Meeting Monday, February 5^th

The next meeting will be in Room 101 at the Casa Del Prado on Monday, February 5^th.

Elio Schaechter will give a brief slide presentation of  some notable mushroom books starting with the earliest ones from the Renaissance. This will serve to illustrate historical stages in our knowledge and appreciation of mushrooms.  He will display some of the more interesting books from his private collection.  Please  bring any mushroom book that you would like to display or have appraised for their value.  A few books will be raffled.

 

Future Programs

March 5

Jim Trappe talk on mushroom evolution.  Dr. Trappe is a professor of Mycology at Oregon State University.   He is a truffle expert, entertaining speaker, and researcher in the areas of hypogeous and alpine fungi, fungal-animal interactions, and mycorrhizal ecology.

 

April 2

Seth Menzer talk on Spore Prints and Art, plus members talks about mushroom adventures.  This is your chance to show off the pictures from one of your mushroom adventures.

 

May 7

Annual end of season potluck party.  Location to be determined. Plan to bring a mushroom dish or other goodies to share.

 

May Morel Foray?

If there is enough interest.

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Mushroom Observer

Nathan Wilson has started a new web site, http://mushroomobserver.org/

The following is adapted from the introduction on the site:

The purpose of this site is to record observations about mushrooms, help people identify mushrooms they aren't familiar with, and expand the community around the scientific exploration of mushrooms (mycology). Some have asked what counts as a mushroom. This site takes a very broad view. While the emphasis is on the large fleshy fungi, other fungi such as lichens, rust and molds as well as fungus-like organisms such as slime-molds are all welcome. 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 guide for mushrooms or a collaborative mushroom field journal.

For those new to mycology, 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. This site is intended to address that gap by creating a place for us to talk about and record what we've found, as well as connect to the existing literature about mushrooms. Please do not feel intimidated by the scientific bent of the site. Everyone is welcome to dive in and add their own mushroom observations, upload mushroom photos and make comments on other people's observations.

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SDNHM Specimen Collection Project

A note from Mary Ann

Hello friends,

Just wanted to know if you had seen the new Preliminary Checklist of Arizona Macrofungi (it is 34 pages, and includes colour pictures). It is available for download at:
http://lifesciences.asu.edu/herbarium/canotia.html
Look for Volume 2, Issue 2

Maybe it will be something helpful in our quest to summarize our knowledge of the fungi of San Diego County!

Mary Ann Hawke Ph.D.
Project Director,
San Diego County Plant Atlas

 

A note from Dave

(To Be Repeated In Every Issue Until Some Help Arrives)

To make it easy for more of our members to stay informed about the project, and maybe get involved as well, we have added a section to our SDMS web site.  There are a number of documents posted there about the project, including a list of the things that need to be done.  See :

www.sdmyco.org/SDNHMCP.htm, or go to sdmyco.org, select the “What We Do” link, and look for the link for the SDNHM project.

Many hands make light work. Help! Many of the tasks can be done by one person, and brought to a meeting for approval by the group. Your participation will help us to get all of this done before another season goes by.

I have added some voucher slips borrowed from the FFSC web site. The Excel version can be downloaded and is modifiable.  Feel free to experiment with it for your own use, or to share.

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Collecting for the Fair

(Adapted from the FFSC Web Site, with thanks to the FFSC)

Everyone is encouraged to collect specimens for the fair. Please bring your collections to the Casa Del Prado on Saturday evening prior to the fair for identification and display setup. As a last resort, you may bring them in on Sunday morning, but that puts a lot of stress on the identification team.

 

Field Note Recording

Please take field notes when collecting specimens for the fair. Taking Field Notes When Collecting Fungi for Study Is Easier Than You Think.

When out on FFSC forays we’ve observed many different collecting methods. These range from simply loading all mushrooms into a bag or basket in a jumbled mass to careful segregation of collections and protection of small or delicate species. Some people take notes, others don’t.

When collecting for this year’s Fungus Fair we ask that you be among the latter. We also ask that you take notes in the form of a voucher slip. First you may ask, “What is a voucher slip?” A voucher slip is a small form that has areas to enter information about the fungus you are collecting. This information is focused on where and when the fungus is found and can be as simple as the foray location, date and fungus name. This is of limited use if you do not know the name of your fungus. Other useful information found on a voucher slip includes; habitat, growth habit, odor when fresh, staining reactions and any other information that will help in identifying an unknown fungus using a set of keys.

Voucher slips are included in this issue, and are also available on our web site. Print up several of the slips and try them this year, for the fair and other forays. Modify them as you wish to meet your collecting and identification needs. Additional notes may be written on the back of the slip.

Let’s face it, when we collect many species of fungi for study it can  sometimes be challenging to recall if a collection was growing with live oak or tanoak, pine or Douglas fir. The voucher slip is a memory aid, is quick to fill out and drop into the collecting baggie. This is especially helpful when collecting for the Fungus Fair since many of the fungi will be identified by someone other than the collector.

