BULLETIN OF THE PUGET SOUND MYCOLOGICALSOCIETY
Number 344, September 1998
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, September 8, at 7:30 pm at the Center for UrbanHorticulture, 3501 NE 41st Street, Seattle
Bring your taste buds to the September meeting! Northwest chefand PSMS favorite Michael Blackwell will be there“sharing some wisdom and fun about cooking withmushrooms.” Michael has taught mushroom cooking techniquesthroughout the Puget Sound region. He is a member of the faculty inthe Culinary ArtsProgram at North Seattle Community College. His lecture andcooking demonstration will include ample time for questions andanswers.
The tentative menu will include a tasty shiitake stir-fry and adelicious Agaricus and Boletus soup. This past yearMichael prepared this soup at high schools throughout the north endand, in his words, “converted a lot of mycophobes tomycophiles.”
Members with last names beginning with L–Q are requested tobring refreshments for the social hour.
CALENDAR
Sept. 8 Membership Meeting, 7:30 pm, CUH
Sept. 12 Field Trip
Sept. 14 Board Meeting, 7:30 pm
Sept. 19–20 Field Trip
Sept. 25 Spore Prints deadline
Sept. 25–27 Field Trip
Sept. 29 Intermediate ID class for members whoregistered
Sept. 30 Basic ID class for members who registered
Oct. 3 Field Trip
Oct. 6 Intermediate ID class for members who registered
Oct. 7 Basic ID class for members who registered
Oct 10 Field Trip
FROM THE PRESIDENT Doug Ward
Volunteers Needed: Our Society has long been one whichwas blessed with abundant and skilled volunteer efforts. To thosewho have contributed so many hours in the past, THANK YOU!!! Wefind ourselves in a position of needing some new volunteers, inparticular, we desperately need members to take up the supportfor:
Field Trip Coordinator: This entails making sure placeshave been set up for the field trips (most are already taken careof for the Fall), to solicit hosts and to make sure the suppliesneeded are available.
Assistant Exhibit Chair: Last year’s chair, CharlesPregaldin, has graciously agreed to do it again this year butcan’t do it for the third year in a row. We need someone(several would be even better) to help with this year’s showand agree to chair next year’s effort.
I know there are a lot of talented and capable members out therewho would be able to assist the Society with these important tasks.Please contact either me or any Board member to help us.
FIFTH ANNUAL STUNTZ LECTURE Ben Woo
Dr.Dennis Desjardin, mycologist and Professor of Biology atSan Francisco State University and Curator of the Harry D. ThiersHerbarium, will be the featured speaker for the Fifth Annual D. E.Stuntz Memorial Lecture. His subject will be “Fungal Diversityin the Tropics.”
The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will takeplace on Friday, October 16, 1998, 7:30 PM, at the Museum ofHistory and Industry, 2700 24th Avenue East, Seattle,Washington.
Dr. Desjardin, who received his doctorate from the University ofTennessee, has gained wide recognition as a top agaric systematist,particularly in marasmioid fungi. His recent work ontropical fungi has taken him to Hawaii, Africa, New Zealand, Papua,New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Indonesia. At the recent June annualmeeting of the Mycological Society ofAmerica in Puerto Rico, Dr. Desjardin was honored by hiscolleagues with a unique double award, the Alexopoulos Prize foroutstanding contributions by a young mycologist and the WilliamWeston Award for Excellence in Teaching.
MAY BOARD NEWS
New Education Chair Lisa Bellefond is planning the falleducation schedule. As of the board meeting on May 19, PSMS had 570active memberships plus complimentaries. A motion was carried forDoug Ward to purchase and install a computer under $1000. RussKurtz will replace Marshall Palmer as a member of the By-LawCommittee. A motion was carried to award complimentary membershipsto this season’s speakers. It was decided to reserve fieldtrip locations for Saturday nights only until we can resolve theproblem of who should collect donations to help defray the costsfor fee camp sites. There was no board meeting in June.
FIELD TRIPS Doug Ward
General Instructions: Unless stated otherwise, themeeting time at field trips is 9:00 am at the chosen site. Pleasebring a basket, knife, wax paper, compass, whistle, water, lunch,and a dish to share if you wish to join the potluck. Wear warmclothes. Include rain gear in your car or pack and wear hikingshoes or boots. Feel free to bring your friends, family, andsociable dogs.
