Agnes A. Sieger, Editor
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE JoanneYoung
Impossible as it seems, summer is almost here.Spring has been beautiful, and given us some spectacular days formushroom collecting. Thanks to Brian Luther, Mike Lovelady, DVCorey, Colin Meyer, and all the other field trip hosts andidentifiers who worked to make the spring field trips soenjoyable.
The fungal survey at Lake Wenatchee May 12_14was a great success. Amateur and professional mycologists from PSMSand the Pacific Northwest Key Council, along with Forest Servicebotanists, joined forces for a weekend of collecting andDOCUMENTIng fungal species. Ten species on the NW Forest PlanSurvey and Management "rare" list were collected along with dozensof other spring species, adding considerably to what is known aboutregional diversity. It was an extremely enjoyable and fascinatingweekend for everyone involved. We thank Forest Ranger Mick Muellerfor his vision in planning this fine example of public/privatecooperation. He hopes to expand the project with a additionalsurvey this fall.
Congratulations to Colin Meyer, PSMS EducationChair, for being selected to join the Pacific Northwest KeyCouncil! Colin was nominated and approved as a new member of KeyCouncil at the PSMS/Key Council survey at Lake Wenatchee.
The new membership roster is now at the printerand will be ready for the June meeting. Many thanks to Jean Chinfor all her hard work designing the roster, and putting up withendless updates and amendments.
It wasn't magic that made refreshments appear atthe end of our meetings, it was Magda & Marsi DiGiovanni! Forfour years, the DiGiovannis have been quietly taking care of allthe beverages and snacks we enjoy at our meetings. Now they wish toretire. Thank you, Magda and Marsi, for taking care of us for solong, and for being so generous and reliable!
We need a new person or couple to take careof goodies at the monthly meetings! This means coming a littleearly to meetings, making punch, or other beverage, setting out theplates of refreshments that members have prepared, and keepingstock of supplies. PSMS reimburses for all expenses. CallJoanne.
June 13 will be our last monthly membershipmeeting for this season. Mid July, Francis Ikeda is planning a PSMSpicnic, and then we'll meet next in September. Until then, have awonderful
summer!
CALENDAR
June 13 Membership meeting, 7:30 PM, CUH
June 19 Board meeting, 7:30 PM, CUH
July 23 Picnic, Seward Park, shelter #5, 1:00PM
August 14 Board meeting, 7:30 PM, CUH
August 25 Spore Prints deadline
September 12 Membership meeting
BOARD NEWS Agnes Sieger
The total income for the annual banquet was$2050; the expenses were $2025. Education Chair Colin Meyer isreserving classrooms and contacting teachers for fall ID classes.Both the Swauk Creek and Bullfrog Flats field trips were wellattended. Corey has been cleaning up and organizing the web site.The joint PSMS/Key Council/Forest Service survey was a greatsuccess. The Forest Service is very pleased and would like to doanother in the fall. The roster is ready to be printed and mailed.A motion was passed to increase admission to the annual exhibitfrom $5 to $7 for general admission and from $2 to $5 forstudents/seniors; children under 12 continue to be admitted free.The potluck summer picnic will be Sunday, July 23, at Seward ParkSite No. 5. Karen Mendell has booked the Kiwanis camp on LakeQuinault for a fall foray and is working on finding speakers, amycologist, cooks, etc. A motion was passed to set up a $2000 grantfor a deserving mycology student; another motion was passed toaward $1000 of the grant to graduate student Brandon Matheny toattend the NAMAForay and for other mycological-related expenses to be usedduring this calendar year. .A group called Friends of Seward Parkis starting a survey of botanical species in the park, but theywould also like to survey fungal species and need knowledgeablevolunteers. Ramona Owen will do the June Spore Printsmailing, as Doug Ward will be out of town. Doug will also berelinquishing management of the membership data base after January1.
MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Tuesday, June 13, at 7:30 PM at the Center forUrban Horticulture, 3501 NE 41st Street, Seattle
For our June program, long-time PSMS memberColeman Leuthy will introduce Aphyllophorales, the order thatincludes tasty chanterelles, beautiful annual tube fungi like theyellow-orange Laetiporussulphureus, and handsome perennial conks that grace ourancient forests.
