Your 2026 Board of Directors
Each year in November, we choose two new Board of Directors members and renew the positions of President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. This year we have exactly one candidate per position, except for Secretary which remains open for now. OMS By-Laws do not mandate…
OMS Fall Mushroom Show Follow-up
At the OMS Fall Mushroom Show at the World Forestry Center last weekend, we saw a dazzling display of fungi in remarkably realistic settings. The seminars were well attended. The cultivation blocks sold out. Book sales were strong. The big hit of the show…
The Maggie Rogers Memorial Grant Flyer
Interested in mushrooms and want to know more about them? Apply for a scholarship!
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…
Book Review
This book review was originally submitted to MushRumors, the OMS newsletter, for inclusion in the May/June 2025 issue. “A review of Dr. Michael Beug’s Mushrooms of Cascadia: An Illustrated Key to the Fungi of the Pacific Northwest, Second Edition” by Alice Chang
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…
OMS Scholarship Flyer
Interested in mushrooms and want to know more about them? Apply for a scholarship!
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…