OSU Herbarium Cabinet Dedication

This story starts in March of 2023 when CMS and the Lincoln County Mycological Society (LCMS) both issued grants to Oregon State University (OSU) to pay for a cabinet to house fungi specimens. At the time, OSU had completed a remodel of Cordley Hall that included an expansion of the OSU Herbarium. Actually, LCMS issued a grant to pay for half ($1500) of the cost of a cabinet, and of coarse CMS took this as a challenge to pay for the remainder. You can read the full story, and view the surprise announcement to Dr. Jessie Uehling, here.

On June 17, 2025 members of both LCMS and CMS were invited by Dr. Jessie Uehling, the curator of the OSC Fungal Herbarium, to a dedication of the cabinet which had finally arrived and was installed in the herbarium. The afternoon started with refreshments and a talk by Dr. Uehling. Jessie first provided an overview of the OSC Fungal Herbarium which included these key points:

• Our name “OSC” comes from the days of Oregon State College.
• We have ~550k fungal specimens, including the world’s largest and most diverse truffle collection.
• The fungi are arranged by taxonomy, which is constantly changing.
• The herbarium serves to facilitate mycological research for diverse groups in Oregon and around the world.
• We have one of the world’s largest mycological communities at OSU/in Oregon for research, teaching, mycological clubs, and student groups.

She then provided an overview of her goals for the future of the fungal herbarium, which included an ask/challenge for CMS, LCMS, and all of the Oregon Mycological clubs to assist in “filling the gaps” in taxa and/or regions within Oregon for which the OSC Fungal Herbarium has little or no data. It was an excellent presentation comparing the data in the herbarium which dates back to 1994 and the data in iNat that has been accumulated since 2007. We will be inviting Dr. Uehling to give this presentation to the entire CMS club in the fall of 2025.

We were then treated to a tour of the OSC Fungal Herbarium. We saw the actual cabinet which was still sitting empty, but with a line of boxes filled with specimens adjacent to it that were ready for their new home. Jessie also had on hand this plaque, which will be placed on the cabinet.

Freda Hollaran is the founder of LCMS and Freeman Rowe inspired the founding of CMS. Here are a few more pictures from the event.