostly white and transparently delicate, myco-het-erotrophs, obtaining both their carbon and mineral nutrients from ectomycorrhizal fungi, created more pockets of magic on the Southern forest floor. Farther along the deeply worn and root-crossed Appalachian Trail, I spotted a perfect, shiny-capped, cream-colored, pink-topped Amanita . Its membranous partial veil, bulbous base and sac-like volva proclaimed it a member of section phalloides , but no one had a clue as to its identity. Deadly or not, it was captivatingly beautiful. But a gal can't live on toxic mushrooms alone. There were plenty of varieties of edible chanterelles brought to the specimen tables: Cantharellus cibarius , C. minor , C. appalachiensis , C. lignicolor , C. lateritius , and the Eastern black chanterelle, Craterellus fallax . The bad news was two-fold... the fairly substantial " cibarius " that I collected near Coleman's cabin was too worm-ridden to eat, and most of the rest of the chanterelles, although handsome and no doubt tasty, were too tiny to matter! Be very, very thankful for our Left Coast fungi! Other examples of fine and locally popular edi-bles were two similar species of Lactarius : corrugis and volemis . Both bleed copious white latex, but corrugis has a browner cap, and volemus a more orange one. I tried this mushroom two years ago at the Pennsylvania NEMF foray, and it was excellent! There were a number of standout boletales. Coleman couldn't wait to have me slice into a pale and nondescript Gyroporus cyanescens in the field; the context instantly turned ink blue, and the entire mushroom turned blue-green within a few hours. Buttons of bright yellow Pulveroboletus ravenelii , with their flocculent partial veils, were very distinctive. The brilliantly red-capped Boletus frostii was also a stunner, although age and drying destroyed the deep and lovely reticulations on its stipe. Although common to our area as well, I was speechless to find myself amidst a fruiting of black earth tongues, Trichoglossum hirsutum , and delighted to find the rarely seen blue-green fruit-bodies of the common Chlorosplenium ( Chlorociboria ) aeruginascens , whose mycelia also stains its woody substrate a beautiful blue-green. I couldn't believe my eyes when I came across a log covered in the lovely and amusing orange eyelash fungus, Scutellinia scutellata . All of these fun bicoastal fungi traveled back home with us, along with a couple of exclusively Eastern oddities: the carrot-colored Calostoma cinnabarina , a gelatinous stalked puffball, and Xylaria polymorpha , the charmingly named "dead man's fingers.” Several fine fruitings of the Eastern Jack 'O Lantern mushroom, Omphalotus illudens , were collected, providing glow-in-the-dark room fun for the masses. A cluster of the unfamiliar to me Armillaria tabescens , a small species of honey mushroom, was also brought in, dashboard-dried, and flown back West. The uncommon saprobe/possibly mycorrhizal Limacella illinata var. illinata was collected with some difficulty and brought in to the specimen tables; it's hard to pick a mushroom whose genus name means slime! Hypomyces luteovirens on Russula . Photo by Debbie Viess Although few of the insect-eating Cordyceps species were collected, we did have a nice showing of parasitic Hypomyces , from the crisp and delicious, pimply, brilliant-orange lobster mush-room, H ypomyces lactifluorum , to the captivatingly colored, electric yellow-green H. luteovirens , both parasitic on Russula species. I was surprised to hear that H. luteovirens actually occurs in northern California. Also spot-ted was the transformer of Amanitas to lumpen phalli of the forests, H. hyalinus . I was thrilled to see many exclu-sively Eastern species of Amanitas . Section lepidella was well represented by A. rhopalopus , daucipes , longipes , cokeri and the charming black and white onusta . Many grisettes and several other members of section vaginatae were also collected: fulva , ceciliae , jacksonii , banningiana , and the unnamed grisette pseudoprotecta . Section amanita was represented by A. pantherina var. multisquammosa , A. farinosa and A. frostiana . Section validae sported the common A. brunnescens in brown and white forms, a few A. rubescens (not the same "blusher" as our novinupta in the West), A. volvata elongata , A. pseudovolvata and the colorful A. flavoconia . The deadly Amanita bisporigera was the dominant member of section phalloidae . Phew! That's quite a list, but only a fraction of what could've been found. Luckily for me, amanitas still fruit in dry conditions. Debbie Viess Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts 2007 NAMA Annual Foray Report NAMA Foray Report: McCall, Idaho Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Field Reports 2007 NAMA Annual Foray Report A large contingent of FFSC members attended the mid-August