Boston Flora

Tag: Boston Mycological Club

  • Thursday, November 7, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – The Hidden Forest

    We all know what the forest looks like. What very few of know are the hidden organisms that nourish, protect, infect and destroy the visible portions of our ecosystems. More than 90% of the world’s plants have fungal partners, without which the world would be a vastly different place. Fungi form an entire kingdom, more closely related to animals than to plants. Like us, they depend on plants for oxygen and carbohydrates. And, like us, they have a complicated relationship with the plant kingdom, acting sometimes as good gardeners and sometimes as destroyers. One lecture is not enough to tell you everything about this relationship but we promise that you’ll never see the forest in quite the same way again.  Come to Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley, on Thursday, November 7, from 7 – 8:30, and hear Susan Goldhor’s lecture for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society entitled The Hidden Forest.

    Susan Goldhor is a biologist who is the President of the Boston Mycological Club, the oldest such club in the nation. Her essays about fungi, which have focused on their roles in ecoystems, have been widely praised for their clarity and style, as well as for popularizing aspects of fungi that have generally been the province of specialists.  Register at http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e8clee75612ddf48&llr=kzaorjcab.

    http://hiddenforest.co.nz/fungi/class/images/image01.jpg

  • Monday, October 28, 6:00 pm – Mushrooms, Safe Foraging, Delicious Cooking

    Have you ever wondered about safe ways to hunt for wild and exotic mushrooms, or wanted to spice up supermarket varieties like crimini or portabello? If so, join president of the Boston Mycological Club Susan Goldhor, expert forager Ben Maleson, and renowned chef Chris Douglass to explore fascinating fungi at this Boston University Food and Wine course to be held Monday, October 28 beginning at 6 pm at 808 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. Goldhor has been collecting and eating wild mushrooms—without a single stomach ache—for more than 25 years, and writes a regular column for the magazine Mushroom, the Journal of Wild Mushrooming. Chris Douglass is chef/owner of Dorchester’s beloved Tavolo and Ashmont Grill, and an active proponent and patron of local food producers. Please your palate with mushroom dishes paired with wine while expanding your mushroom knowledge.  $80.  Image below from www.cookingontheweekends.com. Register on line at http://www.bu.edu/foodandwine/registration-manager/catalog.php?action=section&course_section_id=808. 

    http://cookingontheweekends.com//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/November-1-Wild-Mushroom-Polenta3.jpg

  • Saturday, June 29, 2:30 – 4:00 pm – Reveal the Hidden Forest: Fungi at the Arboretum

    Susan Goldhor, Biologist and President of the Boston Mycological Club, along with Joel Kershner, Arboretum Field Studies Guide and BMC member, will lead an Arnold Arboretum walk on Saturday, June 29, from 2:30 – 4 (rain date June 30), meeting at the Bussey Street Gate.  Turn your attention to the fascinating world of fungi at the Arboretum.  Discover and identify some of the fungi that interact in complex ways with other organisms under the soil, within leaves, on bark and rocks.  In case of inclement weather contact 617-384-5209.  Reserve on line at www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu.

    http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/thingstodo/image/608x342/2012/09/11/fascinating-fungi-guided-woodland-walks_72ed7e19.jpg

  • Monday, April 29, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Good Fungus, Bad Fungus

    John Klironomos, Professor of Biology at University of British Columbia – Okanagan, will speak to the public at the Arnold Arboretum on Monday, April 29, from 7 – 8:30 in the Hunnewell Building, in a program co-sponsored by the Boston Mycological Club. Fungi are found everywhere and play important roles in the environment. Some are decomposers (recyclers), others are parasites and pathogens, and yet others form mutualistic symbioses with plants and animals. In this presentation, the diversity and functioning of fungi in terrestrial ecosystems will be illustrated and discussed.  $10  for members of the sponsoring organizations, $15 nonmembers, and you may register on line at www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

    http://pre.cloudfront.goodinc.com/posts/full_1317668377fungus2.jpg

  • Tuesday, April 30, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Mycorrhizal Symbioses and the Functioning of Terrestrial Ecosystems

    The Ecological Landscaping Association, The Arnold Arboretum, the New England Wild Flower Society, and The Boston Mycological Club will co-sponsor a lecture on Tuesday, April 30, from 10 – noon at the Weld Hill Research Building, 125 Arborway in Boston, on Mycorrhizal Symbioses and the Functioning of Terrestrial Ecosystems.  The lecturer is John Klironomos, Professor of Biology at University of British Columbia – Okanagan.  Mycorrhizal symbioses are mutualistic associations between plant roots and a small group of soil fungi.  These symbioses are very common – found in the majority of terrestrial plants.  Plants benefit from increased nutrient and water uptake, and also from increased protection from root pathogens.  Recent research has also shown that the symbiosis promotes higher diversity and productivity within plant communities.  This presentation will discuss the structure and functioning of mycorrhizal symbioses and the potential for their application and management.  $25 for members of the sponsoring organizations, $35 for nonmembers.  Register on line with one of the sponsors, call  617-436-5838, or email ela.info@comcast.net.

