Turkey tail mushrooms on a fallen tree

 

Photo by Natalie-Pascale Boisseau

Turkey tail mushrooms take advantage of a fallen branch in the 5 Acre Woods of Lake Forest Park.

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Mushroom Season: A cautionary tale from Washington Poison Center

It’s mushroom foraging season – a fun, but potentially risky activity! If you hunt mushrooms or eat wild mushrooms, you can never be too cautious, as this family experienced...

A mom went foraging with a friend who said he was very experienced. They were searching for matsutake (Tricholoma murrillianum) mushrooms. One mushroom was smaller than the rest, but they threw it into the soup anyway. The entire family ate the soup.

After a couple of hours, all four of them experienced profuse vomiting and diarrhea, so they gave us a call. We helped them out over the course of a couple days, until their symptoms finally resolved. We think they may have mistakenly foraged an Amanita Smithiana (Smith’s Amanita).

Stay mushroom-safe this season and download this mushroom safety tips sheet and keep it handy! 

If you think you've eaten a suspect mushroom, call us anytime at 1-800-222-1222.

Grab a photo of the offending fungi if there's still any hanging around

--Washington Poison Center

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Wild mushroom show at Shoreline Community College October 19-20, 2024

Our annual wild mushroom show through the Puget Sound Mycological Society (www.psms.org) will be held at Shoreline Community College October 19 and 20, 2024 in the Student Union Building #9000. 12pm - 6pm on Saturday the 19th and 10am - 5pm on Sunday the 20th.

Our show will feature a robust display of mushrooms and lichen, live lectures by mycologists, identification, cultivation, demonstrations, culinary delights, mushroom related arts and crafts, mushroom vendors, and a glowing haunted house.

16101 Greenwood Ave N, Shoreline WA 98133

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60th Annual Wild Mushroom Show at Shoreline Community College this weekend

60th Annual Wild Mushroom Show

Sponsored by the Puget Sound Mycological Society

• Saturday, October 28, 2023 - 12 noon - 6 pm 
• Sunday, October 29, 2023 - 10 am - 5 pm

Admissions: General $10; Students $5; age 12 and under Free

Shoreline Community College Pagoda Union Building (Bldg. 9000) 16101 Greenwood Ave N, Shoreline WA 98133

Show Activities 

• Mushroom Identification - Bring your mushrooms and learn what you found.
• Cultivation - Make your own oyster mushroom kit. A limited supply of premade kits will also be available for purchase. Buy one and watch it grow.
• Dyeing with Mushrooms - Learn about dyeing fabrics with mushrooms.
• ASK ME Program and Tray Tours - Ask volunteers with “ASK ME” signs on their vests, and join an expert in touring the mushroom displays.
• Cooking and Tasting - Watch chefs prepare and cook wild mushrooms for sampling
• Books and Vendors - Purchase a reference book or field guide; explore the world of myco art and mushroom products.
• Glowing Haunted House - See fluorescing mushrooms under black light!

Lectures Saturday October 28

• 1:00 - 2:00 Noah Siegel - An Introduction to the Mushrooms of Cascadia
• 2:15 - 3:15 Langdon Cook - Tales from the Mushroom Trail
• 3:30 - 4:30 Alison Pouliot - Meetings with Remarkable Mushrooms
• 4:45 - 5:45 Daniel Winkler - Fruits of the Forest - Fourteen Fantastic Edible Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest

Lectures Sunday October 29

• 11:00 - 12:00 Shannon Adams -The Joy of Looking! Mushrooming for Fun, Food, and Scientific Discovery
• 12:15 - 1:15 Daniel Winkler - Fabulous Fungi from West to East: 15 Years of the Best of "Mushroaming"
• 1:30 - 2:30 Alison Pouliot - Curry Punk & Jelly Brain – The Conservation and Aesthetics of Fungi
• 2:45 - 3:45 Wren Hudgins - Foragers' Choice: The 20 Tastiest Wild Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest

Welcome to PSMS! 

We encourage research, education, cultivation, hunting, identification, and cooking of mushrooms. We’re one of the largest mycological societies in North America. 

Learn more about mushrooms and fungi through monthly meetings, guest speakers, classes, workshops, identification clinics, field trips, our monthly newsletter Spore Prints, and our annual show.

Annual membership is $30 for individuals or families, and $20 for full-time students. Please come by the membership table or join online at www.PSMS.org

PSMS is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Your donations are tax-deductible. Contact us to identify your mushrooms and to learn about the wonderful world of fungi!

Office voicemail: 206-522-6031

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Gloria Nagler: Condos for forest sprites

 

Photo copyright Gloria Z Nagler

(Funny the things you see, walking the Corgi:)

--Gloria Z Nagler

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There is a fungus among us

Photo by Jo Simmons

This is called a helvella lacunosa. Theoretically edible but I wouldn't, way too scary looking!

--Jo Simmons

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Pretty poison

Photo by Jo Simmons

The genus Amanita contains about 600 species of agarics, including some of the most toxic known mushrooms found worldwide, as well as some well-regarded edible species. This genus is responsible for approximately 95% of the fatalities resulting from mushroom poisoning, with the death capaccounting for about 50% on its own. The most potent toxin present in these mushrooms is α-amanitin.

Photo by Jo Simmons

The genus also contains many edible mushrooms, but mycologists discourage mushroom hunters, other than knowledgeable experts, from selecting any of these for human consumption.

--Wikipedia

Photo by Jo Simmons

These photos were taken in Shoreline.

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Mushroom season

Photos by Jon Ann Cruver

Jon Ann spotted these mushrooms at the Shoreline Center on Wednesday. She said they are GINORMOUS.

Neither of us knows for sure what variety they are but a reader previously identified them as poisonous.

From watching different varieties of mushrooms in my yard, I'm going to guess that the third photo is the same mushroom, going to seed (if it has seeds). I've seen them go through this transition in one day.

Are there any mushroom experts out there? I'd love to have a series on local schrooms?

DKH

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