Agnes A. Sieger, Editor
Dick Sieger, HTML Editor
CALENDAR
September 14 Membership meeting, 7:30 PM, CUH
September 18–19 fieldtrip
September 20 Board meeting, 7:30 PM, CUH
September 24 Spore Prints deadline
September 25–26 fieldtrip
October 2–3 fieldtrip
October 9 Annual Exhibit, 12:00–8:00PM, CUH
October 10 Annual Exhibit, 10:00AM–6:00 PM, CUH
BOARD NEWS Agnes Sieger
Correction: Joanne Young did not agree to co-chair theexhibit, but to assist the co-chairs as needed. Because of apparentmiscommunication, there was no summer microscopy class. We do nothave a field trip chair as yet. Doug Ward will make up a tentativelist of sites for fall field trips. Steven Bell and Corey areworking on the electronic version of Spore Prints. Steven isgathering pictures for the bolete study. Ideas were discussed forthe “members only” page.
We finally have a good supply of pins for mushroom labels at theannual exhibit. Colin Meyer and Brandon Matheny are working on adatabase for labels. The board approved Cori Omundson’sdesign for the 1999 exhibit poster. Ron Post suggested we trynot to use the CUH head house for the exhibit this year; he isworking on an alternative. Because a potential conflict withfootball schedules, Joanne suggested we consider some alternatesites for next year’s exhibit. Lynn Catlin, a naturalist withCamp Long in West Seattle, has offered that site free of charge andhas also volunteered to chair the event.
Because of a demanding work schedule, Dan Tanabe has resigned fromthe board. Alternate Jim Berlstein will fill that vacancy.
MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Tuesday, September 14, at 7:30 PM at the Center for UrbanHorticulture, 3501 NE 41st Street, Seattle
We kick off the fall mushroom season with a cooking demo by our ownPatrice Benson. Patrice is locally renowned in cooking circles forher knowledge of mushrooms and how to cook them! Radio gourmetMauny Kaseburg calls Patrice the “Marquessa ofMushrooms” and has featured several of Patrice’srecipes on her programs. A past president of PSMS, Patrice foundedand currently chairs the Mycophagy Committee at the annual exhibit(also known as Cooking and Tasting). She is a member of “LesDames d’Escoffier” and frequent guest teacher at TheHerb Farm. There will be tastes for everybody at the end of thedemo!
Also this month we will go over the details of the PSMS Annual WildMushroom Exhibit, and reveal and distribute the 1999 exhibitposter. Bring your pens and calendars and sign up for the exhibitin October.
Would persons with last names beginning with the letters F–Mplease bring refreshments for the social hour?
A TRADITION FOR THIS TOWN: Ron Post &
THE PSMS ANNUAL EXHIBIT Brandon Matheny
It looks to be a great fall for mushrooms, given the damp weatherwe’ve had this summer in the mountains. With a little helpfrom that big mushroom cultivator in the sky, we should have goodpublicity for the exhibit, great displays, and plenty of interestfrom the public at this year’s 36th annual exhibit, October9–10. What a great tradition for this town! Based on thenumber of calls to our office and e-mails from the public, interestin PSMS and mushrooms continues to grow steadily. So, we need yourhelp as volunteers for this year’s wild mushroom show.
Several important chair positions are unfilled this year. Pleaseconsider yourself available! Publicity is already starting, and theball is beginning to roll. Please give us a hand by taking a chairposition and/or time slots for one or several of the committees atour September program. If you cannot make the September program butwish to volunteer for one of the committees (see below), pleasee-mail Ron at <info@/> . Or simply leave a message on theclub’s answering machine (206 522-6031) to discuss where yourtalents could best be put to use.
A few changes may be in the works for this year’s show. Thesechanges are not set in stone. We may accept specimens, arrangetrays, and label next to the display hall instead of down at the“head house.” This will require more coordination onFriday and Saturday morning, and it means people bringing in foodfor the hospitality area must enter from the courtyard side of thebuilding. However, mushroom collections will be kept cooler(important for display), and it will facilitate delivery of traysto the display floor immensely. We will use tarps, lights, andspace heaters to help sorters, arrangers, and labelers staycomfortable.
When you sign up at the September meeting, try to leave time foryourself to enjoy the exhibit. I know that many of us work longhours each year, and sometimes we don’t get to enjoy thefungi. We’ll have a few special door prizes this year as anincentive for any volunteers who can help construct the displaysduring the day on Friday, October 8. Also, please remember to gocollecting in groups of two or more and use sensible precautions asalways.
Many of us continue our participation in PSMS because of thehospitable and gracious people who share our interest in fungi.Let’s remember that and make this year one of our finestefforts. Seattle is changing, and we should not let the pace oflife get out of our control or the interests we share get lost.
Thanks, ahead of time, for your effort during this year’sannual exhibit.
UPCOMING FIELD TRIPS Doug Ward
See the Members Page for thelastest news and info.
CALLING ALL ARTS AND CRAFTS! Jim Berlstein
Anyone having any mushroom-related pictures, paintings, or othercrafts that they wish to sell or are willing to display at theannual mushroom show are encouraged to call Jim Berlstein at (206)361-5117 or e-mail berlstein@aol.com. We really need some stuff!All painters, photographers, sculptors, or interpretive dancers areurged to contribute to the show.
THANKS FOR THE POSTER
Thanks to Cori Omundson for designing and illustrating the posterfor this year’s mushroom exhibit! Cori is a professionalgraphic designer working at the design firm Image Ink in Bellevue.She donated her considerable talent (and time) to the posterproject. Now she’s ready for her first mushroom hunt.
