Category: Blog
Mushroom Mixes: Do you know what you’re buying?
An FDA Alert reminds us about buying mushrooms based on someone else’s label, especially mushroom mixes. Import Alert 25-021 lets the government seize and detain certain imported mushroom products containing “morels”. The alert explains: In the past, shipments of canned and dried morel mushrooms have…
Fantastic Fungi? Baudoinia compniacensis (whiskey fungus)
Baudoinia compniacensis (whiskey fungus) is a little-known, recently newsworthy fungus. It’s a crust-like organism that likes humid, warm micro-environments. It grows on a wide variety of substrates, including building walls, road signs, patio furniture, bark, and leaves. It has been found in North America,…
Big Fleas Have Little Fleas
Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite ’em,And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum. Many of you know about “Zombie Ants” — ants whose bodies and brains are taken over by a Cordyceps fungus. See, for example: Zimmer,…
Announcing Hebeloma.org
Hebeloma is mushroom genus that we often fail to notice. After all they are drably colored, not large, generally reported as not “edible” or as positively toxic, and difficult to identify to species. But they’re an important, common, ectomycorrhizal genus with worldwide distribution (every…
OMS 2022 Fall Mycocamp Report
We’re happy to report a successful restart to our Fall Mycocamp. Camp Coordinator Jeff Yarne and Safety Czar Mara Dale kept us safe from COVID. We had three great talks by renowned mycologist Else Vellinga. Despite difficult mushroom fruiting conditions (driest summer and warmest…
Rare Fungi Challenge
The Fungal Diversity Survey (FunDIS) has issued an ongoing challenge to find and document West Coast species of rare mushrooms. Many are fall-fruiting species. The ones most likely to be found in Oregon are: Amanita pruittii Arrhenia lobata Bondarzewia occidentalis Hygrophorus goetzei Lactarius rubriviridis…
2022 OMS Scholarship Winner
OMS Scholarships – 10 years of supporting mycology students! It is my pleasure to announce our scholarship winner for 2022. Nathan Stewart is a PhD student at Portland State University studying in the laboratory of Dr. Daniel Ballhorn. Nathan’s research is exploring the interactions…
Amanita muscaria poisoning report
A recent report in the Journal of Clinical Toxicology describes a case of severe Amanita muscaria (fly agaric) poisoning. The victim said that he consumed about 8 caps of Amanita muscaria. Friends later found him “covered in vomit, urine and feces”. They took him…
Introduction to Mushrooms, Class 1
Introduction to Mushrooms, Class 1, is now available on demand to OMS Members via the OMS Media Center. Introduction to Mushrooms is OMS’s Beginner Identification Course, created by OMS Education co-chairs Dick Bishop and Sallie Jones. The Course has three Classes. Dick Bishop has created audio-visual…
Can Golf Balls Grow On Trees?
Although they resemble golf balls, this is actually the mushroom Cyttaria darwinii (Darwin’s fungus). Cyttaria darwinii grows in the southern tip of South America. It was collected and described by Charles Darwin. It’s edible and can grow in large quantities, with dozens of mushrooms…
