MMS Activity Reports

MMS Meeting --Monday, January 12, 2004

Anna Gerenday presented a beautifully prepared and informative PowerPoint presentation on the Gasteromycetes at our Monday 1/12/04 meeting. The original title of the talk was “The Major Groups of Non Gilled Fungi.”; however, Anna decided to limit the talk to one division of the Aphyllophorales (non-gilled fungi), the Gasteromycetes, because of time constraints. While it turned out that we did not have time to get through all of the orders of Gasteromycetes, we did learn about the orders Lycoperdodales and Phallales. The remaining orders may be presented at another time.

Gasteromycetes (Greek =”stomach fungi”) are characterized by having their spores develop internally, typically in a mass enclosed in a sac. In contrast to the gilled fungi, which actually forcibly eject their spores form the gills, Gasteromycetes passively disperse spores by release into the air, by splashing raindrops, or by insects or other animals.

Puffballs are the most familiar members of this group and belong to the order Lycoperdoedes. Their features include a round to oval double-layered sac (the peridium), which encloses a mass of spores (the gleba). The immature spore mass is pure white. It yellows and darkens with age, and at maturity trillions and trillions (think of the national debt) of spores are released through one or more holes in the spore sac like wisps of smoke. Some puffballs are round, like the gigantic Calvatia and in others the round spore mass is elevated on a “sterile base,” as in the pear-shaped genus, Lycoperdon,. The puffballs, when young and white inside, are choice edibles, as many of our members can attest to.

The order Lycoperdales also includes the tough thick skinned “earth balls” (e.g. Scleroderma spp.), stalked puffballs (Tulostoma and Battarea), and the strangely beautiful “earthstars” (Geastrum and Astreus). Earthstars start out round like puffballs, but at maturity a thick triple layered peridium splits into star shaped rays. In many species, some those rays curl downward and lift a beaked ball containing the spores off of the ground to facilitate wind dispersal of the spores.*

The final order that Anna presented was Phallales—the stinkhorns. Stinkhorns are a fascinating group. They are colorful, bizarre, and often downright obscene in appearance. In addition, they emit the most indescribably fowl odors you will ever encounter. The perfume of these fleur de mals, attracts flies, carrion beetles, and other insects, who unwittingly spread their hosts spores.

Stink horns begin as eggs, somewhat reminiscent of baby Amanitas, complete with volva, and they then rapidly perform an, well, erection. I once read that the inner core of the egg is edible, and as a dedicated mycophagist, I had to experience the unknown and try it (once was enough). My report: a little crisp with a delicate radishy flavor tinged with regret.

After an hour of many interesting photos and taxonomic details, Anna determined that the audience was saturated, so a discussion of the remaining orders of Gasteromycetss, the amazing Nidularilales or “bird’s nest fungi”, and the subterranean Hymenogastrales (False Truffles) was postponed until a future time.

*Be sure to check out the December, 2003 “Mushroom of the Month” on Tom Volk’s website to see an amazing time lapse video of Astraeus hygrometricus, the “barometer earthstar”, opening and closing in response to moisture.

http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/dec2003.html

Ron Spinosa
ronspin@juno.com

MMS Banquet February 8, 2004

The twenty-six MMS members, who attended our annual Awards Banquet on Sunday February 8, were in mushroom heaven! This year’s banquet was, in my opinion, the best ever. Thanks to Maxine Bethke’s excellent taste and planning, we dined in style at Café Luce Ancora , which specializes in gourmet Italian cuisine. It is located at, 2060 Randolph in St. Paul.

An innovation for this year’s banquet was to have it at 1 PM instead of 7 PM, which has been the custom in the past. The feedback I received about this new time was entirely positive. People were pleased that they could dine at leisurely pace, present our awards, exchange gifts, and leave for home before dark.

And now about the food--absolutely exquisite! Chef Steven Smith exceeded our expectations, both in terms of mushrooms selection and cooking creativity. I was happy to be informed that Porcini mushrooms were among the mushrooms served. I naturally assumed the Porcini would be dried, which of course are wonderful in that state of preservation. I was floored when I was further informed that we were being served fresh Porcini imported from South Africa. Three other species of fresh mushrooms were featured in various dishes. In response to our questions about the identity of those other species, our hostess brought from the kitchen two clusters unusual looking fresh mushrooms. Even our experts were scratching their heads about the identity of those fleshy fragrant esculents. The hostess said one was called “trumpet royal’” and the other a Japanese name with uncertain spelling and pronunciation. Later in the evening I got on the internet and was able to find the answer to the puzzle. The “trumpet royal” is Pleurotus eryngii, and “Honshimeji” is Hypsizygus marmoreus. The fourth mushroom was the familiar Pluerotus ostreatus. They were all fantastic!

We normally view the winning slides from MMS Photo Contest at the Awards Banquet; however, I am sad to report that the 2003 contest was cancelled because only three members entered the contest. They were John Plischke, Judith Hinzie, and Will Dikel. Each was awarded a certificate and a monetary award in recognition of their excellent slides and their time and efforts. In lieu of the photo contest, a selection of winning slides from previous contests were shown along with some other exceptional slides from the MMS slide library. This also gave us an opportunity to remember Vern Ludisher, affectionately known as “the old man of the woods”, who was one of our most avid photographers and who contributed many winning slides over the years.

Following the slide show Bob Fulgency presented The Golden Chanterelle Award and his President’s Awards to several of our dedicated and well deserving members. Please see Bob’s article “2003 MMS AWARD WINNERS…” in this issue of The Toadstool Review for the winners of these awards.

