North American Mycological Association newsletter Sept-Oct 2018
Our President Les Braund IDs mushrooms here in San Diego
Our President Les Braund interviewed on local TV channel 8 to ID some mushrooms folks found in their backyard here in San Diego: fungus frenzy: news-8 gets the dirt on all these sudden mushrooms
Register for the NAMA Annual Foray in Salem Oregon while there’s still space available
Hello Mushroom Lovers!
In this email, Foray Chair Sam Landes reveals more exciting news about NAMA’s upcoming foray in the Pacific Northwest, October 11-14.
BC: Let’s talk mushrooms first. What kinds of “only in the Northwest” mushrooms should we be able to find in mid-October?
SL: It’s the beginning of matsutake season and the Oregon truffles may be starting too. Since our foray sites will range from the Cascade Mountains to the Oregon coast, we’ll be able to find quite a variety of fungi.
BC: Mushrooms are only part of the fun of the foray. What else will we especially like about this spot?
SL: The MacCleay center is a great facility. It’s a conference center as opposed to a camp, so it’s designed for adults. The space is compact and level and the rooms have air conditioning and heat. There’s an outdoor pool, a hot tub, and his and her saunas. There’s a coffee bar and we can bring beer and wine. The food is good, and there will be vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. There are small designated smoking areas for any legal substance and plenty of places to socialize.
There’s great stuff off the grounds, too. We’ll be just 15 minutes away from Salem, Oregon’s capital. You’ll find lots of vineyards and craft breweries along the way. We’ve planned half-day forays at Silver Falls State Park, voted the best state park in Oregon: https://www.oregonlive.com/
For those who prefer to stay in a hotel, we’ve arranged special rates at the Best Western Pacific Highway Inn in Salem. It is about 15 minutes from the Macleay Center.
https://www.bestwestern.com/
Call to request the NAMA rate.
BC: I know that you’ve scheduled some of our favorite traditional events such as a mushroom feast (mycophagy) and lots of lectures. Are there any “for the first time” or “only in Oregon” events people will want to know about?
SL: We have several speakers from Oregon State University. One of Friday evening’s keynote speakers, professor Sara Robinson, will be speaking about spalted wood—beautifully colored and patterned wood that results from fungal decay. Check out Spalted Wood (the movie) here: http://spaltedwood.com/. On Saturday, she’ll give a wood turning demonstration and also have pigment samples for you to paint with.
There will be sessions on identification, photography, and cultivation. As always, there will be a mushroom tasting, and members of local clubs will offer cooking demonstrations.
If that isn’t enough fun and fungi, put on this great foray t-shirt and head 50 miles down the road to the Breitenbush Hot Springs Mushroom Gathering, October 18-21.
The full event schedule will be posted on NAMA’s website soon.
For registration information, see https://www.namyco.org/nama_
The Beauty and Diversity of San Diego’s Mushrooms Tuesday June 12 @ 6pm
Our very own Les Braund will be presenting at the Ocean Beach Library on June 12 @ 6pm
President of the San Diego Mycological Society, Les Braund, will be presenting a talk about the wild and wonderful world of mushrooms in San Diego County! Learn about Earth Stars, Bird’s Nest and Blewit mushrooms as well as how to identify poisonous and edible mushrooms.
Here’s a link to the Ocean Beach Library Facebook event page
Les Braund at the Ocean Beach Library on June 12 @ 6pm
John Muir Comes to Questhaven
John Muir, as portrayed by the world’s foremost Muir interpreter – Lee Stetson of 33 years performing in Yosemite and all over the world – is coming for 4 different live performances to Questhaven Retreat and Nature Preserve June 22-24, 2018. All are welcome – Great for anyone who loves nature, conservation, preserving our wilderness, and those interested in the life and legacy of John Muir, who is responsible for our national parks.
See: Questhaven.org – Events Calendar Summer Festival for more information, shows, and times – or call (760) 744-1500
April 30th potluck
Our April 30th, 2018 meeting is a potluck dinner. The dinner starts at 7 PM in Room 101, Casa Del Prado in Balboa Park. Please bring a cooked or cold dish and your own beverage. (Note: there will be no kitchen access) The club will provide plates, cups, napkins, and utensils, but feel free to bring your own. If your dish contains wild mushrooms, please provide identification of the type contained in your dish.
Volunteers are needed for setting up and decorating the room. Set-up will begin around 6:30pm. We need help arranging tables and chairs, placing tablecloths, and decorating. Feel free to bring greenery or decorations.
April 27-30: San Diego needs your help to win the 2018 City Nature Challenge
We encourage you to upload photos of any mushrooms you can find locally: From April 27-30, 2018, the San Diego Natural History Museum (The Nat) is spearheading our local effort to document as many species as possible via iNaturalist…
read more…
April 2nd at 6:30pm: “Mushrooms and Fungi of Southern California and Northern Baja”
For the Monday April 2nd meeting our speaker will be Bonni Thoresen, speaking on “Mushrooms and Fungi of Southern California and Northern Baja”.
The meeting will start at 6:30 PM in Room 101, Casa Del Prado in Balboa Park. We will take Bonni to dinner before the meeting around 5:00 at the Blue Water Seafood Grill. Come along to meet Bonni over dinner.
Further details to follow.
March 5th at 6:30pm: Fungal Conservation
For the Monday March 5th, 2018 meeting, our speaker will be Else Vellinga, a mycologist who is interested in naming and classifying mushroom species in California and beyond, speaking on “Fungal conservation” discussing reasons to include fungi in conservation and management plans.
The meeting will start at 6:30 PM in Room 101, Casa Del Prado in Balboa Park. We will take Else to dinner before the meeting around 5:00 at the Blue Water Seafood Grill. Come along to meet Else over dinner.
Bio:
Else Vellinga is a mycologist who is interested in naming and classifying mushroom species in California and beyond, especially Parasol mushrooms. She has described 22 species as new for California, and most recently worked at the herbaria at UC Berkeley and SFSU for the Macrofungi and Microfungi Collections Digitization projects. She got her training at the national herbarium in the Netherlands, and her PhD at the university of Leiden. Her main goal is to contribute to the conservation of mushroom species, and for that reason she has proposed several species for the IUCN global database of endangered species. She tries to keep current with the mushroom literature. Else is also an avid knitter and likes to use mushroom dyed yarn for her creations.
Talk:
The talk “Fungal conservation” will discuss reasons to include fungi in conservation and management plans. The focus will be on California, and the central question will be: How can we bring fungi into the mainstream of conservation efforts? Many issues concerning the gathering of data and information will be covered, and especially how citizen-scientists can contribute.
