Category: Blog
Still Wanted: Amanita smithiana
2025 Aug 24 Dr. Colleen Cowdery, with support of an OMS Maggie Rogers Grant, is continuing her study of Amanita smithiana (Smith’s Amanita). You can help by collecting samples and sending them to Dr. Cowdery. A. smithiana is a toxic Pacific Northwest mushroom…
Pretty, but Invasive
2025 Mar 15 Pleurotus citrinopileatus (Golden Oyster) is beautiful mushroom which has recently been cultivated in the U.S. This non-native species has escaped into the wild. It’s an aggressive species which threatens biodiversity. The Fungal Diversity Survey (FUNDIS) recently asked cultivators, foragers, and local…
Gyromitra and Related Lorchels
2025 Feb 27 In a paper published this January, a team headed by Dr. Alden Dirks revises (one might say “scrambles”) the taxonomy and names of Gyromitra and related mushrooms. Dr. Dirks also presented those finding in a webinar which you can view on…
Wanted: Amanita smithiana
October 30, 2024 Dr. Colleen Cowdery of the Oregon Poison Center is seeking samples of Amanita smithiana (Smith’s Amanita) for a toxicology study. Amanita smithiana is a West Coast mushroom, first described from Olympic Hot Springs, Washington. It’s sometimes confused with the edible Tricholoma…
Wanted: Amanita parasites
August 11, 2024 Most of you are familiar with Hypomyces lactifluorum, an ascomycete fungus that attacks Russula brevipes (short-stemmed Russula), turning them into “Lobster mushrooms”. Another Hypomyces species which attacks mushrooms is H. hyalinus, which parasitizes different Amanita species. Now researchers want your help…
Wanted: Dead Man’s Fingers
August 7, 2024 Update Oct 30 2024. Samples no longer needed. Hayden Houck reports: “I’m reaching out to follow up about this request and my project. I received a lot of emails from mycologists and foragers who saw your announcement, and I’m super grateful…
Mushroom Church?
In France, local governments and religious organizations are looking for ways to save disused churches. A recent Christian Science Monitor article discusses how many of these historic sites are being preserved by converting them to other uses like are concert venues, hotels, and nightclubs….
Update: Montana Morel Deaths
I earlier reported[1] a mass mushroom poisoning which sickened 51 people and resulted in 3 hospitalizations and 2 deaths. The Montana Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), working with FDA, has now issued its final case report.[2] The culprit: consumption of uncooked or…
OMS Scholarship Winners publish new papers
Recent issues of Mycologia1 feature brand-new publications by past OMS Scholarship winners. Korena Mifune is the lead author of a paper2 published online in Mycologia on June 1. The paper details findings about mychorrizal fungi in “canopy soils” — thick mats of organic matter…
Montana Morchella Morbidity
After eating in the same restaurant, 50 people were sickened, several were hospitalized, and 2 died. Morchella (morels) are the likely cause. (“[P]reliminary analysis strongly suggests that … morel mushrooms were the food item that caused the outbreak.”1 “Available epidemiological evidence indicates that imported…