NAMA foray in West Virginia. We stayed at McKeever Lodge in Pipestem State Park, situated near the top of a ridge over-looking the Bluestone River gorge. David Rust • September 2, 2007 Scutellinia scutellata. Photo by Debbie Viess At night, the river valley filled with fog, and at dawn, bats combed the balcony alcoves. On the grass below, a woodchuck prowled the grounds for whatever food was tossed his way. Judging from his girth, he’s very well fed. Debbie Viess and I took a couple days before the foray to explore the area. We met Coleman McCleneghan, one of many professional mycologists at this year’s foray. She arranged a canoe trip on the Shenandoah River for us, and then Debbie and Coleman went off to Virginia while I attended meetings at Pipestem. Part of the fun of a NAMA foray is being in a beautiful new place with totally different mush-rooms, and trying to capture the “lay of the land.” Then once you find something, figuring out what the heck you’re looking at. The forest in and around Pipestem was mixed conifer and-hardwood, with many unfamiliar trees. I arrived a day early and ended up going on a pre-foray just outside the park. As I walked among some stumps, I spotted a unfamiliar cauliflower mushroom. Sparassis spathulata is shaped like an Elizabethan ruffed collar, unlike our West Coast species Sparassis crispa , that looks more like a neatly stacked pile of egg noodles. I ended up going to that same foray location three times, because the property was situated at a low elevation with streams and springs, damp soil and shaded forest — one of the most productive areas for fleshy fungi. It had been unusually hot with no rain for a few weeks and most of the local forests were sparse picking. Phil Carpenter, Coleman McCleneghan, Debbie Viess and Henry Young. Photo by David Rust One of the highlights of any NAMA foray is the wide range of presentations by the nation’s best professional mycologists. Pipestem was no exception. On the first full day, the program included “Mushroom Taxonomy…” with Rytas Vilgalys, “Mushrooms of the West Virginia High Country” by Walt Sturgeon, and an excellent intro to the “World of Myxomycetes” by renowned slime mold expert Steve Stephenson. Because this foray was dedicated as a memorial to Orson Miller, many of his former graduate students gave talks and participated in a tribute. Coleman McCleneghan gave an excellent talk on “Southern Appalachian Species of Pholiota , Stropharia , and Hypholoma .” Pat Leacock and Tom Volk. Photo by David Rust Other speakers included Tom Volk, who lec-tured on mushroom myths, and foray chief mycologist Bill Roody, who gave an enticing tour of the mushrooms of Spain. (Perhaps the Pyrenees should be our next long-distance foray destination?) On Sunday morning, Rytas Vilgalys wrote out the names of mushroom families on large sheets of paper and set out representative exam-ples from the collecting tables, which he used to illustrate the new direction of fungal taxonomy. Starting with the simplest forms, the yeasts, molds and rusts, he explained how fungi may have evolved over the millennia, developing different reproductive strategies such as pores, teeth and gills, and how modern science using Rytas Vilgalys discusses clades. Photo by David Rust DNA techniques, is expanding our knowledge about the relationships between mushrooms. His extemporaneous talk amazed the 50 or so people who stood around the table. You could almost see the wheels turning inside people’s heads as they struggled to supplant their older taxonomic knowledge with the new order. The final tally, including slime molds, lichens and a large array of polypores, was 330 species from Pipestem State Park and environs. Not bad for dry conditions and very challenging collecting. Next year’s NAMA foray will be held in McCall, Idaho. Hope to see you there! David Rust NAMA Region 11 Trustee Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Yikes! Theres a Fly in My Mushroom! There’s more than just a little extra protein in there! Take a few minutes to get a real inside look at the diligent workers who put the “mush” in mushroom (along with some edibility tips). Hannah Nadel • May 1, 2007 Leccinum manzanitae. © Alan Rockefeller (from mushroomobserver.org) Hannah Nadel (from researchgate.net) Hannah Nadel is a research entomologist, currently with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Parlier, CA. She learned mushroom ID through the Los Angeles Mycological Society in the early 1980s while a graduate student at UC Riverside. While in Victoria, BC, Hannah helped found the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society. A tenderhearted soul, she felt bad about all the maggotty mushrooms being chucked out along the trailsides and decided to rear the larvae to the adult stage to identify what species prefer to breed in particular