A retired chemistry teacher, Coleman is a pastpresident of PSMS, was a student of Dr. Stuntz, and has long tenurein The Mountaineers. In addition to being a expert botanist andamateur mycologist, he's been a climber, skier, and hiker. He is askilled photographer and has entertained and enlightened us withmushroom, flower, and travel slides. He hosts mushroom andwildflower classes for The Mountaineers naturalists at his cabinnear Leavenworth, and is the author of the Lactarius key forthe Pacific Northwest Key Council. Since his retirement, he hastraveled widely to out-of-the-way places, photographing mushroomsand flowers.
Would members whose last names begin with theletters U_Z, please bring a plate of refreshments for the socialhour?
Tall Timbers Survey Patrice Benson
On May 12-14, 2000, 45 volunteers from thePacific Northwest Key Council and PSMS joined forest servicebotanists, foresters, and friends at Tall Timbers Ranch near LakeWenatchee to participate in the second survey of forest managed bythe Wenatchee RangerDistrict. The purpose of the survey was to define fungi andtheir habitats in different parts of the district to aid forestersin managing public lands.
Under the direction of Mick Mueller, ranger andforest botanist with the Wenatchee Ranger District, we found atleast 10 examples of different fungi that were on the ForestService "rare" list. Fungi on this list need tobe protected, and the areas where these fungi are located aremanaged prudently, much like spotted owl habitats. These specimensare documented and preserved in the Wenatchee herbarium under thedirection of Mick. In addition to the 10 rare species, wedocumented over 100 species of other fungi We also enjoyedparticipating in identification, good meals, and lots of mushroomercamaraderie.
Evening activities included a slide show Fridaynight of fungi and plants expected in the area, and a wonderfultalk and slide show Saturday night by Brian Luther. His subjectmaterial included the history of Leavenworth, mycologists of thePacific Northwest, fungi, postcards relevant to the subjectspresented, cultivation of rare poppies, and a trailer fire (did Iforget anything?), The weather was beautiful, the cell phonesdidn't work, and at one time 13 people were crowded into the Siegercamper (not a huge space), as I was cooking morels.
Another tool new to mushroom hunting is the GPS,or Global positioning System. We used these devices to mark exactlocations of fungi sites as well as a means of staying found. Alsopresent at the ranch the same weekend were members of the NorthwestMushroomers from the Bellingham area for their annual Morel Madnessweekend. All in all, 75 mushroom lovers were collecting; and thosewere just the ones officially registered at Tall Timbers.
We felt good about having fun and helping all atthe same time. A word to the wise: VOLUNTEER!
PSMS SUMMER PICNIC Fran Ikeda
When: 1:00 PM, Sunday, July 23
Where: Seward Park Shelter #5
Directions: Go to the west side of MercerIsland and swim across the lake or, from Seattle, take I-5 to I-90,get off at exit 3 (west side of Lake Washington), go south onRainier Ave S. about 3 miles, and take a left onto S. OrcasSt., heading east. South Orcas Street ends at Seward Park afterintersecting Lake Washington Blvd. S. Once in the park, proceed upthe hill to the first parking lot on the right. Shelter #5 isnearby. (PSMS signs will, I hope, lead the way once you are in thepark.)
Food: Please bring a potluck salad, sidedish, or dessert to share. Bring your own meat to barbecue, buns,sauces, eating utensils, and sunscreen (hopefully). Drinks, plates,cups, and charcoal will be provided by PSMS.
Facilities: Shelter, tables, grills,restrooms, kids' playground, tennis courts.
Activities: Walks through or aroundSeward Park, swimming, Frisbee catching, kite flying, boating (apublic boat ramp is nearby), bicycling, mushroom hunting (noguarantees).
29 Pines Field Trip BrianLuther
If you missed this field trip up the TeanawayValley on May 20, you really lost out, because everybody foundmorels. Not everyone can boast of an overflowing collecting basket,but anyone who knows Mike Lovelady sort of expects it by now. Hedefinitely set an example for others to strive for.
Thirty-eight people signed in, and because ofHarold Schnarre and Mike Lovelady's hosting, everyone felt welcome;their
efforts were appreciated by all who attended.This field trip site has no shelter, and so we were lucky it waswarm weather, although overcast. But sometime later in theafternoon we did get a slight sprinkle.
