The ‘wood-wide web’ has captured the interest of broad audiences. Common mycorrhizal networks, namely fungi that physically link roots of different trees together, are purported to be widespread and mediate […]
Please join us for a walk in Kissena Park, Queens this Sunday! Please join us as the club returns to Kissena Park for the first time in a year! Expect […]
Please join us for our ID session on Monday night to share what you've found, get finds identified or to see what others have found.
Please join us for a walk in Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx this Sunday!
This time of year, from March until May, is a bit of a dry spell for fungi in our area, but we will be walking nonetheless. Expect to see ascomycetes, aka dots on sticks, plus jellies and the remains of some winter fungi.
If you've never been on a mushroom walk with us before, here is what to expect. We highly recommend using the iNaturalist app to document the fungi you find. Find out how to use it here.
Please join us for our ID session on Monday night to share what you've found, get finds identified or to see what others have found.
Do you love learning about mushrooms but have heard 'Cortinarius' are too hard? It doesn't
have to be that way! Shannon is here to spread her love of the Cortinariaceae and to give you
resources to help you get to know the species in your area. She will give us an update on
Cortinarius taxonomy (including new genera that have been proposed), pointers on distinctive
sub-genera and resources that will empower you to learn more. During the talk you will get to
know some of our Cortinarius 'celebrities' and have new resources to work with when you find
these diverse and beautiful species in your backyard.
Please join us for a walk in Prospect Park, Brooklyn this Saturday!
We are still in the fungi dry spell from now until the end of May. We will be hunting for dots on sticks, ascomycetes, jellies and other remains of winter fungi until the sweet, sweet bloom of summer fungi in June.
It's looking like rain in the morning, but it's forecasted to stop around the time we'll be starting our walk.
If you've never been on a mushroom walk with us before, here is what to expect. We highly recommend using the iNaturalist app to document the fungi you find. Find out how to use it here.
Tick season has, unfortunately, already begun for 2023. Make sure you are taking appropriate precautions, including wearing long pants, tucking your pants into your socks and tucking your shirt into your pants. Consider using an insect repellent containing DEET or picaridin, and/or treating your shoes with permethrin. Always check yourself for ticks as soon as possible when returning home. For the full list of precautions, see here.
Please join us for our ID session on Monday night to share what you've found, get finds identified or to see what others have found.
Please join us for a walk in Forest Park, Queens this Sunday!
We are still in the fungi dry spell from now until the end of May. We will be hunting for dots on sticks, ascomycetes, jellies and other remains of winter fungi until the sweet, sweet bloom of summer fungi in June.
If you've never been on a mushroom walk with us before, here is what to expect. We highly recommend using the iNaturalist app to document the fungi you find. Find out how to use it here.
Please join us for our ID session on Monday night to share what you've found, get finds identified or to see what others have found.
Plant-fungal interactions are ubiquitous. For a forest ecologist interested in how plant species are distributed, compete for resources, and defend against their natural enemies, fungi are difficult, if not impossible, to ignore. Furthermore, fungi are now known to infect all plant tissues – from their roots and sapwood to flowers, leaves and seeds. In many cases these internal infections of plants by ‘endophytic fungi’ occur either without adverse impacts on the plant host, or with impacts that vary depending on the identity of the host species.
James will review the breadth of endophytic fungal infections, and some of the impacts these have on their hosts. He will then describe the work he and his team are conducting in lowland tropical forest in Panama on the fungi that infect seeds of tree species that depend on soil seed banks to successfully regenerate after disturbance. Using a combination of carbon-dating, seed burial experiments, fungal culturing and inoculation experiments they have found a high degree of host specificity of seed fungi. These fungal infections can be viewed as the ‘primary symbionts’ that plants encounter, with impacts on seed germination and survival that are a consequence both of the fungi themselves, as well as bacteria that live within the fungal hyphae.
Understanding how seed infecting fungi impact seed survival patterns can help us understand how tropical forest diversity is maintained, and also has applications for the protection of crop seeds and the management of weed species in agricultural systems.
Please join us for a walk in Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan this Sunday!
We are still in the fungi dry spell from now until the end of May. We will be hunting for dots on sticks, ascomycetes, jellies and other remains of winter fungi until the sweet, sweet bloom of summer fungi in June.
If you've never been on a mushroom walk with us before, here is what to expect. We highly recommend using the iNaturalist app to document the fungi you find. Find out how to use it here.