mushrooms. This led to maggoty piles deposited mysteriously on her doorstep after dark and to maggotty mushroom soup in jacket pockets many days after a stroll in the woods. --Debbie Johnson Editors' Note: This article was reprinted with permission from the August 1994 issue of Fungifama , the newsletter of the South Vancouver Island Mycological Society. The original article is still available as a PDF online, but we are reproducing it here in case that changes in the future. (We also added a few photos to this version.) On a recent plant and insect collecting trip to the southern interior of British Colombia I noticed an interesting human behavior. Oluna Ceska, who seems sane enough, was patting Leccinum mushrooms. After beaming with delight as she spotted each of the rather sporadic Leccinums along the footpath through the woods, Oluna’s expression would change to one of hopeful apprehension as she stooped and patted the brownish cap. She then either picked the mushroom with a triumphant cry, or muttered sounds of disappointment and moved quickly on, her eyes sweeping the ground for further possibilities. Efficient Foragers When animals forage for food, they try to be as efficient as possible. Time is limited and they have much to do. They must find food, eat, wash, sleep, find mates, build nests, and produce and rear offspring within a limited lifetime. Spending too much time on one necessary activity may result in too little time spent on another, and the animal or its offspring could suffer. Clearly, the animal which spends the least amount of time deciding whether something is edible will have more time to spend looking for more food, and will, presumably, end up finding and eating more than a similar animal that spends a lot of time examining a potential tidbit to decide whether it is edible or not. Leccinum scabrum . © Ron Pastorino (from mykoweb.com) What Oluna was doing, I discovered, was minimizing the amount of time she spent deciding whether an edible mushroom was fit for the table or too riddled with worms to bother with (I’m assuming the technique works with mushrooms other than Leccinum ). Rather than pick the mushroom, cut it open, and examine its flesh, she learned that a mushroom that feels firm to the touch is relatively worm-free, and that those that feel spongey or punky are riddled with worm burrows. She can test this with one or two quick pats. As well, Oluna had already reduced the amount of time she has to spend per trip deciding if a mushroom is edible, because she has learned to identify many edible species by sight and doesn’t pat the bad-tasting or poisonous ones. But this story was not meant to be about time management in the life of a mushroom eater. Rather, it was meant to touch on the all-too-familiar “worms” that can turn a mushroom-eater’s delight to dolor, and a mushroom to, well, mush. Too often I get asked about what’s tunneling in a favorite edible, so I’ll give a brief account of what you might find in British Colombia. Are they really worms? First of all, like many things that are not what they seem to be, the worm-like creatures burrowing through your mushroom are not worms. They are insects. More specifically, they are the young of flies or, sometimes, beetles. Insects start their lives as eggs that hatch into larvae, and some, such as flies and beetles, undergo a resting stage, or pupa, before turning into winged adults (others change from larvae directly to adults). All growth occurs during the larval stage, and it’s therefore no surprise that this stage is the most voracious. These eating machines enlarge and fatten, and periodically shed their skin as they outgrow it, finally moulting into a resting pupal stage during which they metamorphose into winged adults. After escaping from the pupal skin, the adults may or may not feed, depending on the species, and they do not shed their skin again. They don’t grow, although the females may expand tremendously while carrying eggs. Fungus gnat larvae on potato slice, from Colorado State University website. In B.C., the most common fly larvae, or maggots, that you’ll find feeding in mushrooms belong to the fungus gnat family, the Mycetophilidae (pronounced my-see-toe-fill-id-ee, from the Greek words for fungus — mykes , and lover — philea ). They are not too hard to distinguish from other maggots in mushrooms because they have very dark heads and strong constrictions along their pale bodies. Like many other maggots, they are soft and thin-skinned, which makes them vulnerable to drying. Living inside a moist mushroom, or, in other cases, in rotting vegetation, protects them from drying and provides them with plenty of fungal tissue to feast on. The eggs are laid directly on the mushroom, usually on the underside in the spaces between the gills or in the pores (depending on what the mushroom has), and