Forty-seven species of fungi were displayed andidentified thanks to Harold Schnarre and Larry Baxter, and mydaughter Arnica helped to write some of the cards (until gettingpermanently sidetracked playing with Larry's kids, Whitney andHeather). Besides morels (Morchellaelata), other good edibles found included Calbovistasubsculpta, Boletusedulis, Ramaria rubrievanescens, R. magnipes, Gyromitramontana and a couple different species of Suillus.Interesting finds included Helvella leucomelaena, a speciesof Scutellinia (yet to be studied microscopically) and anumber of small fire pit or burn site fungi, such as Peziza praetervisa, Myxomphalia maura, and several othersnot yet identified.
The potluck was small, but wonderful, with threedishes standing out as being exceptionally tasty: Mike Lovelady's acream of sautéed morel soup (yum!), Luis Felix's patéor spread for bread with sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, pinenuts, olive oil, and fresh garlic (outstanding!), and LarryBaxter's rhubarb crisp (made from home grown rhubarb). Afterdinner, some went home and others stayed for a big campfire, withsome people spending the night. The day ended up being everythingyou'd hope for on a field trip: good weather, good collecting, goodcompany, and good food.
Swauk Creek Field Trip
Forty-one members gathered on Saturday, May 13,for the outing at Swauk Creek Campground. We had a good mix of newand veteran members. The weather was mostly sunny but cool. Almosteveryone found at least a few morels, but no one found them ingreat abundance. Several new members (and one veteran who shallremain nameless) found their first morels. Most of the morels werefound at the campground elevation or lower, so we were probablyjust a few warm days early. Because of the rather cool evenings,the consensus was to skip the potluck, but we did enjoy the roaringfire and hot coffee.
Since the expert identifiers were involved withthe Wenatchee project that weekend, the identification of collectedspecimens was somewhat curtailed by the limited expertise of hostsDoug and Theresa Ward and Ed Kiniry, but the some species wereidentified:
Boletus edulis, Lycoperdon sp.,Calvatia gigantea (softball size), Morchella sp.,Peziza sp. (probably P. repanda or P.sylvestris), Agrocybe praecox, Cortinarius sp.,Gyromitra gigas, Gyromitraesculenta, Russulabrevipes, Naematoloma fasciculare, a probable Caloscyphafulgens, and Verpa bohemica.
MAY MYSTERY MUSHROOM ColinMeyer
Tom and Sue Jones live in Federal Way, near theintersection of I-5 and Highway 18. On the way to the freeway eachday, they noticed some large, conspicuous mushrooms growing in anew office building development on Weyerhaeuser land. They'd neverseen them before, and brought some into the May PSMS membershipmeeting for identification, as is traditional at meetings.
The mushrooms were massive and cespitose (withtheir stems growing together). Their caps, fully opened, were morethan 20 cm in diameter and were white to beige. The surfacetexture was silky smooth with lumps or ripples. The gills werewhite, with a swoop, and attached to the stipe, with a notch neartheir attachment. The stipe (or stem) had small, dark brown scalesor warts along the entire surface, like a Leccinum. It wasup to 4 cm in diameter, mostly even, with a bulb at the base andsolid inside. There were no signs of a universal or a partial veil.The young mushrooms had an inrolled margin, like a Paxillus.The mushroom's odor was sweet and pleasant, reminiscent of almondsor anise.
The area was logged last year, and severaloffice buildings were built. Some landscaping was done around theparking lots, and topsoil may have been brought in. The landscapingwas spread with bark dust, and the mushrooms grew from the barkdust. Tom described "whole fairy rings" and strange clusters thatlooked like "someone had dripped pancake batter and it grew intomushrooms." No specimens were found in the surrounding, undisturbedareas.
At the meeting, people crowded around withinterest. A flurry of names rang out. Pleurotus?Lactarius? Russula? Tricholoma?Leucopaxillus? No one could even put it into a genus, letalone identify it to species.
A few members, including myself, brought sampleshome to look at further. Not having much luck, I decided to bringit to Lake Wenatchee fungal survey at Tall Timbers sponsored by theForest Service. There was just as much confusion there. Still, noone could put even a generic name on the mushroom. It was theorizedthat the younger specimens were an entirely different mushroom.However, razor blades flashed out, and soon the mushroom was beingscrutinized under several mycologists' microscopes. It was reportedthat the spores were amyloid (reacting to Melzer's reagent, acommon mounting medium for fungi) and weren't smooth but haddecoration. Brandon Matheny noticed a unique cystidium (sterilecell) on a gill wall. It was shaped like a lance and hadincrustations at the tip. He knew that this was indicative of acertain genus, Melanoleuca. This was quite controversial, asthe typical Melanoleuca found in this area is much smallerand has a dark gray cap. Brian Luther checked for signs such asclamp connections which would have suggested that the mushroom wasa Leucopaxillus. In the end, he verified Brandon'stheory.