From 9:00 to 9:30 or 10:00 am, we check in, have munchies, andtalk about the mushrooms we’ll be searching for and the areaaround the camp site. We then head out to hunt in small groups.Identification is from noon to 4 pm. Potluck time is between 4 and6 pm, decided on by the participants in the morning. The potlucksare always delicious, a lot of fun, and a great time to catch up onsocializing. We highly recommend them!
The 2-day field trips can be attended one or both days. Meetingtime is 9:00 each morning, with a potluck breakfast on Sunday forinterested parties.
MAY 29–JUNE 1 FIELD TRIP Irwin Kleinman
This spring outing was a success in most aspects offoraying.
Moderate amounts of morels and Boletus edulis were found.The weather was reasonable. It was warm during the days and itrained during the nights. The cabin stove worked fine, and thanksto Eleanor Anderson and son Brooke, who brought a truck load ofwood, the lodge was warm.
Over 50 different specimens of fungi were identified, by Ed Foywith the help of us neophytes, as no certified identifier waspresent.
There were potluck suppers both Friday and Saturday evenings.The Saturday potluck was well attended. We had twovisitors—guests from Naches Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Bakeng.Thirty-eight people signed in, and thirty-four stayed for thepotluck, the marshmallow roast, the s’mores, and the talltales until long after dark. All and all it, was a greatweekend.
JUNE 5 FIELD TRIP REPORT Russ Kurtz
Twenty people arrived at the Forest Service campground. The areawas well hunted. Most everyone found some morels, but not in greatabundance. On large, sound Boletus edulis was found.Seventeen species of mushroom were brought in and identified bySara Clark and Russ Kurtz, who was host. The weather was good, andthe wildflowers were great.
Species found consisted of Amanita pantherina, A. gemmata,Agrocybe praecox, Bisporella citrina, Boletus edulis, Coprinusmicaceus, Calvatia subcretacea, C. sculpta, Cortinarius sp.,Gomphidius oregonensis, Lentinus lepideus, Morchella sp.,Mycena pura, Paxillus involutus, Peziza sp., Phylloporus rhodoxanthus (a gilled bolete), andSarcosoma crassa.
BOLETUS PROJECT Brandon Matheny
It has been several years since the last few PSMS scientificprojects culminated with the Barlow Pass diversity study, the morelcultivation project, and mushroom cultivation work in general. Togenerate some new taxonomic and scientific interest in mushroomsand other fungi, I am coordinating an effort to help PSMS membershone their identification and classification skills and to producea testament to their work, a key to members of the genusBoletus supplemented by photographs of the various specieswe manage to collect and cullinary tips, warnings, recipes, and soon. The key, photographs, and culinary information can be placed onthe PSMS website for easy access by PSMS membersand the public and to facilitate updates when new data roll in.
The genus Boletus serves as a suitable choice for studybecause of its relative ease of identification to genus, itslimited diversity in the Pacific Northwest which will enable us tocomplete such a project (when compared to the high diversity ineastern North America), and its obvious wide gustatory appeal.Furthermore, diligent efforts could produce new records of findingsin Washington state or extensions of geographic range, undescribedtaxa, or additional ecological information on mycorrhizalassociates. However, to take on such a project requires somespecialization of labor and commitment. Needed are volunteers tohelp organize the group, collect boletes, take notes of theircolors, shapes, sizes, tastes, habitats and localities, dry andvoucher collections, produce a key, note interesting remarks orcomments, gather recipes, produce or collect slide photographs ofthe species collected, or even do sketches or paintings. And thenwe need volunteers to downloa! d the pertinent information on ourwebsite. If you believe you can contribute to the project in anyway, please contact me at matheny@u.washington.edu or leave me avoice message at (206) 722-8458. I will assemble a list of thoseinterested and schedule an initial meeting on note taking and anoverview of the order Boletales either in late September or earlyOctober if there is enough interest. The group could informally orformally meet on various fall field trips. To see what the web hasto offer on boletes, check out Mykoweb’s download of Prof.Harry Thiers’ The Boletes ofCalifornia.
I hope this project whets the interest and appetite of a coreof PSMS members who have the interest and time available to learnmore about fungi. New members with some collecting experience arewelcome!
MUSHROOM ID CLASSES Lisa Bellefond
With so many varieties of mushrooms sprouting in our forestsand lawns, autumn is a great time to learn how to identifyfungi.
A basic mushroom ID class will be held to help membersidentify gilled and nongilled fungi. In five 2-hour sessions,participants will be introduced to dichotomous keys, learn methodsfor collecting and cooking edible fungi, and be shown poisonousmushrooms to avoid. Class will be limited to the first 25registrants who must be members of PSMS.