The afternoon concluded with an exchange of mushroom inspired gifts. As usual everyone was beaming with joy with clever and unusual gifts they received. Special mention should be made by the remarkable door prize won by Jackie Lallier. Who would have believed that there exists a bobble headed Amanita muscaria with a delicate blue butterfly perched atop! I am sure Jackie will have it prominently displayed in her home for all to admire with envy.

Ron Spinosa
ronspin@juno.com

MMS Meeting February 9, 2004

A brief segment about the Banquet that was held on February 08, 2004: Maxine brought in a sample mushrooms, Pleurotus eryginii and Hpsizigus marmoreus, which were served at the luncheon

Today Ron Spinosa made a presentation on Medicinal mushrooms. The presentation began with information about Fungi Perfecti, a source for medicinal mushroom extracts and cultivation supplies for growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms, founded by Paul Stamets. While setting up to watch a video, we all sampled “Stamets’s Olympia Rainforest Mushroom Tea”, which Ron brought in. It was a big hit! Thank you Ron for the great tea and effort. The video “Ancestral and Future Medicines”, featuring Paul Stamets, was taped at a NAMA convention at Asiloma, California in 1998. Studies on mushroom and their relation to health in different cultures and regions could lead to a viable future for medicinal mushrooms. Some of the mushrooms discussed were the Shitake, Maitake (Grifola frondosa), oyster, Cordyceps, and several others.

Maybe a tea recipe could be shared prior to our forays, and members could forage for the types of fruiting bodies to make tea, adequately drying and powdering them, and then storing the powder until winter. Warm mushroom tea on a cold snowy night would certainly put us in a mycological mood.*

Maxine had let loose a trick up her sleeve. The Wild Vegetarian Cook Book by "Wild man" Steve Brill is one of many sources Maxine use's to make the delicious treats she shares. We all know quality products are created with quality ingredients, if we could only figure out how she always finds prime bug free mushrooms. It is highly perceived some of her wonderful recipes do not come from books.

Brad Ben decided to get all attendees hyped up about the up coming morel season. A short little video clip on finding morels, filmed approximately 6 years ago, demonstrates how to find those tasty treats. This segment has been presented on Ron Schara Outdoors. Congratulations Brad, a very nice demonstration with family involvement.

*Here are the mushrooms that are in the Olympia Rainforest Tea:

• Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum)
• Sitake (Lentinula edodes)
• Maitake (Grifola frondosa)
• Zhu Ling (Grifola umbellata)

Be sure to check out the Fungi Perfecti web site at: http://www.fungi.com

Glen.A.Creuziger
icecap@backpacker.com

Minnesota Mycological Society
May/June 2004 Foray Schedule

May 8. Louisville Swamp. Meet at 10:00 AM Saturday at the parking area just past the railroad tracks. Louisville Swamp is a part of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. To reach the foray site from the metro area, drive south on Highway 169 to about halfway between Shakopee and Jordan and on the right side of the highway look for a brown sign saying “Louisville Swamp”. Take the road west to the parking area.

May 15-16. The Annual MMS Morel Hunt Get Together. MMS kicks off the 2003 foray season with a two day visit to the Whitewater Wildlife Area in southeast Minnesota. We will meet at 11:00 AM Saturday at the church located on the west side of Main Street in downtown Elba, MN. To reach Elba, take Highway 52 south from the metro area to Oronoco. There make a left turn and go straight east on Highway 12 and then Highway 247 to Plainview. From Plainview continue east on Highway 8 and then Highway 30 to Highway 74. There take Highway 74 south to Elba. We will have our usual foray on Saturday and for those who wish to stay over we will meet for dinner at the Elba Inn, time to be determined. We will meet at 8:00 AM Sunday at the Elba Inn for breakfast and start our foray at about 9:30 AM. There are no motels in Elba; however, there is one in nearby St. Charles called White Valley Motel. Rates are very reasonable. Their telephone number is (507) 932-3142. There is also a bed and breakfast in St. Charles called Victorian Lace. Last year the room rates were $85.00 for a double and $55.00 for a single and included a full breakfast. Their number is (507) 932-4496. On your way through Plainview you might check to see if there are any motels available. Rochester and Winona are also fairly close to Elba so you may want to stay overnight in one of those cities. For the more hardy souls, there is camping available at Whitewater State Park which is just south of Elba.

May ?. The Great Minnesota Morel Festival. This event is being sponsored by the City of Red Wing. It will begin at 8:00 AM on Sunday with a pancake breakfast at the city’s Levee Park in the heart of downtown near the historic St. James Hotel. Club member Kelly Larson will be overseeing the event and based upon her description of the planned activities it should be a lot of fun. Although this is not a MMS event, we do plan on having a booth there to promote our club.

May 22. Lake Maria State Park. Meet at 10:00 AM Saturday at the picnic area parking lot near the lake. To reach the park, take Interstate 94 north from the metro area to Monticello and follow signs to the park, which is about 8 miles from the Monticello exit.

June 18-20. St. John’s University. This will be a weekend visit to St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN. The activities will begin on Friday evening. Saturday we will have a foray on the grounds of the university and maybe one of the nearby state parks. Sunday morning we will have breakfast and review our mushroom discoveries and then pack up for the return home. Details regarding this outing will be made available soon.

June 26. Afton State Park. Meet at 10:00 AM Saturday at the last picnic parking area. To reach the park, take Interstate 94 east from St. Paul to highway 95 and then south on 95 to Highway 20 and then east on 20 to the park entrance.