Los Angeles Mycological Society

2016 Mushroom Fair Foray

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LAMS will be offering a foray, on Saturday, February 13 to gather specimens for display at the 32nd Annual Los Angeles Wild Mushroom Fair to be held at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden in Arcadia (301 North Baldwin Ave., Arcadia) on Sunday, February 14.  The foray is open to the public.  Reservations are required for the foray.

Potrero El Cariso Foray  9:00 AM--1:00 PM, Saturday, February 13.  Please read the "General Guidelines" below before going to the foray information page.  Participation in this foray will be by RESERVATION ONLY with a maximum of 30 participants.  

All are invited to participate in the foray. If you have a friend, relative or co-worker interested in mushrooms they are also invited-- they need not be a member to participate. Members and the public are also encouraged to bring in mushrooms they find around their homes or in their neighborhoods. A signed liability release will be required to participate in the Potrero El Cariso Foray.

 

General Guidelines for ALL Fair Forays (Please Read)

The primary purpose of these forays is to COLLECT MUSHROOMS FOR DISPLAY AT THE FAIR---not for personal use! This means edible species too!  Because it will be necessary to take specimens to the Fair location as soon as possible after the foray, there will be little, if any, time to identify specimens at the foray siteDo not expect the foray leader to go through your basket and identify every mushroom you have found.  Identification will be made at the Fair, not in the field!  If you are not going immediately to the Fair location at the end of your foray, please give your specimens to the foray leader or a designated person who will take them to the Fair.

Please wear sturdy, comfortable shoes, long pants and a long sleeved shirt.  Even if the weather is warm these will help protect against poison oak or prickly shrubs.  A hat is recommended.  Bring a lunch, water and warm clothing.  Bring a basket or other sturdy container (no plastic bags, please) for your finds and a knife or trowel for digging.

Try to collect fresh, intact specimens.  Dried, broken, old or rotten specimens are difficult to identify and not likely to be useful for display.

Collect the entire mushroom.  This means digging them up and not cutting the base.  Cut specimens are useless for display and may be difficult to identify in some cases.

Wrap your specimens to keep them fresh and prevent damage.  Waxed paper (including Waxtex bags), aluminum foil and egg cartons are recommended to hold specimens.  Plastic bags are NOT recommended--they promote rapid decay of mushrooms.

Take notes when you collect your specimens and place the notes with the specimens.  Include associated trees or shrubs (oak, pine, etc.) and substrate, (wood, leaves, soil, etc).  These will help identify your specimens especially if you are not there to describe the location to the identifiers at the Fair.

Here is a link to field description slips you can include with your specimens to simplify the process of taking notes.    (Requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader.)

Bring a cardboard box to place your specimens in when they are taken to the Fair.  Put your name on the box holding your specimens.  This will help the identifiers locate you in case they need some additional information about your finds and to allow you to be recognized in case you have found something very unusual.

 

Created in January 2016.  Last update February 5, 2016. Contact the webmaster.
Copyright 2016 by the Los Angeles Mycological Society unless otherwise noted.
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This page is part of the Los Angeles Mycological Society web page at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County