PENICILLIN RELIC Carl Hartman
WASHINGTON (AP) – A mold that produced the first penicillin,grandfather of all antibiotics, has been acquired by theSmithsonian Institution. The mold is a round, gray, flat, fuzzylooking substance about an inch and a half wide, encased in glass.Next to it is a facsimile of the reverse side, showing thehandwritten inscription: “The mould that makes Penicillin.Alexander Fleming.”
Fleming, a Scot, developed penicillin in 1928. He had been workingon the possibility of an agent to kill bacteria, but succeeded byaccident. A culture of bacteria left unprotected was contaminatedby a mold—a fungus from the air.
He noticed that bacteria were killed in an area around the fungus.He managed to grow the fungus in a broth, but had troubleextracting the substance that killed the bacteria. Otherresearchers made progress in the 1930s, but they could only producetiny quantities.
The first patient to be treated with penicillin—a Britishpoliceman suffering from blood poisoning in 1941—died becausethe dose was too small. Not all the bacteria were killed.
Under the pressures of World War II, an American pharmaceuticalfirm found a way to mass produce it in 1944. Penicillin and itssuccessors have saved millions of lives, but scientists worry thatbacteria are developing ways to resist antibiotics faster than newones can be found.
Pfizer Inc., the original mass producers, bought one of the twoslides that Fleming gave his laboratory assistant, paying $35,160at a London auction in 1996. The company lent it to a Smithsoniantraveling exposition, “Microbes: Invisible Invaders, AmazingAllies,” now on show in Washington at the InternationalGallery of the Smithsonian. Sotheby’s auction houseauthenticated the inscription as Fleming’s handwriting.
Pfizer’s board formally made a gift of the slide to theSmithsonian in June 1999. After the exhibit closes in Washington,DC, September 6, it will travel to the Chicago Academy of Sciencesand at least nine other American cities through January 5, 2003,before going into the National Museum of American History.
ANTS, BACTERIA AND ANTIBIOTICS UPI
June 25, 1999 – The discovery of an ancient associationbetween a bacterium and an ant may provide new insight into theidentification, production, and use of antibiotics, a study shows.The 50-million-year-old relationship between fungus-growing antsand the fungus they cultivate and eat has long been considered amodel of symbiosis. Researchers at the University of Toronto havefound that another factor is involved in this relationship, abacterium that is carried on the ants’ bodies. This bacteriumproduces an antibiotic that specifically targets the virulentparasite that invades the fungal gardens, thereby protecting thefungus that sustains the ants. “Since the complexity of thiswell-studied symbiotic relationship was greatly underestimated,this suggests that antibiotic-producing bacteria may also be keycomponents in symbiotic associations of other organisms,”said principal investigator Cameron Currie. “The type ofbacteria found on the ants are a well-known source for humanantibiotics,” he said. “So further study of thesechemical interactions may provide valuable new knowledge about thediscovery and application of antibiotics.” The study waspublished in the British journal Nature.
MAGIC MUSHROOM SEASON STARTS IN
BALINGUP AAP
PERTH, June 16 (AAP) – The normally quiet West Australianfarming town of Balingup would rather be known for its arts,crafts, jams, chutneys, and fruit wines. Instead, it is fastearning a reputation as the magic mushroom capital of Australia asdozens of day-trippers make the 240-km journey south of Perth forthe annual Psilocybe season.
Senior Constable Peter Duncan from Donnybrook Police said thepatience of the 300 residents of Balingup is now running out, withfarm gates left open, nude romps in the forest, and wild-eyedstrangers knocking on doors in the middle of the night to ask wherethey were.
“It’s getting beyond a joke,” Const. Duncan said.“When they trip on these things they do things that normalpeople don’t do. It’s basically an LSD trip. Last yearthere were complaints a lot of people got their gear off and ranbuck naked through the bush swinging from trees.”
The mushrooms are found in state forest in the Blackwood Valley,which is accessible by a road on one side and properties on theother. Cold, wet weather conditions signaled the start of the magicmushroom season two weeks ago; the season usually lasts six weeks.Const. Duncan said. He said 12 people have so far been charged withpossessing a prohibited drug and another 40 cautioned for being inthe state forest. “It appears that this year a lot are comingfrom Perth.”
Balingup Progress Association president Helen Christensen, who haslived in the area for 18 years, said what started as a few peoplein the know making the trek had increased dramatically since newsof the mushrooms spread. Maps were being sold identifying the routeto the magic mushroom patches in the forest, she said.
“It’s a reputation we don’t need,”she said. “We’re trying to survive here on the small,little village atmosphere with tourism. A lot of this will put offpeople who want to come down here for a nice weekend.”
“At one stage they used to have picnic tables and bepicnicking on the side of the road, making sandwiches out of thesethings and tea out of them,” she said. “The local shopdid a roaring trade in honey, because I think they are prettyunpalatable to drink.”
Despite the stereotypes, Mrs Christensen said it was not onlyhippies and students making the trek. “There’s lots ofexpensive vehicles, so there are obviously well-heeled people inthere.”
Congratulation to Marilyn Droege, who has won a place award inthe third annual Denver Botanical Garden botanical illustrationexhibition for her painting “Amanita muscaria var.”
The Spokane Mushroom Club’s annual Priest Lake Foray atHill’s Resort will be September 24–26. Foraymycologists are Lori Carris of WSU, who will speak on “GrassSmuts of the Northwest and Australia,” and Michael Castellanoof OSU, who will speak on “Buried Treasures: Truffles Nearand Far.” For information telephone Sue Ferguson, (208)765-5086.
ODDS AND ENDS OF INTEREST
“This is a sin. To treat a mushroom like this, withouthumanity, is unforgivable. They have crucified thismushroom.”
—Antonio Carluccio, top Italian chef
describing British service-station cuisine