Photo Contest Winners
We received many beautiful photos of mushrooms for the contest and selected three for display at the festival. Here they are in case you didn’t get a chance to see the prints there. We’ll also be looking at some photos (time-permitting) at November’s general meeting.
The three winners are:
- Joaquin Romero, who sent this picture of Mycena seinesii from Vizcaya, Spain
- Stewart Meyers, who sent a picture of Amanita muscaria from Honeyman State Park, OR.
- Kevin Hups, who sent a picture of oyster mushrooms fruiting from a plywood deck in a shipping container that had been sealed up for a decade, in Colorado.
(You may click on the photos for a higher resolution version)
30th Anniversary Photo Contest
LAST CALL FOR PHOTOS!!!
Deadline extended to Oct. 24th, last chance to send in your photos!
As some of you might know, this year’s Mt. Pisgah Arboretum Mushroom Festival will be the 30th! The Cascade Mycological Society has been a big part of this festival from the beginning and we are excited to be bringing a number of special events and activities to celebrate.
The first of these we are proud to announce is a mushroom photography contest. Any and all are free to contribute photos related to mushrooms, mushroom culture, and our fungal pals in general. The best of the bunch will be selected for a special display at the festival and the winners will receive recognition and prizes from the CMS.
The rules are simple, just send up to 3 digital photos to photocontest@cascademyco.org. In your email include your full name as you’d want it to appear next to your prize winning photo and any details you might want us to know about the photo and what it means to you. Note that we greatly prefer digital files but if you have a picture that you must submit and don’t have in digital form, you can send us an email and we’ll try to help with other arrangements. Please send pictures as JPG files at full resolution, so that prints of the images look their best.
The photos need to be in by Oct 24th so they can be judged before the show.
Fine print stuff:By sending us your pictures, you grant the CMS a license to use your photo for contest purposes and to display your photo at the festival and at later dates in CMS communications including this website. If your image is used for CMS communication, you will be credited as the photographer.
30th Annual Mt. Pisgah Arboretum’s Mushroom Festival — Sunday October 30, 2011
30th Annual Mt. Pisgah Arboretum’s Mushroom Festival
October 30, 2011, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m
Cascade Mycological Society co-sponsors this spectacular celebration with Mt. Pisgah Arboretum and Lane Community College. CMS volunteers collect, identify and organize over 300 species of mushrooms in a stunning display of colors, shapes, and sizes. Bring mushroom specimens to have identified at our “Ask an Expert” booth at the show. Visit our “Edible, Poisonous and Lookalikes” display to learn about some mushroom species to enjoy and some others to avoid! And don’t forget to visit the CMS booth, where t-shirts and other goodies will be for sale.
There is something for everyone at the mushroom festival, including hayrides, cider pressing, wine tasting, scarecrow contest, plant sale, craft sale, children’s activities, music, and raffle. Visitors can also take guided tours of the Arboretum to learn about the area’s ecology and history. To learn more, visit MPA’s website.
Mushroom Species Lists 2010
Mt. Pisgah Mushroom Species List has been updated for 2010 to include data up to the 2009 Mushroom Show.
Download the mt_pisgah_show_list_1983-2009 (PDF), or mt_pisgah_show_list_1983-2009 (XLS).
2009 Mushroom Festival at Mt. Pisgah
The Mushroom Festival, co-sponsored by the Cascade Mycological Society, is held on Sunday October 25th 2008 from 10am to 5pm, and features a broad range of fungi collected throughout western Oregon. Experts are on hand during the show to help with mushroom identification. The Mushroom Festival also includes hayrides, cider pressing demonstrations, wine tasting, and a scarecrow contest.
Suggested donation:
$5/person or $10/family. MPA members free!
Visit the Mt. Pisgah Arboretum website for more details.
Mushroom Species Lists 2009
We have updated species lists for the Mt. Pisgah Mushroom Show, Hendricks Park and the Common Mushroom Check List:
Thanks to Bruce for providing this excellent resource! The lists now contain data for 25 years at the Mt. Pisgah.
The Fabulous Mushroom on Science Friday, NPR
Two weeks ago (9/12) Science Friday had a one hour radio show on “The Fabulous Mushroom,” featuring people calling in and asking questions to an expert panel. You can listen to the show in a stream or downloadable mp3 from their website at www.sciencefriday.com. There is also a video, below, check it out!