    http://soilmicrobialecology.ok.ubc.ca/Group_Site/Faculty/Entries/2010/6/27_John_Klironomos,_Ph.D._files/shapeimage_1.png

  • Monday, March 5, 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Mushrooms: Safe Foraging, Delicious Cooking

    Have you ever wondered about safe ways to hunt for wild and exotic mushrooms, or wanted to spice up supermarket varieties like crimini or portabello? If so, join president of the Boston Mycological Club, Susan Goldhor, and renowned Boston-area chef Chris Douglass, on Monday, March 5, from 6 – 8 at the Boston University Demonstration Room, 808 Commonwealth Avenue,  to explore fascinating fungi. Goldhor has been collecting and eating wild mushrooms—without a single stomach ache—for more than 25 years, and she writes a regular column for the magazine Mushroom, the Journal of Wild Mushrooming. Chef Douglass is chef-owner of Dorchester’s beloved Tavolo and Ashmont Grill, as well as leading member of Chefs Collaborative and an active proponent and patron of local food producers. Together, Goldhor and Douglass will expand your knowledge of mushrooms and please your palate with mushroom dishes paired with wine. Cost $60.00.  Register online at www.bu.edu/foodandwine, or telephone 617-353-9852.

  • Mondays, September 20 – October 18 – Boston Mycological Club Fall 2010 Mushroom Classes

    The Boston Mycological Club is pleased to announce its lineup for fall classes.  Designed for beginners, all are welcome.  Classes start at 7 pm on consecutive Mondays in the Harvard Herbaria, at the end of Divinity Avenue (Harvard Square T stop), and you may choose to come to one class or the entire series.  Admission charges for non-members of the BMC are $15 for any single class, $40 for any three, $45 for four, or $50 for all five. Member prices are $10, $25, $30 and $35.  Note that if non-members attend all the classes, they may become Club members for only $5 extra (what a bargain!)  Non-members are also invited to the Sunday forays that precede these classes, and are welcome to stay after class for I.D. sessions.

    On September 20, Erin Page Blanchard will speak on “A Beginner’s Guide to Identifying Fungi.” Whether you’re collecting edibles or just enjoying another part of the natural world, putting a name to what you see is important for both pleasure and knowledge.  It may take expertise or time to fill in genus and species, but we can all learn to classify mushrooms into groups by visual characteristics, and this tells us where to look next.  Erin is from California, where she has been an official identifier for many fungal events, and moderates a message board for mushroom hunting.  As a consultant to wild food businesses, and part of a team identifying Yosemite fungi, she is the ideal person to lead us into the fungal maze.

    September 27 brings “Identifying Boletes” with Noah Siegel.  Noah is a nationally known award-winning photographer and mushroom identifier.  He is co-President of the Monadnock Mushroomers Unlimited in Keene, New Hampshire, and is a Trustee for the North East Mycological Federation.  Noah has hunted mushrooms throughout North America as well as in New Zealand and Australia.  He’ll host his Annual Fungus Fair on September 19 in Athol, MA from 10 – 5 at 100 Main Street.

    October 4 and October 18 feature George Davis.  He will speak on “Identifying White and Light Spored Gilled Mushrooms” and “Identifying Dark Spored Gilled Mushrooms.” It’s difficult to overestimate the importance of accurate identification for mushroom hunters.  Not only is it a fascinating puzzle, but it’s the difference between a delicious meal and a delicious meal followed by a night in the ER.  Identification is tricky enought that we devote a Monday night to it after every single Sunday foray.  Luckily, the BMC has experts to help.  George and Karen Davis are the people we’re most likely to turn to for assistance, theaching us how to figure out what we’ve found.

    Finally, on October 25, enjoy “All The Rest,” with an instructor to be announced.  Polypores, puffballs, truffles, and all the other weird and wonderful fungi that don’t fit into the above categories, including many scrumptious edibles, will be examined.  You may pay at the door, or send a check made payable to BMC to Marcia Jacob, 118 Presidents Land, Quincy, MA 02169.  If you have questions, email Marcia at mjacob5@verizon.net, or call her at 617-471-1093.  You may also contact pamnicki@ix.netcom.com (617-964-2992) or susangoldhor@comcast.net (617-976-7252).  Photo below by Richard Seaman.