BULLETIN OF THE PUGET SOUND MYCOLOGICALSOCIETY
Number 331, April 1997
Electronic Edition is published monthly, September through Juneby the
Puget Sound Mycological Society
Center for Urban Horticulture, Box 354115
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195
(206) 522-6031
Agnes A. Sieger, Editor
Dick Sieger, HTML Editor
MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Tuesday, April 8, at 7:30 pm at the Center for UrbanHorticulture, 3501 N.E. 41st Street, Seattle
Our speaker for April is Gene Butler of Chehalis, Lewis County,who will present a beginners’ survey of the mushrooms we canexpect to find this spring, starting with verpas, morels, and otherAscomycetes and going on to coral mushrooms, puffballs, andBoletus pinicola.
Gene should certainly know what’s out there and how to findit. A lifelong Washington State resident, he was thefounder-organizer of the Lewis County Mushroom Society, is theauthor of the 1978 volume Keys to Mushroom Genera, is a pastpresident of the Pacific Northwest Key Council, and is a member ofthe North American Mycological Association. A former resident ofSnohomish County, he was an organizer of the mycological societythere, and for 2 years taught mushroom identification atEverett Community College. Even you old-timers should learn a thingor two!
Would persons with last names beginning with U–Z pleasebring a plate of refreshments for the social hour?
CALENDAR
April 7 Basic ID Class for members only (must beregistered)
April 8 Membership meeting, 7:30 pm, CUH (Gene Butler onspring mushrooms)
April 11–13 Field trip for members and their guests
April 14 Board meeting
April 14 Basic ID Class for members only (must beregistered)
April 21 Basic ID Class for members only (must beregistered)
April 25 Spore Prints deadline
May 3–4 Field trip for members and their guests
May 10–11 Field trip for members and their guests
May 13 Membership meeting, 7:30 pm, CUH (Dr. Nancy SmithWeber)
June 10 Membership meeting, 7:30 pm, CUH (Dr. Joseph F.Ammirati)
UPCOMING MUSHROOM EVENTS
Mushroom Expedition to Cuba: Gary Lincoff, Roz Payne, andManny Salzman are sponsoring a mushroom and travel expedition toCuba, June 15–30, 1997. An application listing themembers of the group must be submitted to the U.S. Governmentshortly. For additional details, interested persons shouldpromptly contact Fungophile, Attn: Manny Salzman, P.O. Box48053, Denver, CO 80248-0503 or Tel/Fax (303) 296-9359.
Telluride Conference: The 17th annual Telluride MushroomConference will be held August 21–24, 1997, in Telluride,Colorado. For further information, contact Fungophile, P.O. Box480502, Denver, CO 90248-503 or Phone/Fax (303) 296-9359.
KUDOS TO RUSS PARKER Brandon Matheny
Many thanks to Russ Parker for his maintenance and upkeep of thePSMS microscopes. Russ recently assembled another compoundmicroscope for the club and built a handsome box for it as well. Inaddition, Russ continues to accept instruments in need of someadjustment. Russ, your service is greatly appreciated!
Mushroom Missionary: Steve Bell gave a talk to Earth Saveon March 17 about the nutritional value of mushrooms.
SURVIVORS’ BANQUET REPORT Sara Clark
The music is still ringing in my ears. What a bash! WalterBronowitz and his able students created a menu of incomparabledelight utilizing the varied fungal contributions so benevolentlycontributed by PSMS members for our feast. Considerable thanks goto the contributors—Patrice Benson, Sara and Geoff Clark,Magda and Marsi DiGiovanni, Lorraine Dod, Christine Dotson, Patriceand Wayne Elston, Janet and Robert English, Marshall Palmer andCindy Hoover, Frances and Frank Ikeda, Irwin and Milly Kleinman,Russ Kurtz, Sheryl Lamberton, Mike Lovelady, Mary Lynch, BrandonMatheny, Sheila Parr, Lynn Phillips, Charles Pregaldin and MarilynDenny, Masako Sekimoto, Michelle Seidl, and Joanne Young.
We had the pleasure of presenting the Golden Mushroom Award toHildegard Hendrickson on behalf of both Hildegard and Monty inacknowledging many years of service and encouragement to themembers of PSMS. We shared some door prizes and were serenadedbefore and after dinner by Brandon Matheny and his fellow bandmembers, Mike Smith and Sean Walsh. They were joined by Steve Bellon his saxophone, creating a new sensation, Darryl and the DeathCaps. The dining was beautifully orchestrated, organized, andserved by John Casey and the gracious students in the CulinaryArts Program of Edmonds Community College. Our hats off tothem.
GOLDEN MUSHROOM AWARD Patrice Benson
Part of the festivities at the Survivors’ Banquet on March14 was the presentation of the fifth PSMS Golden Mushroom Award foroutstanding service, which was received by Monte and HildegardHendrick-son.