within a day or two the tiny, hatchlings begin feeding on these structures. At this stage the mushroom is still perfectly edible and the cap is firm. Bill McGuire found these boletes on the Spring Foray last year and is trying to contain his exuberance. Maybe he should have patted them first? Photo by Vernetta McGuire As they grow, the legless larvae burrow into the flesh of the stem and cap and literally eat themselves out of house and home. The burrows fill with digestive wastes and can be invaded by bacteria and other fungi; they generally appear rather brown or yellowish, and shouldn’t be eaten. If you find a mushroom with burrows in the stem only, it is quite safe to simply discard the stem and cook up the cap. By my standards, a few tunnels in the cap won’t hurt you either, but my gag threshold is perhaps higher than yours. When ready to pupate, after a week or so, fungus gnat larvae usually leave the rubble of the mushroom and pupate in the soil below it. After a few more days the dark, mosquito-like adults emerge, mate, and the females smell their way to a new mushroom on which to lay eggs. They usually prefer young mushrooms, perhaps because these will last longer and also probably because they’re racing against other fungus gnats (and/or other insects) to provide their own offspring with the advantage of being the first on a limited island of food. Miscellaneous Maggots Other maggots you might encounter in a mushroom are the smoother-bodied and pale-headed relatives of the small flies that visit your fruit bowl at home and feature in your genetics class at school. This family of fly is the Drosophilidae (pronounced dro-soh-fill-id-ee, from the Greek words for dew or sap — drosos , and lover — phileo ), also known as pomace flies or even as fruit flies, although they mustn’t be confused with the true fruit flies (family Tephritidae ). Larvae of pomace flies feed on fungi in rotting vegetation, fruit, sap flows on trees, or directly in mushrooms. Their life cycles resemble those of fungus gnats, so I won’t dwell on them further. The adults are quite different from the fungus gnats, being shaped more like a common housefly, but much smaller and usually colored a shiny honey-brown. Those of you who have studied genetics in school will remember the famous “fruit fly”, Drosophila melanogaster , the laboratory rat of the insect world, whose giant salivary-gland chromosomes and rapid reproduction have made it the darling of geneticists. The larvae of this species feed on fungi in rotting fruits. The adults carry fungi or spores on their feet to inoculate ripe, newly-bruised fruit on which they will lay their eggs. Sciara hemerobioides larva. © James Lindsay (from wikipedia.org) Many other families of flies feed at least partly on fungi, some on mushrooms, but most often on fungi that cause decay in plant material or dung. The dark-winged fungus gnats, family Sciaridae (sce-ar-i-dee), from the Greek skieros -shady, because they like shade), are often reported as pests in commercial mushroom houses. They also feed on fungi in decaying plant material such as rotting moss, which is why you might see hordes of them around your overwatered potted plants at home and in greenhouses. They are also rather mosquito-like, delicate and often minute, with dark gray wings. Be sure to count the legs on your maggot, it may really be a baby beetle Like flies, many families of beetles also feed on fungi. Some of them are very beautiful, as is reflected in names like "handsome fungus beetles" and "pleasing fungus beetles." Some feed on mushrooms, but many can handle the tougher woody bracket fungi and other polypores. Unlike flies, the adults often feed on the same stuff as their larvae, and these two stages can be found together in one mushroom. Adult beetles are generally hard-bodied, with a pair of hard outer wings that fit closely over the back like a shell (the soft, transparent flight wings are folded under these protective wings and are not usually visible). The larvae are often wormlike, but, unlike maggots, they have three pairs of legs on the underside just behind the head, and the head is hard, usually brown, and armed with visible teeth (use your magnifying glass!). The pupa may be in the fungus or outside, depending on the beetle species. The life cycle of beetles is generally much longer than that of flies, but some can develop from egg to pupa during the short life of a soft mushroom. Erotylidae sp. (pleasing fungus beetle) larva. Copyright Katja Schulz (from wikipedia.org) In British Colombia you might, through diligent search, find beetles of at least ten families in soft mushrooms and in the harder brackets or other fruiting bodies. Many are rare. The showiest are the handsome fungus beetles (family Endomychidae , pronounced en-doe-my-kid-ee, from the Greek endon - within, and mychos -innermost recess; the meaning escapes me), and the pleasing fungus beetles (family Erotylidae , pronounced air-o-till-id-ee, for which I can’t find any word origins that make any sense at all!). These striking beetles are shiny, and patterned black with a mix of red, orange, and/or yellow. The handsome fungus beetles are usually smaller but can reach 1 cm. in length, about half the size of pleasing fungus beetles. If your mushroom has a drab beetle up to 1⁄2 cm in length, with spiny-looking margins on its “neck”, it’s probably a tooth-necked fungus beetle (family Derodontidae , pronounced dare-oh-don-tid-ee, from the Greek deros -skin, and odontos - tooth). A long, slender, flexible beetle with short outer wings would be a rove beetle (family Staphylinidae , pronounced staff-ill-in-id-ee, from the Greek staphylinos - an insect), usually found among the gills rather than in the flesh of the mushroom. Other families include an array of small, drab beetles fondly known as LBJs(Little Brown Jobs, just like the LBJs we love to ignore in the mushroom world). Some tooth-necked fungus beetles and round fungus beetles (which can curl into a ball) feed on slime molds. There’s no accounting for taste. Wasps - the Calculating Females Now we know more or less who in the insect world is eating our mushrooms. But it’s not enough that our delicacies are full of flies and beetles, they have a variety of minute wasps, too! A parasitic wasp - Spalangia sp . © Alan Manson (from wikipedia.org) These, however, are not joining the feast; rather, they are parasitizing and killing the fungus eaters. They are the good gals, the natural controlling agents that help keep the world from turning into one huge, wriggling, buzzing mass of insects. These tiny wasps, usually 1-4 mm long, do not sting and have no interest at all in humans. We, however, should he kissing the ground under each of their six little feet! Wasps that parasitize mushroom eaters usually find mushrooms by smell, after which they search for eggs, larvae, or pupae of flies or beetles either by feel, vibrations, or again by smell. The females have a long, hollow, threadlike structure on their rear end through which eggs are laid on the victim (host) or inside it. The eggs hatch and the wasp larvae feed on the host insect, eventually killing it. The wasp larvae then pupate before turning into delicate, wasp-waisted adults. You might find the wasps as unsavory as the other insects in your mushroom, but remember that by killing many of the flies and beetles, the wasps prevent them from multiplying without check and infesting every single fungus on Earth. Also, they don’t harm uninfested fungi. There are several families of parasitic wasps saving our mushrooms, and millions of species that parasitize and kill insects in our homes, gardens, fields, forests, and water. Soon, when the rain comes back, it will be time to go out and pat the mushrooms. But just remember that while most of you are leaving punky mushrooms alone, at least one deranged individual will be maximizing the number of interesting fungus-caring insects she collects by following you and picking precisely those mushrooms which you’ve patted and left behind. There’s no accounting for taste, is there? Hannah Nadel Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Postcards from the Field — Summer 2007 Many thanks to all who sent in articles, information, photos and tidbits over the summer. Your contributions keep it interesting. They make some of us envious, too! Deb • September 2, 2007 Wouldn't this be a great stamp? (Gomphus foccosus photo © Taylor Lockwood) Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Don't Forget Mushrooms Just Because It’s Summer! What are You Doing This Summer? Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Don't Forget Mushrooms Just Because It’s Summer! It was the middle of July. We had an unseasonable rain - just a sprinkle. I went to my Inocybe spot: nothing up. John Brown • September 2, 2007 Cantharellus roseocanus. © Darvin DeShazer (from mushroomobserver.org) On the way out I spotted two Princes ( Agaricus augustus ), both pristine, with gills still whitish. Surprising because the cap diameter of the larger was just under 12”. Last weekend we found a few Hydnum repandum at Point Reyes. And Darvin De Shazer, who spent the day at Salt Point, came back with some Cantharellus roseocanus (rainbow chanterelles). Keep an eye out for big Sulfur Shelfs; because they get their moisture from trees, they come before the rains, usually with overcast skies. And remember your favorite graveyard for Agaricus bernardii ! John Brown Science Advisor Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Sierra Boletes in Spring 2007 What are You Doing This Summer? Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Field Reports Sierra Boletes in Spring 2007 Memorial Day weekend found me in the Sierras on a hikers’ holiday. Actually, I went to find my treasured Inocybes , and the area was too dry. John Brown • September 2, 2007 Boletus rex-veris. © Alan Rockefeller (from mushroomobserver.org) Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Spring Musings with Bill McGuire What are You Doing This Summer? Ain't No Cure for the Summertime Blues Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Mycology & Art News Starting to Think About Rain Those who ventured into the Sierras in the late spring were fortunate to find a good harvest of morels, if they were in the right place for that brief, shining moment. Boletes were more abundant as the weather warmed, fruiting well into summer in many areas. Deb • September 2, 2007 Morchella. © Douglas Smith (from mushroomobserver.org) Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts September Seasons and October Rains Mycology & Art News 2013 Sierra Scouting Report Mycology & Art News Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Writings Stories from the April 1, 2008 Issue of Duff It's that time of the year again, when members share their latest towering tales and alternative facts... Rick & Ella Schwartzi • April 2, 2008 Take a walk on the wild side. Photo by Hugh Smith Value of Spring Valley Foray Questioned Boletus rex-veris . © Douglas Smith (from mushroomobserver.org) FFSC Ministers voted to ban the collection of “Spring Kings” at this year’s Spring Foray since the fungus was recently put on the endangered species list. Some members have questioned this decision. Spod Tanier, long known for his passion for Spring Kings, is not deterred by this decision. “I know where there are plenty of kings,” says Tanier. Member Debbie Viess has no regrets, however. “They’re bland. Why bother? I’m so over eating mushrooms anyway,” said Viess. She suggested that instead of picking mushrooms, people should just go have a good snowball fight and get over it. Soquel Demo Forest Closed to Mushroom Hunting and Everything Else Craterellus cornucopioides . © Douglas Smith (mushroomobserver.org) Rumors abound that recent staff cuts in Santa Cruz County Road Maintenance Division led to the demise of access to the Soquel Demonstration State Forest. It is unclear how logging will continue there without a viable road. Tom Sutfin, Forest Manager, says “I’ll rebuild the road if I have to do it one shovel full at a time.” Sutfin has applied for funding for a helicopter pad to be installed near park headquarters. “With the road out, the only way in or out is by air,” says Sutfin. For now, black chanterelles can now grow in peace without fear of being plucked and sautéed. Did Someone Ignore the Suggested Species List?? Extreme behavior was the hallmark of this year's Fungus Fair Reception. Science Advisor John Brown and Minister of Culinary Events Vernetta McGuire mounted an urgent investigation to determine if a mushroom toxicology issue was responsible. “People really need to stick to the suggested species list and fill out their dish tags!” said McGuire, clearly exasperated. Opinions were divided as to cause: hallucinogenic mushrooms, Two Buck Chuck toxicity of the white whiners, or simply good spirits. Brown, an analytic chemist, is still working on the matter. Stay tuned for more. Help Has Arrived. April is here and Craterellus is fruiting furiously in the forests. You all love the challenge of trying to get your eyes tuned to seeing them and the thrill of actually finding them; but then when you arrive at your domicile with your basket bulging with Nature’s bounty you are faced with the daunting task of getting them clean enough to eat. After plowing through plantations of poison oak, many times the cleaning seems to be the toughest part of the whole endeavor. Well folks, fret no more! Now there is an easy way to deal with your gritty load of fungal freebies from the forest. Just bring them by Gary’s Craterellus Cleaning Center . Ale-addled technicians will clean your Craterellus to perfection. That’s right, just bring them to GCCC and I will clean them all; then I get half and you get half . No muss, no fuss. Once you bring your mushrooms to me you will know you have been... serviced. And for a limited time only on all orders over 15 pounds I will deliver the cleaned goods to your door. What more could you ask for? Customer satisfaction is guaranteed! If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with the cleanliness of your “Trumpets of Death,” simply return the uneaten portion to Gary’s Craterellus Cleaning Center and we can just forget about the whole deal. What more could I ask for? — Gary Milburn *Offer void during August and September. Spring Mushroom Cookoff Gyromitra esculenta . © Fred Stevens (from mykoweb.com ) This year’s Mushroom Cookoff will feature Gyromitra esculenta , says foodie