Let’s go on a Mushroom __?
I will confess that I am not the most active user of the Cascade Mycological Society’s fantastic website. However, being married to its webmaster Sandy, I typically get in person website updates as they occur. It’s kind of like being an “on the scene” reporter where you get the facts in real time. So, a while ago, Sandy mentioned to me that CMS was changing their naming convention used for its organized mushroom outings from Forays to Field Trips. While I thought the change was a little peculiar, I kind of put it on my long term “something to ponder over” list. Well, with our long winter nights and some free time on my hands, I began to re-ponder over the use of Foray vs. Field Trip as a descriptive term for organized mushroom outings. a perfectly credible method of doing research to me. I’m not certain about the level of complexity of my queries but I’ll give Gemini a try. So, I wrote down what I thought would be relevant questions to ask Gemini about this issue. To make my Gemini interactions easier to read, I have organized them into a Ron question and Gemini answer format.
Ron: How many mushroom organizations use the term field trip?
Gemini: Several Pacific Northwest mycological societies, particularly the Puget Sound Mycological Society (PSMS) and the Cascade Mycological Society (CMS), use the term “field trip” to describe their organized, educational mushroom hunting outings. These events often include, but are not limited to, potlucks, identification, and, occasionally, forays.
Ron: The term Field trip vs. foray?
Gemini: A field trip is a general term for an educational outing, often for students, to a specific location like a museum or farm, while a foray is a more specialized, focused trip, often into nature (like woods for fungi/plants) or a new activity, implying a short, determined exploration or dabbling in something unfamiliar, sometimes for research or collecting. Forays often involve experts, deeper dives (like multi-day mushroom hunts with lectures), and a sense of adventure or research beyond a typical school outing.
Ron: What is the key difference between field trip and foray?
Gemini: Think of a field trip as a standard educational excursion, while a foray is more like a specialized expedition or a venture into a new, often natural or creative, territory for deeper study or collection.
Ron: Is field trip or foray most commonly used by mushroom clubs?
Gemini: Mushroom clubs overwhelmingly use the term foray for their organized fungal hunting trips, as it specifically denotes a guided expedition for mushrooms, while “field trip” is more general, making foray the more common and specific term for these mycological events. A foray is essentially a specialized field trip focused on learning, identifying, and collecting fungi, often led by experts, and can range from short hikes to multi-day events.
Ron: Can you give me a more specific meaning of a mushroom foray?
Gemini: Foray directly refers to a trip into the woods to find mushrooms, often implying a more focused, expert-led expedition than a general “field trip.” Forays are designed for education, sharing knowledge, and communal discovery, with expert identifiers present to help compile species lists and identify finds.
Then I asked Gemini to create a split image where one side depicts a classic mushroom foray and the other a classic mushroom field trip in a way that their differences are easily apparent to the viewer. My first impression of Gemini’s image was the age difference between the two groups. The field trip side reminded me of several organized trips I took during high school, however; I don’t remember having those cool looking blue jackets they’re all wearing. The foray group certainly wins the age contest and they also look quite absorbed in identifying and recording what they found. The common attribute depicted in both images seems to be education and hopefully enjoyment. Additionally, I reviewed the Puget Sound Mycological Society’s website where they describe both their Field Trips and Forays.
Their Field Trips typically have between 70 to 100 participants and it is quite an open format as compared to CMS’s more focused, small group outings. They seem more like a social outing where participants set their own agenda. This is an excerpt from the PSMS website regarding Field Trips. “Members are free to arrive and leave as it suits their schedule, however standard procedure (recommended for new members) is to arrive before 9 am for tea or coffee while you get some pointers on where to try hunting and possibly hook up with another person or group. From there individuals or groups fan out in the surrounding 20 miles looking for new hot spots or old reliables. People that are tired or not successful may return to eat their lunch and find out how others have been faring, then head out again; while those in the gravy (those doing well) will stay out all day. Master Identifiers are present from 9-4pm to verify your discoveries.”
PSMS also conducts Forays which they described as “A PSMS Foray is something like a field trip, only on a broader basis, lasting two or three days. Though there may be field hunting, the focus is on education with several learning opportunities. Because the outing includes at least one evening and dinner, there is also an emphasis on good food, drink and conviviality.”
According to FUNGI Magazine, the First “foray” Event was held on October 9, 1868 by the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club in Herefordshire, England. The event was advertised as a “Foray amongst the Funguses” and was organized by Dr. Henry Graves Bull, a physician and mycologist, to encourage the study and consumption of wild mushrooms. The 1868 foray was so successful it established a model for annual, scientific, and culinary mushroom hunts that soon spread across Britain and across the pond to New England, home to the Boston Mycological Club (BMC). The BMC, which still conducts annual forays, was organized in 1895 and reputed to be the oldest continuously active mycological society in the United States. The term “foray” is also the standard industry term used by almost all of the over 90 mycological societies and mushroom clubs affiliated with the North American Mycological Association (NAMA).
From my interaction with Gemini, I have concluded that Gemini’s data mining efforts and the general consensus seems to overwhelmingly favor the term Foray over that of Field Trip by mycological organizations. However, what we and others call mushroom outings is mostly a matter of semantics, as the format of our outings would be the same regardless of what naming convention is used. As a side issue, if CMS is going to continue to emphasize using Field Trip, I think it should include the free morning tea and coffee that PSMS offers on their Field Trips.
Just remember that Shakespeare once commented that “A foray by any other name would be as sweet”. Now get out there and enjoy our amazing forests, parks, and recreational areas while we still have them.
Ron and Gemini, we report and you decide.