The Hendricksons are well known to older members of PSMS, sincethey were a keystone of our group for many years. There was a timewhen the society was moved from place to place after the PacificScience Center, the first home of PSMS, was remodeled. Monte andHildegard volunteered their phone number and their home address foruse by the society. They really held us together, and for that weshall be forever grateful.
Hildegard, with Monte’s help, served as Spore Printseditor for 11 years. For many years Monte was in charge ofengraving the PSMS membership badges. In addition to teachingbeginning classes, they were traditional hosts for the learningfield trip each spring. They are most thoughtful to new members andare therefore fondly remembered by some of our now experiencedmushroomers who got their start with the help of Monte andHildegard. For happily spending countless hours in service to PSMS,they truly merit a Golden Mushroom.
FEBRUARY BOARD NEWS Agnes Sieger
Lynn Elwell and Dan Tanabe have volunteered to help Field TripChair Mike Lovelady with the field trips. The board voted to sendpostcards listing upcoming speakers and field trips to the peoplewho did not renew their memberships. Marshall Palmer and Dan Tanabemet with CPA Linda Canney regarding our income tax status. The 1997budget was discussed and approved. Dennis Krabbenhoft donated about20 books to the PSMS library. The UW Extension Office next to oursat CUH has been receiving requests for information about mushroomsand has asked PSMS for help. Suggestions were entertained for alocations for the PSMS summer picnic.
MARCH BOARD NEWS Agnes Sieger
Sheila Parr will continue with mail ordering the PSMS cards madefrom the 1984 exhibit poster. PSMS will experiment with sending thenewsletter bulk mail and contributing the savings in postage to abuilding fund for use when our present contract expires with CUH.Patrice Benson will mail a postcard reminder to the people who didnot renew their memberships. The Jefferson County MycologicalSociety has inquired about a joint field trip with PSMS and theOregon Mycological Society to Fungi Perfecti in Olympia on April26. Joanne Young, Sheila Parr, and Frank Ikeda have left the Board.Doug Ward, Charles Pregaldin, and Mike Lovelady will fill theirremaining 1-year terms, leaving Dan Corey as the only alternate.The USDA Forest Service has donated some books to PSMS. They arenot yet available because the new library shelves are not up yet.Marshall Palmer, Joe Ammirati, and some others have formed acommittee to provide information to the UW Extension Office so theycan answer calls about mushrooms and PSMS. The niece of notedceramist Wilma Madison has left a collection of museum-qualityceramics to PSMS, along with Alexander Smith’s bookMushrooms in Their Natural Habitats and the slide collectionthat goes with it. Wilma’s sister has a similar collection,which PSMS may be able to borrow for display at the exhibit.
SPRING FIELD TRIPS
We urge those of you who are new to PSMS to attend the fieldtrips if you can. Some people stay overnight; some just stay forthe day. Register with the hosts when you arrive, and be sure tostay over for the potluck Saturday afternoon. To participate, bringone dish (hot dish, salad, or dessert) to feed the number ofpersons in your party. PSMS furnishes coffee.
One or more hosts will be at each field trip all day to welcomeour members, give them encouragement, send them out to collectingsites, keep them warm with coffee, and sustain them with cookies.There is also an identifier to identify your finds. New membersshould try to arrive by 9:00 am, so they can be taken along by anexperienced member.
Please bring a basket, knife, wax paper, compass, whistle,water, lunch, and a dish to share if you wish to join the potluck.Wear warm clothes. Include rain gear in your car or pack and wearhiking shoes or boots. Feel free to bring your friends, family, andsociable dogs.
MUSHROOM DYEING WORKSHOP Sara Clark
On March 1, we gathered on a blustery, rainy, wonderfullySeattle-type wintry day to mess around with fungus in the dye pot.We tried 11 species, each participant taking home the dye samplesfrom each trial. We shared a few mushroom-dyed yarn creations andfinished up just as the sun came out. When the fall field tripscome along, we’ll put the dye pot on the camp fire and see towhat use we can put the inedibles.
FUNGI MAY HAVE RULED THE WORLD Bill Freedman, MycenaNews, 46:7 via Mycographia, 19:3, Mt.Mazama Mushroom Assoc.
Paleobiologists agree that about 250 million years ago, at theend of the Permian period, 95% of marine and land animals died andtheir species became extinct. The cause for this die-off can onlybe suspected at this time. It has been presumed that a drop in sealevel may have precipitated the marine extinctions.
However, in the March 5, 1996, Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Science in the Netherlands, paleobotanist HenkVisscher describes “a feeding frenzy” of wood-rottingfungi. Fresh research results from the Alps and Israel match thosefrom five other continents. This dramatic event cannot therefore beattributed solely to oceanic changes.
A series of massive volcanic eruptions in Siberia is thought tohave occurred at the time of the extinctions. The lava and asheruptions lasted for about a million years. Molten basalt pouredout so massively that the entire earth could have been paved with a6-m-deep layer. Acidic gasses and carbon dioxide could have heatedthe earth and poisoned the air and water, killing most of theplants and animals.