Intermediate mushroom ID class: If you’re pastthe beginner stage, then consider participating in the intermediatemushroom ID class. Participants will start a fungi collection andlearn how to use a microscope to identify their specimens. Therewill be five 2-hour sessions. The class will be limited to thefirst 15 registrants who must be members of PSMS.
To register, see the printed edition of thisnewsletter.
MUSHROOM ASTROLOGY Bob Lehman, LAMS
Cancer (June 21 – July 22): You are emotional andsentimental about mushroom hunting. You become attached to favoritehunting grounds and are concerned if “outsiders” huntthere. You are also protective about mushroom habitats in general.You like hunting mushrooms with close friends, and you value foraysat least as much for the personal relationships as for themushrooms. You like to reminisce about past mushroom hunts andfinds. You are attracted to mushroom cultivation.
MUSHROOM ASTROLOGY Bob Lehman, LAMS
Leo (Jul. 23 – Aug. 22): You love to go on clubforays, make spectacular mushroom finds, and show them off toeveryone else. If others admire your basket full of chanterelles, your day has been a suc cess--eventhough you may not care much for eating chanterelles yourself. Youare delighted to give your mushrooms to anyone who will showappreciation. Even on forays when few mushrooms are to be found,you keep people’s spirits high.
MUSHROOM ASTROLOGY Bob Lehman, LAMS
Libra (Sept. 23 – Oct. 22): You appreciate theecological role of mushrooms and have a good sense of wheredifferent species can be found. However, you may never get to someof their habitats because you like easy activities and often doyour mushroom hunting in city parks and residential areas. You arepleased to share your mushroom hunting territory with others (whichis a good thing, since this is often other people’s homes!)You consider a foray successful if everyone has gotten something ofvalue from it. You fret over identifications. You have a good feelfor the edible qualities of mushrooms even though you may not domuch cooking.
LIBRARY HELPERS NEEDED
PSMS Librarian Lorraine Dod needs two or three helpers to bein the library ½ hour before PSMS meetings. If interested,call Lorraine.
TRUFFLE DOG UPDATE Judy Roger
Fungifama, South Vancouver Island Myco. Soc., August 1998
Fungifama editor Bryce Kendrick, curious how JudyRoger of the Oregon Mycological Society was coming along trainingher dog Tamarack to hunt Oregon truffles, interviewed Judy bye-mail. Following is a condensed version of her reply.
Tamarack had been my primo lead dog when I was sled racing, andI fed her truffles and cream cheese on crackers as a treat duringthe winter months. Well, living on 20 acres of timberland (mostlyDouglas fir) provided ample opportunities for finding truffles.Tamarack started finding them herself, digging, and eatingthem.
1 began watching closely, and Tamarack would go out, lookaround, begin sniffing and scratching the soil. When she found one,she’d pop it up and eat it. If I were too close, she’dlie down on the hole, cross her paws and look innocent, waiting forme to leave. (I had been taking them from her when they were dug.)So, I put a leash on her, and when one was unearthed I’d grabit, praise her vigorously, and divide it with her, or give her somealready mixed with cream cheese or butter. When she found one, andstarted sniffing for more, I’d point to the ground and say“let’s find!” By issuing this command regularly, andgiving her parts of what she found, I saw some improvement. But shewas interested only when the truffles were very ripe, not when theywere just maturing. Some dogs will hunt truffles even ifthey’re not fully ripe. Tamarack’s behavior, I think, istypical of Siberia! n Huskies,because they are visual hunters and not scent dogs. They are also anotoriously independent breed. As long as Tamarack felt she wasgetting something for her efforts, fine, she’d do it, butotherwise, forget it.
So, basically my “training” was first feeding hertruffles in a nice matrix, then when she recognized the odor in thewild and began digging, I coupled commands with it and rewarded herwith part of the find. Other breeds probably are trained similarly,but will probably respond to praise and other treats rather thantniffles as rewards. Siberians are just smart enough that otherrewards don’t compute!
PSMS Identification Chair Brian Luther says thathe was in the Vancouver, B.C., area June 26 and was finding primeyellow chanterelle buttons in abundance on hiking trails. Theconsistently moist, cool weather this spring has led to one ofthose early chanterelle seasons that we seem to get about onceevery 7 years. With luck, the Cantharellus cibarius seasoncould continue on into January along the ocean coast—aphenomenal 6-month long chanterelle season!