Vernetta McGuire. Esculenta is Latin for delicious! Sometimes known as the beefsteak morel, recipes for this fungus abound in mushroom lore, and McGuire and her team of tasters will judge which cook turns out the tastiest dish. Longtime MSSF member Larry Stickney was quick to volunteer as a taster, citing his many years of eating this exotic fungus. “Just don’t stand too close to the cook pot,” says Stickney, “and you won’t inhale the monomethylhydrazine.” As a precaution, exhaust fans have been installed for the stoves where the contest takes place. To read more about this mushroom, visit Tom Volk’s webpage: http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/may2002.html Caution : This is the April Fools issue, and eating this mushroom, if you haven't figured it out by now, is NOT encouraged. Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Stories from the April 1, 2009 Issue of Duff Stories from the April 1, 2010 Issue of Duff Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Field Reports Reports from Italy in 2007 We can find wild mushrooms everywhere! This month a few of our members share recent fungi finds in restaurants and markets in Italy. Deb • November 1, 2007 Amanita caesarea. © Alan Rockefeller (from mushroomobserver.org) Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Foray to Mexico Adventures in Austria Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Albion I Foray 2007 – Species List There was a medium turn out for the foray, with only 30 people there, but there were lots of mushrooms of all kinds. The big one for the weekend was the matsutake, which many people found in profusion. Douglas Smith • January 1, 2008 Galerina in Mendocino. © Douglas Smith (from mushroomobserver.org) I would assume the market has collapsed on matsutake, and you can now find them as the common mushroom they are, instead of the rare, over-picked, 'shroom they've been. There was much more diversity than what is reported here. I think the number of edibles up there made people spend most of their time harvesting, instead of hunting small maybe interesting things. Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts 2008 Spring Foray Species List Albion I 2008 Recap Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

Wild Rice and Bolete Soup A little cream goes a long way in this earthy, comforting soup. Enjoy–it’s even better the next day! ... Boletus edulis. © Darvin DeShazer (from mushroomobserver.org) Objective: Soup Total Time: About 2 hours Yield: Serves 8 Suggested Mushrooms: See code Ingredients 3/4 cup whole grain wild rice 1 tbsp. salt 1 oz. dried boletes (or 3/4 oz. dried boletes and 1/4 oz. dried Craterellus ) 5 tbsp. softened butter, divided 4 oz pancetta, finely chopped (or quality bacon) 8 oz. fresh Agaricus bisporus (e.g., buttons), finely chopped 1 leek (cut in half, rinse, and thinly slice both the white and light green parts) 2 tbsp. flour 1/2 cup dry white wine 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth 3 tbsp. minced flat-leaf parsley 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream Method Prepare the Rice Combine the wild rice, salt, and 8 cups of water in a medium pot. Bring to a boil, lower heat and then simmer until the rice is tender (about 45 minutes). Drain and set aside. Prepare the Soup Base While the rice is cooking, put the dried mushrooms in a small bowl, and pour in 1 1/2 cups boiling water. Allow the mushrooms to soften (about 15 minutes). Meanwhile, in a large pot, cook 1 tbsp. butter and the pancetta over medium-high heat until the meat renders some of its fat and turns a lighter pink. Add the A. bisporus and leeks to the pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms give off their liquid (about 10 minutes). Lift the softened boletes from their liquid with a slotted spoon and set the liquid aside (reserve it to use later). Chop the boletes finely, and add them to the mushroom and pancetta mixture. Sprinkle the mixture with flour and continue to cook, stirring constantly until the flour starts to stick to the bottom of the pot (scrape it up as much as possible while stirring). Add wine and chicken (or veggie) broth to the pot. Strain or slowly pour the reserved bolete liquid into the pot (leaving any grit behind). Bring to this soup base to a boil, then lower heat to maintain a steady simmer (cook another 15 minutes). Prepare the Parsley Butter Shortly before serving, combine the remaining 4 tbsp. butter, the parsley, and the pepper. Set this aside. Finish and Serve Add the prepared wild rice to the soup base, and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in cream and cook for about a minute until the soup is hot again. As you pour each bowl, add dollop of the parsley butter on top! Note : Vernetta adapted this from a recipe she found in Sunset Magazine . Previous Recipe All Recipes Next Recipe