During most periods of geologic history, plant pollen and sporesoutnumber fungal remains in sedimentary rocks. But at the end ofthe Permian, preserved fungal remains predominated as they fed uponthe dead wood. Fungi ruled the world for a while, acting asscavengers cleaning up the woody debris following the cataclysm ofthe most extensive global extinction on record.
“MAGIC MUSHROOMS” NEW BRUNSWICK CUSTOMS STYLEThomas Maler, condensed from Mycelium, 23:1,Mycological Society of Toronto
At this time of year, we have only dried or pickled mushrooms,along with a few cherished fungophile memories of the summer andfall. I am not quite sure whether to pickle or dry the memories ofour summer vacation to New Brunswick, thanks to the customs folksat the St. Stephen, N.B., border. One thing is sure, just like thedried mushrooms, these memories will last forever.
We were going sea kayaking on New Brunswick’s Grand Manan Island. Webegan the trip at our cottage on Lake Kassabog, where, much to mydelight, my son Tim found some Craterellus fallax (Black Trumpet). Next day, I dried themand put them in between two paper plates taped together withmasking tape and stuffed them under the front seat in the car. Offwe went.
Because we went white water rafting on the Ottawa River thefirst day, we stayed overnight in Cornwall and crossed into theU.S. the next morning. That was a mistake. We should have supportedthe U.S. instead of the Canadian tourist industry.
The next night, we camped under Mt. Washington in New Hampshireand went on. We reached the famous St. Stephen crossing into NewBrunswick at about 9:00 pm N.B. time, after buying one bottle ofKahlua Cream at the duty-free store. We declared the bottle, ofcourse, and the customs man in the booth asked us how long we hadbeen in the U S. Christine, who was driving, replied “twodays,” which was true. The suspicious man wanted receipts forwhere we stayed, which we did not have and so he sent us into theoffice. There, our troubles began. The customs official, Ms. D.,was every peaceful citizen’s nightmare.
Christine readily explained that, although we had stayed thefirst night in Canada and the next night in the U.S., we did spenttwo days in the U.S. Apparently, you must spend 48 hours inthe U.S. to qualify for duty-free merchandise. We were informedthat we had committed a terrible, horrible criminal offense andthat our bottle was going to be confiscated. We were not allowed topay the duty or anything else.
The woman than proceeded to search the car and recovered thepaper plates with the dried mushrooms. She asked what they were,and I replied that they were dried Black Trumpets we had picked atour cottage in Canada. She was unimpressed by my explanation andtold me “I think these are magic mushrooms” without anyshred of evidence and without having any clue as to what they were.She then victoriously marched inside with her trophies, one bottleof Kahlua Cream and some dried “magic” mushrooms. Bythen, it was approximately 9:45 pm.
I was told to fill out some forms, and she searchedChristine’s purse, took my driver’ s license andownership certificate, and disappeared into the depth of thebuilding for about 45 minutes. After she reappeared, we had to fillout more forms, sign a transfer of the bottle to Queen’swarehouse, and witness the pouring of it into the bathroomsink.
By the time the drug squad (Ms. D. and her supervisor) tookover, it was around 10:00 pm. A discussion followed, with moreaccusations of magic mushrooms and more fruitless explanations thatthey were choice edibles from our cottage. We were told that theywould have to test the mushrooms and I agreed. Another half hourlater, I asked them to keep the mushrooms and mail them to us whenthey had finished and to let us go so we could find a hotel and putour tired 9-year old to bed, since we had to catch a ferry to GrandManan at 9:00 am the next morning.
My request and its many repeats much later were fruitless. Theofficials returned a few times, saying that the tests werenegative, but they did not let us go. They hijacked a poorunsuspecting Agriculture Canada guy from P.E.I., asking him whetherhe knew these “magic” mushrooms. The man, who obviouslyknew a lot about potatoes, just told them that he thought they wereordinary mushrooms.
The next witness was a U.S. customs official, who also could notidentify these suspicious black things as “magic.”Christine now stopped urging me to be nice to them, because it didnot help. I was also hopping mad because they totally lacked anyconsideration for Tim, who was very tired and upset. I starteddemanding that they let us go immediately, and all of a sudden thedrug squad supervisor handed me the paper plate and told me wecould go.
By now it was 11:30 pm, and the man who had originally sent usover was on his break smoking a pipe. He told us that he was sorrythat he had started this whole ordeal. He even phoned around tryingto get us a motel room, but everything was full. I stopped at TimHorton’s to get a coffee, since we had no idea how longwe’d have to drive to find some accommodations. Lo and behold,there was the agriculture guy from P.E.I., entertaining the donutshop with our story. He told me he could not believe what hesaw.
On the way to Grand Manan, I kept thinking of an old, greatmovie by LinaWertmueller, called “Seven Beauties.” The villain inthis movie was a horrible female Nazi concentration camp commandantand a hero of the movie, played by Giancarlo Gianini, was makingovertures to her, so he could get some food to help himsurvive.
The largest field mushroom on record was found in France in1924. It was 15¾ in. in diameter and weighed over 4½lb.