Join Us For A Mushroom Hunt Oct. 12

by Marlene Berlin

***UPDATE***
The government shutdown might mean a change in time and location or postponement of this event. We’ll keep you posted.

I found this huge mushroom growing on a rotting trunk near the entrance to Soapstone at Broad Branch.

Good news, mushroom lovers! I have badgered Mycological Association of Washington (MAW) into leading a group on a mushroom hunt in Rock Creek Park. We’ll be gathering outside the Nature Center on Saturday, October 12th at 10 a.m., rain or shine. There is no charge for this walk, but you may consider making a donation or joining the association.

Jon Elfritz, the organizer of this foray, has agreed to put up with a bunch of neophytes. Usually on mushroom hunts, the objective is to collect and eat. This one is an occasion to look and learn, and the collecting can be done only through the lens of a camera. We will start out walking around the Nature Center where it is relatively level. Depending how long this takes, we might then go off to more challenging terrain – downhill toward Rock Creek. Coming back is the hard part.

Jon says that what we see will depend on how much rain we get between now and then.

“If RCP gets some but not a lot of rain in the next couple weeks, stuff that grows on wood like oysters, brick caps, sulfur tufts, Pholiota, and various crusts and polypores are more likely, but if we get more than a little, we might expect some of the mycorrhizal mushrooms too, such as Amanita, Russula, Lactarius, and some boletes,” says Jon.

I have not a clue what these are, but can’t wait to find out.

If you’d like to brush up on your mushrooms before our walk, Brookside Gardens is having a Mushroom Fair on October 6th from noon to 5 p.m. It is sponsored by the MAW. Marge Rachlin and I are driving out. Let me know if you are interested in joining us. And in case you missed it, we went a little mad for mushrooms in recent weeks. You can find Marge’s article here and more of Pat Davies’ wonderful fungus photos here.