CMS Meeting – Oct 2026
Above graphic stylized with Canva AI
- Speaker: Steve Trudell
- Topic: Getting to Know Tricholoma
- When: Wednesday, Oct 21, 2026, at 7pm
- Where: In person only at the Hilyard Community Center – No live-stream and no recording.
This event is free and open to the public
Most tricholomas are relatively large showy forest mushrooms that attract considerable attention. Although only a few of them are popular edibles, tricholomas have great ecological importance due to their mycorrhizal associations with many of the dominant temperate forest tree species. Unfortunately, when it comes to naming Tricholoma species, probably every Northwest mushroom hunter has struggled with their identification. Like many genera, there is no monographic treatment for North America and guidebooks usually feature only a handful of species. However, recent work in the Pacific Northwest and eastern Canada is making it possible for identifiers to have more success. Come learn what makes a tricholoma, a tricholoma, why identification problems still exist, and meet a number of our Northwest species.
Dr. Steven Trudell is an affiliate curator in the Burke Museum Herbarium at the University of Washington. He has been photographing and identifying mushrooms and studying their ecology for 50 years and is the author of Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest and co-author of Tricholomas of North America, Mushrooms of the National Forests in Alaska, and Mushrooms of Alaska. In 2014, Steve received the North American Mycological Association’s Award for Contributions to Amateur Mycology. With degrees in geology and forest ecosystems analysis, he has taught mycology and other environmental science courses at the University of Washington, The Evergreen State College, and other institutions. His research interests include mycorrhizal ecology and the roles of fungi in forest nutrient cycling.
