Fall Mushroom Dinner Join us in celebrating each new season! As Autumn beckons and we await or enjoy the first fungal fruitings, Chef Bob Wynn and the FFSC Culinary Committee welcome FFSC members and their guests to celebrate the season with our much-loved Fall Mushroom Dinner. The 2025 Fall Mushroom Dinner is scheduled on November 8, 2025. See the Members Only section below for time and location details. Fall Flavors The committee typically prepares the main elements of the meal (main dish, salad, and dessert). In some years we prepare a full dinner; and in other years members are invited to bring appetizers and sides to share, plus your own place setting and beverage of choice. The committee chooses a different theme each year, and it's sure to be a scrumptious menu! Price The price changes each year, depending on the cost of the venue rental and other factors. For 2025, we will not charge admission for this event. A donation bucket will be ready to accept contributions to offset rental fees and expenses. $10 per person is suggested. Thanks! Location The Fall Mushroom Dinner is open to FFSC members and their guests. The location varies each year. We usually post the location in the Members' section below by early October. Let’s come together to share food, celebrate community, and welcome the mushroom season with good cheer. We look forward to seeing you at the table! Members Only Content Login Join FFSC

Members Holiday Potluck A Festive Gathering for Members and Their Guests Spend a delicious evening in the company of the great cooks of the FFSC at our annual members' Holiday Potluck! We’re excited to invite all Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz members and their guests to our Annual Holiday Potluck—a cherished tradition that brings together our community, celebrates mushrooms, and embraces the spirit of the season! FFSC members can login for details about the date, time and location of the 2025 potluck, what to bring and more below. (This event replaces December's member meeting and guest speaker.) Members Only Content Login Join FFSC

Coccoras Coccoras are one of my favorite mushrooms to see and collect. The distinctive colors, thick cottony cap and striation on the cap edge makes this Amanita a little easier to ID. If I am unsure at any point, it stays in the ground and I take away the memory, image and sometimes a photo. by Katherine (Kitty) Elvin Amanita calyptroderma Debbie Viess has a very informative link on the BAMMS web site which tells more about this species. You can visit mushroomobserver.org and iNaturalist for observations. Amanita calyptroderma - Fall Coccora - tan to light brown Amanita vernicoccora - Spring Coccora - light yellow When I was first learning I ran into a lovely patch, while walking my dog Lexy, which I thought where coccoras. But I was new, so I collected a few of them to get some positive ID. I came home and posted pictures of my finds along with another Amanita sp. found in the Spring favoring oak trees on google groups. I got some interesting comments warning me to be very careful. I did take my coccora sample and got a positive ID. Kitty with Coccoras Since then I have been enjoying both Fall and Spring coccoras found on the coastal ranges and in the Sierras. They are beautiful and delicious and best of all one large specimen provides a tasty addition to any meal. Be picky and selective. I choose only firm young ones and take only what I can use right away. Mushrooms covered: See code Previous Description All Featured Fungi Next Description

News & Stories / Stewardship Jackson Demonstration State Forest Permit Changes Rules for mushroom gathering at Jackson Demonstration State Forest have recently changed. Deb • August 18, 2014 Bolete with Newt. Photo by Yevgeny Nyden Due to massive abuse of the system the JDSF no longer issues free personal collection permits. The only permits now issued are commercial permits. The good news is that the permits are $20 per year with no weight limit. The not-so-good news is that the permit must be applied for in person and the office is now open Monday–Friday. If you're planning to go to Mendocino this year, we suggest getting a permit ahead of time —it's good through 2014. We realize this presents a challenge to the usual order of things at our Albion forays. The FFSC ministers will be sorting out details and working towards a solution. In the meantime, if your travels take you to Ft. Bragg during the week, do yourself a favor and pick up a permit; the fine for collecting without a permit is $1000. See the FAQ sheet from the JDSF office , and stay tuned for further details. Contact info: Jackson Demonstration State Forest 802 N Main St. Fort Bragg CA 95437 (707) 964-5674 Fax: (707) 964-0941 Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Soquel State Demonstration Forest Permits Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

Coprinus (inky cap). Photo by Stephanie Tucker Inky Cap Stephanie Tucker This fragile beauty was found in Santa Clarita, in SoCal. Camera (Not provided) Focal L. Aperture Shutter Sp. ISO Flash Photo taken on February 16, 2019 Mushroom(s) ... Previous Photo Back to Gallery Next Photo

Have a better photo? Photo by Fungibartl If you have a better photo, why don't you submit it? If you have a great mushroom photo, how about sharing it with FFSC visitors and members? Visit Showcase a Photo for more info. Camera Apple iPhone 12 mini Focal L. 4mm Aperture f/1.6 Shutter Sp. 1/10s ISO 125 Flash Off Photo taken on December 4, 2022 Mushroom(s) ... Previous Photo Back to Gallery Next Photo

News & Stories / Field Reports 2016 February Local Foray Field Report It was a beautiful day for exploring the Santa Cruz area forests last Saturday 2/6/2016, and though the weather was amazing, the fleshy fungi were few and far between... Cass Fuentes • February 22, 2016 Forager basket with wax paper bags. Photo by Cass Fuentes Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts 2016 February Local Foray Field Report Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

Candy Cap with Newt. Photo by Linda Maxwell Candy Cap with Newt Linda Maxwell Thanks for sharing this photo, Linda. We also loved your Newt-Free Candy Cap cookies at the January General Meeting! Camera Canon PowerShot SX260 HS Focal L. 5mm Aperture f/3.5 Shutter Sp. 1/300s ISO 640 Flash Off Photo taken on December 17, 2014 Mushroom(s) ... Previous Photo Back to Gallery Next Photo

