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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…
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…
OMS 2022 Fall Show Report
We’re happy to report that revived 2022 Oregon Mycological Society Fall Mushroom Show was a great success. We overcame some steep challenges: Despite the difficult mushroom conditions our volunteers collected enough quantity to fill the tables, and enough variety so that our ID team…
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: There’s a 2-page handout for each of the “Rare 20…
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…