Because of incomplete surveying and publishingof fungi is this area of the world, it remains an unknown species.It closely matches the description of a European species,
It is a mystery where this mushroom came from.It may have been in the soil for years, and the disturbance causedit to fruit. If that is the case, why isn't it reported from othersites of disturbance? It may have been imported with the topsoil,or bark dust. Topsoil and bark dust are commonly used all over, butreports of this mushroom are not common.
The moral: Don't be shy to bring in mushroomsfor identification. You, too, may make a rare find such as thisone.
Fall Identification Classes ColinMeyer
Basic ID: The Basic ID class will run forsix 2-hour sessions. The focus will be on recognizing some of thecommon edible and poisonous mushrooms as well as an introduction tothe use of dichotomous keys. The required text will be MushroomsDemystified, 2nd Ed., by David Arora. The New Savory WildMushroom by McKenny/Stuntz/Ammirati is highly recommended. Bothbooks will be available at the membership meetings and the firstday of class for purchase at a discount.
Intermediate ID: For members who aresomewhat familiar with mushrooms, there will be an Intermediate IDclass offered. The focus of this class will be using dichotomouskeys to identify mushrooms. Required texts will be MushroomsDemystified, 2nd Ed., by David Arora and How to IdentifyMushrooms to Genus, I: Macroscopic Features, by David Largent.This class will also consist of six 2-hour sessions.
Each class costs $35 and is limited to 20participants.
For more information, e-mail cmeyer@helvella.org or phone(206) 722-6687.
WEB SITE REMINDER Colin Meyer
Here is a reminder that PSMS has an e-mail listfor members to communicate with each other. Once subscribed to thelist, you can send and receive e-mail messages from other members.Any message that you send to the list will automatically bedelivered to everyone else that has subscribed. The purpose of thelist is to discuss PSMS business and other mycological subjects.Some good uses of the e-mail list are to find or offer ride sharingto PSMS events, or to ask for assistance with identifying amushroom. For instructions on how to subscribe and post messagessee http://www.psms.org/members/mailing_list.html
A Morel STORY Inga Wilcox
I was driving along a narrow forest road. Onboth sides was up a bank and I could easily see what was growingamong the evergreens. All of a sudden I noticed morels, big,beautiful specimens. I stopped the car and got out, wishing I couldhide the car but there was no way. Wow, what a find, lots ofmorels, 10 inchers, and getting bigger as I moved into the woods. Iwas in morel heaven.
Then I noticed other pickers behind me; they hadseen my car on the road and were also picking those beautifulmorels. By then the morels I was finding were at least two feettall and nine inches wide! As the others came nearer and nearer, Imoved faster and faster, picking quicker and quicker, holding thosehuge morels in my arms. I was shouting, "They're mine! They'remine!" And I woke up.
We regret to report the death of noted amateurmycologist Herb Saylor of the San Francisco Bay area from a heartattack on Friday, May 19. Herb was loved and respected by all andhe will be sadly missed. .
A US FOREST SERVICE WORKSHOP DickSieger
The USFS Pacific Northwest Research Stationinvited PSMS to participate in a workshop in Lynnwood, one of sevenworkshops in the Northwest and Washington, D.C. Participants wereasked to suggest what kinds of research might be needed for soundforestry management in the next 20 years and how the agency mightfocus its resources.
The PNW Research Station has an annual budget of40 million dollars to provide research for mangers of public andprivate forest and rangeland in Alaska, Washington, and Oregon. Forexample, it recently completed a study of the 76 million acres inthe Columbia basin that are managed by the USFS and BLM. The studyprovides information about biophysical and
social systems. (We have a copy on CD-ROM in ourPSMS library.)
I met with some 40 people—university andUSFS scientists, economists, representatives from timber companiesand associations, a state senator from a logging district, and amember of the Sierra Club.
These are the proposals I found especiallyinteresting:
Surprisingly, the consensus was that modernforestry leans heavily on social science. People as well as treesmust be nurtured.
Let's hope that in the future, killing trees andselling wood won't be the only way to solve forestry problems. Andlet's hope that decisions will be based on science, not cash.