American Academy of Microbiology colloquium report on Fungi
The American Academy of Microbiology has released its newest colloquium report, “The Fungal Kingdom: Diverse and Essential Roles in Earth’s Ecosystem.”
The report is the product of a colloquium convened by the Academy in November 2007, where experts in mycology, medicine, plant pathogens, and ecology discussed the current state of research in mycology and compiled a list of specific recommendations for future work. This report explores the roles fungi play in the world around us. Fungi can cause a number of life-threatening diseases, but they also are becoming increasingly useful to science and manufacturing every year. Research is critically needed in this field to bring about a better understanding of this kingdom.
You may access the report in its entirety at American Academy of Microbiology.
March 13th, 2008 7:00pm – General Meeting
The March meeting of the Cascade Mycological Society features Daniel Winkler. Daniel cover a topic related to his mycological explorations of Tibet.
The meeting will take place at Lane Community College Building 16, room 115 at 7:00pm (Directions).
For more information, please contact Kyle at 463-5260 or send email to hammonk@lanecc.edu
Mushrooms in Tibet – Daniel Winkler – MushRoaming.com
Tibet is famous for its absolutely stunning landscapes and its fascinating ancient culture. Maybe this abundance of attractions explains why its globally unmatched fungal economy has not received more attention yet. For centuries, Tibetans have collected and traded mushrooms; “Yartsa gunbu” (caterpillar fungus – Cordyceps sinensis) even functioned traditionally as a currency.
Improved communication and the commodification of natural resources have caused an astounding mushrooming of the fungus industry. The market is dominated by Yartsa gunbu, which accounts for over 95% of the fungi market value. In Tibet, it contributes 40% to the rural cash income. Its contribution to the GDP equals the whole manufacturing and mining sector. Currently it is the world’s most precious medicinal fungus reaching over $30,000 per kg. Every year in spring, Tibetans comb the alpine grasslands for this elusive fungus feeding on larvae, while forest down below are searched for “gugu shamo”, the “cuckoo mushroom” (Morchella spp.), which is exported to Europe.
During the summer, “besha” (Tricholoma matsutake) is collected to be flown fresh to Japan. Daily, entire villages with access to oak forests – hence the Tibetan name “oak mushroom” – collect besha for a 6-8 week period. An array of other mushrooms, such as Amanita hemibapha, Hygrophorus russula, Rozites emodensis, many boletes (Boletus, Leccinum), Cantharellus, and several species of Sarcodon and Tricholoma to mention a few, is also collected for the markets.
This presentation will combine Daniel’s fungal research with highlights from his recent “MushRoaming” tours to Tibet http://www.mushroaming.com/ ranging from familiar and exotic mushrooms, mushroom markets, local collectors to monasteries nestled at the foot of ice capped mountains.
Daniel Winkler, trained as a geographer and ecologist, works as researcher and NGO consultant on environmental issues of the Tibetan Plateau and Himalayas. He has published on forest ecology, forestry, land-use, and medicinal plants and fungi (see www.danielwinkler.com ). Since 1998, Daniel is tracking yartsa gunbu, researching Tibet’s mushroom industry and its importance for rural people. Daniel is also leading “MushRoaming” tours to Tibet ( www.mushroaming.com ). He lives in Kirkland, WA and has been a member of the Puget Sound Mycological Society since 1996. (Image from mushroaming.com, a Tibetan painting)
Mushroom Species Lists
Mount Pisgah Mushroom Show Species List 1983-2006
Download Excel Spreadsheet
Download PDF
Hendricks Park Species List
Download Word Document
Image Courtesy M.Johnson
In the Beginning – CMS and the Pisgah Festival
By Molly Widmer
How does the Cascade Mycological Society (CMS) fit in with the fall Mushroom Festival at Mt. Pisgah Arboretum (MPA)? Well, CMS is a 501c3 educational non-profit organization incorporated in 1999 “to study fungi; to educate members and the public about fungal identification and ecology; to promote conserva-tion of fungi; to promote safety in the gathering and consumption of edible fungi; and to HAVE FUN! CMS’s annual participation in the fall Mushroom Festival at Mt. Pisgah Arboretum satisfies all of these goals!