A note on collecting for identification, remember to always collect the entire fruit body, this may require digging down several inches (sometimes over a foot) in order to get the entire base of a fungus like Caulorhiza umbonata, the redwood rooter, which can have a rooting base that extends a foot or more into the ground. Also collect a range of ages, from young buttons to mature fruit bodies, you can leave the rotters. Keep your collections separate, in waxed or paper bags, never use plastic bags as they accelerate ageing and decomposition. If you are not sure about the vegetative habitat description, then, collecting a few pieces of ground leaf litter around the specimen to add to your sample bag will help later identification of the habitat of your collection.

For more information on field notes and macroscopic features to note see Arora, Mushrooms Demystified, 1986, pp. 13-19.

Save Those Rotten Boletes

Remember that Greg Douhan at UC Riverside is looking for specimens of boletes infected with Hypomyces.  If they are not too far gone to travel, bring them in with a voucher slip, and we will see that they get to Greg for his research.

Voucher Slips

Voucher slips in .pdf and Excell format are available on the SDMS web site at www.sdmyco.org/SDNHMCP.htm.

More Notes on Collecting Specimens for Display

When collecting specimens for the mushroom fair, remember that the purpose is to gather specimens for display, not for the pot or the study bench.   Thus, bring in entire specimens, preferably with a few inches all around of the substrate. If it's easy to do, gather the specimen(s) with some of the soil and/or leaves, using a trowel or a sturdy knife.  If the mushroom is growing on wood, bring all or part of the wood if possible.  Bring in some of the duff where the mushroom is growing (oak leaves, pine needles, or whatever) to place under it on the display table.

Place each specimen in a container, taking care to preserve its natural beauty and looks.  Plastic food containers work well if uncovered.  You may want to cushion the mushroom with the duff to keep it from bouncing around.

Keep each species in a separate container, or place each in a separate small bag.  This will help speed up the sorting for display, and minimize the amount of handling required.  If you know the species, write it on the outside of the bag.  Small waxed or brown paper lunch bags work well if the mushrooms are not too wet.  Do not use plastic bags.

Unless they grow in bunches, do not collect more than a few specimens.  Try to get specimens in different stages of development but avoid those that are too ripe to make it by fair time.

Handle the mushrooms as little as possible, and try not to damage or destroy features that are important to identification.  It is best to handle the mushrooms by the edge of the cap rather than the stalk, because there are often fragile features on the stalk like scales, fibers, and veil remnants that help in identification.

Take along some paper and a pencil to make notes on where each species was found, what trees were nearby, and any other information that might help identify the mushroom.

Throughout, think display!

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What’s Cooking

Fungi As Food

By Rebecca Morales and friend.

At the last meeting. I brought some mushrooms that people loved and asked that I give the recipe to you to put in the newsletter. The mushrooms are Spanish tapas-style mushrooms that someone brought to my house for a New Year's party. I loved them so much I asked him for the recipe. Here is what he sent me. Try them -- they are really good.

Rebecca

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As to the mushrooms, well, I don't really have a recipe. 

What you do is sauté them on high heat, whole smaller ones or larger ones sliced to the size you like, in extra virgin olive oil.  They will absorb the oil, so you want to keep adding oil until the pan is just wet.  You don't want to fry them in any layer of liquid. 

Then just flatten them against the pan and leave them to brown on one side.  Add salt or garlic salt to taste, and a twist from a pepper grinder and a dash of Maggi.  Then flip them over to brown the other side, but don't overcook.

When they are browned, clear a little area at the side the pan to add a little olive oil and lots of minced garlic.  You do this now because garlic burns too easily to put in the pan at first. 

When the garlic is just barely cooked enough to get rid of the raw taste, pour in sherry (dry or cocktail, never sweet) and light it to burn off the alcohol.  (Sorry, I don't have a quantity for you.  Drizzle it in until it stops hissing.)

Then throw in a handful of chopped parsley and sauté until the liquid thickens, but stop before the oil separates from the sauce.

 

Voila!

Mushroom Events

SDMS Events

 

February, 5 2007

SDMS Meeting

Elio on Mushroom Books

Room 101, Casa Del Prado

 

February, 18 2007

Mushroom Fair

10:30 am to 3:30 pm

Casa Del Prado

Other Events

February 11, 2007

LAMS Mushroom Fair

LA County Arboretum

Arcadia, CA

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LAMS Mushroom Fair

You can warm up for our fair by attending the LAMS mushroom fair the week before.  It will be held at the Los Angeles County Arboretum, 301 North Baldwin Ave, Arcadia.

You can find more information, including a map, on the LAMS web site at www.lamushrooms.org

Elio on the Web

Elio has a blog on unexpected, unusual, and often unrecognized microbiological topics.  There is not much fungal material in it yet, but this will change with time.  It is at:

schaechter.asmblog.org/schaechter/

Visit FFSC 2007

Through the magic of YouTube, you can tour the 2007 FFSC Fungus Fair.  I found the link at:

FungiFest.com/category/mycological-associations, or you can search on YouTube for “Fungus Fair”.

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SDMS Information