Purple Mycena at FFSC's Santa Cruz Mycoflora Foray (2018). Photo by Michelle Torres-Grant Purple Mycena Michelle Torres-Grant Michelle C. Torres-Grant took this picture attending our 2018 Santa Cruz Mycoflora Foray. We had some rain so we were focused on the small and tiny. Glad we did. Camera (Not provided) Focal L. Aperture Shutter Sp. ISO Flash Photo taken on December 15, 2018 Mushroom(s) ... Previous Photo Back to Gallery Next Photo

News & Stories / Field Report - 2021 NAMA Foray Grandby CO I was fortunate to be able to attend the annual North American Mycological Association (NAMA) foray that was held at a beautiful YMCA camp just outside of Granby, Colorado from August 12th through the 15th. This camp is located in the traditional summer residential valley of several native American tribes, the Utes, Arapahoe, and Cheyenne among others. Phil Carpenter • October 28, 2021 NAMA Logo For those unfamiliar with this NAMA event, it is held at a different location every year, always selected for a time and place where mushrooms are, or at least should be, coming up. This year, contrary to several past years, the selected location had extensive mushrooms, that is if you were over 10,000’ in elevation. The seasonal monsoon conditions favored several southwestern states this year, including Colorado, at least over 10,000’. Every afternoon we were treated to those showy cumulonimbus clouds rolling in accompanied by thunder and lightning. Our last night there we even had a prolonged shower at the camp. It was good to see rain again! This annual foray is a great experience to visit other parts of North America to meet like-minded people and see the mushrooms of that area. Many forays are always held, a full team of sorters and identification experts is on-hand to put names on things and each year, examples of all the mushrooms found are described and vouchered. This year the foray was attended by over 250 people, many that were friends that I’ve made over several past forays. It was great to reacquaint with old friends and make some new ones. Just like our local forays, attendees to the NAMA forays are friendly, easy to talk to and pleasant to be around. For me, the draw for these forays is always the mushrooms. I thoroughly enjoy seeing the wide variety of different mushrooms in different parts of the world. As such, I went out on every opportunity there was to sign up. There were daily all day and four to six half day trips each day so there was ample opportunity to visit different habitats. It is always pleasing and somewhat surprising how many things I recognize. I typically recognize most things I see at least to genus. Even things that appear to be a species I recognize, I am unwilling to try to put a species name on them. I’ve been wrong too many times. Many familiar genera were found: Amanita, Russula, Lactarius, Hebaloma, Suillus, Hygrophorus, Albatrellus, Leccinum, many Cortinarius, etc. A total of just over 150 species were identified and vouchered. While the tables holding the finds from each foray were sagging under the numbers found, many were repeats. The most collected species for the trip was the familiar Amanita muscaria (variety flavivolvata). I had heard reports that a species I was looking forward to finding was abundant this year: the famed red-capped porcini of the Rockies, Boletus rubriceps . And yes it was. They were big, beautiful, bountiful and bug-free (for the most part). I estimate that I picked over 20 pounds. After the foray, I met my cousin who lives fairly close so I was able to donate them to his dwindling stash of dried boletes. I've been told that that species is the best tasting of all the different porcini species. After having them several different ways, I can report that I found them no better or no worse than our local king boletes. In other words, delicious! As the NAMA Trustee for the Central Pacific Region, liaison to NAMA for 12 local clubs, I attended the board meeting where the business of running a national organization was conducted. In many ways it is quite the same as what I've been part of for the FFSC for the past 35+ years. One decision made at that meeting is that the location for next year's foray will be in the Missouri hills. In addition to the numerous collecting trips at the foray, there is always a variety of excellent presentations available to attend every day. Every evening there are several talks given to the entire assembly of attendees. One of the more interesting ones I heard was a talk on burn morels. As someone who makes several trips every year to our burn sites in CA, I was curious to see what he had to say. Instead of just driving up to a burn area to scope it out, he presented ways of using current technology to do scouting from a distance. He used burn maps, topo maps to judge steepness and orientation (north-facing slopes versus south, etc.), aerial photography to judge canopy cover, rainfall maps to judge moisture content and timing, and other maps to judge access roads. This guy had it down to a science! He showed the anticipated pictures of mountains of morels and even one that he took of someone's haul that had been confiscated by the authorities for some reason. He ended the talk with the statement that he can't eat morels. That brought down the house. As I have had in the past, I had a great time, learned a few new species and renewed some friendships. I'm looking forward to Missouri. You should consider joining me!! If you're an FFSC member, you can get a club discount on your NAMA membership. Visit Other Mycological Clubs for details. Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts My Adventures in Telluride Colorado Phil Carpenter receives Knighton Award at Appalachia NAMA 2023 Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Field Reports Albion II, 2011 – Great Forays, Fungi and Food The Albion II Foray was very successful with full attendance of 58 participants, all blessed by nice weather. Species collectors identified 124 species, and our infamous Saturday night potluck featured many delights. Wendy Wells • February 1, 2011 Hedgehog (Hydnum repandum). Photo by Yevgeny Nyden Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Albion I, 2010 – A Great Time for All Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article

News & Stories / Mycology & Art News Bioluminescent Mushrooms from Spirits of the Forest Bioluminescent mushrooms and classical music from Taylor F. Lockwood. Yevgeny Nyden • November 22, 2013 Cover of Spirits of the Forest DVD (from mushroom.pro). Copyright 2016 Taylor F. Lockwood Enjoy this beautiful video of bioluminescent mushrooms accompanied by classical music, from Taylor Lockwood's "Spirits of the Forest" DVD. Members Only Content Login Join FFSC Related Posts Cam Cam by Taylor Lockwood Taylor Lockwood's National Geographic Magazine Debut Previous Article All News & Stories Next Article