The group’s history is intricately tied in with that of the Mt. Pisgah Arboretum as well as Lane Community College (LCC). The three community organizations have connecting threads just like the mycelial strands that tie together mushrooms and their habitats. Freeman Rowe and Marcia Peeters were early originators and the incredible energy behind Mt. Pisgah Arboretum’s annual fall fundraising event, the MPA Mushroom Festival. They still grace the Mushroom Festival with their huge talent and dedication, providing critical organizational and identification skills that keep the mushroom display one of the best around. You are invited to bring your mystery fungi to the Identification Table at the show; and whether or not you bring specimens, don’t forget to pop in and say hi to these fine fungal celebrities!
But what is the Lane Community College connection? Freeman Rowe taught botany at LCC for many years, and also originated the incredibly popular Biology of Mushrooms class, which he taught until his retirement in 1996. The class remains popular, and today is taught by Marcia Peeters, one of Eugene’s best field mycologists, one of Freeman’s most talented students, and for many years the fearless bus driver for the LCC mushroom class weekend fieldtrips.
Cascade Mycological Society grew like a beautiful wild mushroom from the fertile mycelium of the LCC class and the MPA Mushroom Festival. CMS was originally developed and incorporated primarily by enthusiastic students of Freeman Rowe’s at LCC, and today many CMS members are past or present students of the Biology of Mushrooms class – more than a few of them repeat enrollees!
The MPA Mushroom Festival is today still supported by LCC, especially participants of the Biology of Mushrooms class. Together with members of CMS and many volunteers from the community at large, students have historically provided critical volunteer labor for collecting and setting up one of the largest fungal displays on the west coast, with named species numbering in the several hundreds each year. Volunteers for the show contribute hundreds of hours each year, to collect, identify, and display these ephemeral marvels of nature, beauty, and intrigue.
CMS is pleased to help MPA organize this important fundraiser. And we welcome new members as we begin a new fungal season of forays, talks, and special events. The public is invited to all CMS events and membership is not required.
This year’s MPA Mushroom Festival poster depicts a familiar edible fungus in our area, the Shaggy Mane (Latin name Coprinus comatus). The fall season brings many ecological changes to our corner of the world, and this mushroom is one of the developments you may notice in town or in on edges of woods in grassy areas, disturbed ground, roadsides, and trails. It is edible and many consider it very tasty, especially dredged in beaten egg and crushed saltines, then fried until golden, but of course only after POSITIVE identification.
When the proper environmental triggers occur (rain, cool temperatures, etc.) an underground mycelium (the threadlike network of tissue which makes up the bulk of the fungal organism) will produce a “fruiting body” or mushroom. This process can be rather rapid – days or even hours – and the mushroom can exhibit amazing growth and upward pressure, pushing up through soil, or in the case of Shaggy Manes, sometimes even asphalt!
Another amazing trait of Shaggy Manes is their unusual method of spore dispersal. Often referred to as “Inky Caps,” these mushrooms are unlike many common edible mushrooms which produce dry spores, often carried to new areas by air currents. (That more common dispersal process creates the “spore print” often captured on paper to observe its color and aid mushroom identification.) Inky Caps, however, rely on a unique process whereby the spore-bearing gills dissolve, or “deliquesce” into an inky black liquid, rich with spores. It is this liquid which, given the appropriate habitat, begins the cycle of life again. This trait may be good for new crops of mushrooms, but it is less attractive to the would-be gourmet or gourmand! If you are lucky enough to have properly identified Shaggy Manes for the table, be sure to keep them refrigerated and use them immediately, or you too will know why they are called Inky Caps!
Note: Deliquescing is a chemical reaction which can be arrested by placing the mushroom in an oxygen-free environment. We display the Coprinus comatus at the MPA mushroom show in a water-filled jar, a trick learned from the Lincoln County Mycological Society.
1998 Mt. Pisgah Arboretum Mushroom Show and Fall Festival: Mushroom Display
By Peg Boulay
Last autumn, mushroom fans watched the weather with anticipation and foreboding. A prolonged summer drought and early freeze in the mountains did not promise a bountiful array of fungal fruitings. To seasoned collectors, the mushrooms seemed fewer and less diverse than in other years. We worried about how the display at the show would be. Would there be no mushrooms?
But our concern was unfounded. To everyone’s surprise, this year’s display had an
impressive 283 species, the 2nd highest number of species ever recorded at the Mt. Pisgah mushroom show. The 1997 show had the highest number of species ever collected, with a grand total of 310. The Mt. Pisgah Mushroom Show has become the largest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. Visits by a mushroom expert from Washington, a mushroom photographer from California, a documentary film crew from Canada, and a mushroom fanatic from New Zealand reflected the growing fame of the show!Each year the number of volunteers helping out with the mushroom display increases, and the more people looking for unusual fungi and the more people identifying the odd mushrooms, the more intriguing the variety of species we have at the show! With some of the bigger mushrooms missing this year, dozens of volunteer collectors looked more diligently to find the smaller mushrooms that were fruiting. The diversity of mushrooms also reflected the expertise of visiting experts who worked on identifying some of the more mysterious and challenging groups of mushrooms. All these efforts resulted in 44 mushrooms species that were displayed at the show for the first time.
As usual, a table of experts identified mushrooms as they arrived and provided sage
advice to collectors with questions. Festival-goers who brought mushrooms from backyards, parks, and forests were given the name and interesting life history facts about their favorite fungi. We are grateful to the mushroom authorities who donated their time and expertise at the Identification table: Ankie Camacho, Freeman Rowe, Dan Luoma, Jamie Platt, Bruce Newhouse, Suzie Holmes, Molly Widmer, and Marcia Peeters.It was a difficult but fun task for “Best of Show” judge Freeman Rowe to choose the most spectacular specimens among hundreds of interesting, colorful and lovely mushrooms. The grand prize was awarded to a striking cluster of the rare Golden Phaeolepiota (Phaeolepiota aurea), collected by Dan Luoma. The first runner-up was given to a firm, juicy Beefsteak Fungus (Fistulina hepatica). It was the only specimen that came to the show and was collected by Jeani Sapienza. The second runner-up was won by a large, blushing Bitter Bolete (Boletus calopus), collected by Kendon Bright. The fortunate finders each won a framed display of Mexican postage stamps portraying beautifully-illustrated mushrooms.
Edible and Poisonous mushroom displays were popular displays again and included 18 common edible mushrooms and 12 poisonous mushrooms. Visitors were able to compare an edible Golden Chanterelle (Cantharellus formosus) right next to several poisonous look-alikes, including the False Chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca) and Scaly Chanterelle (Gomphus floccosus). Knowledgeable volunteers (Cheshire Mayrsohn, Peg Boulay, Rebecca Meyer, and Russ Kelly) answered questions such as “Are there any deadly mushrooms in Oregon?,” “Are there any rules for telling a poisonous mushroom from an edible one?,” and “What is a good way to cook the Cauliflower Mushroom (Sprassis crispa)?” In addition to providing guidelines for safe consumption of fungi, the volunteers even shared a few of their favorite recipes.
The annual popularity of educational displays inspired us to expand the display section, making the show even more diverse and interesting. Members of the North American Truffling Society, based in Corvallis, answered questions about truffles and brought aromatic dried specimens and truffling tools. Lichens of all sorts of colors, shapes and textures were on display. Jamie Platt and Eric Peterson of Oregon State University chatted about the fascinating life cycles and ecology of lichens, which are actually 2 organisms (a fungus and either a algae or a bacteria) benefiting each other. The “Weird and Wonderful” table, created by Cheshire Mayrsohn, humorously presented some of the more unusual looking and named fungi. The U.S. Forest Service provided information on ecologically-responsible mushroom collecting and gave out collection permits. And once again, we were fortunate to have Maggie Rogers from the Oregon Mycological Society present her display on dying with mushrooms. Maggie was surrounded by a glowing rainbow of golds, pinks, purples, blues and greens, all samples of wool dyed using mushrooms for color.
We plan on having all this and more at the 1999 Mt. Pisgah Mushroom Show. The volunteer organizers have brain-stormed even more great ideas for new displays we would like to
attempt, such as a cooking demonstration and a “Smell and Touch” discovery table. Mark your calenders now for the best family fun event of the fall!