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daily kansan
wednesday
10.27.99
eight.a
Fungus among us
Mushroom aficionados scour forests for trophies
By Jim O'Mally
Special to the Kansan
Some jack-o'-lanterns are carved by children and found on front porches. Others grow at the base of trees and stumps Lawrence.
John Thornburg, president of the Kaw Valley Mycological Society, said that fall was the best time to find natural jack o' laterns, a type of bioluminescent mushroom. Thornburg and the other members of the society spend much of their free time hunting for jack-o'lanters and other types of fungi.
The thrill of the hunt
Thornburg said he first became interested in mushrooms as a boy. He did a lot of hiking and camping, and had read about the elusive morel mushroom. He got hooked when, with a friend's help, he found some morels. He said he went 10 years after that without finding any. That's when he joined the society.
Identifying mushrooms is one of the main goals of the Kaw Valley Mycological Society's monthly mushroom-hunting forays, held from April through October. Sherry Kay, secretary of the society, said there were more than 1,000 varieties of macrofungi in Kansas and that only 800 of them have been named.
"People hunt mushrooms for the same reasons they go bird-watching," said Ron Meyers, who edits the society's newsletter. "But mushrooms behave better — they stay still. Birds have a tendency to fly away."
Thornburg said that every monthly foray added to the inventory of the identified species of mushrooms in Kansas.
"Over the years we have compiled the most substantial checklist of fungi in the state of Kansas — over 700 species," he said.
Hiddon dolicacie
Morels, the species that drew Thornburg into mushroom hunting.
are especially sought-after because they are delicious, distinctive and easy to identify, Thornbush said. He said that although they were hard to find, mushroom hunters often found many at a time.
Tom Eblen, general manager of the University Daily Kansan and an experienced forager, said that morels had a delicious flavor, so unique that any comparison to other foods misses the mark.
"They taste like the breast of roast suckling unicorn," Eblen said jokingly.
He said the more was the most elusive wild food to find.
"The window for finding them is about two weeks in the spring, usually the last two weeks of April. They need just the right combination of water and warmth." Eblen said.
mushroom fans tend to jealously guard their morels, newsletter editor Meyers said. He said he once took another society member out to a group of morels he had found, but only after telling her in jest that he'd have to blindfold her or shoot her afterwards.
Positive identification of mushrooms is important because some varieties are toxic, Thornburg said.
"There are a couple of deadly mushrooms hereabouts—a couple of species of the genus Amanita, called Destroying Angel," Thornburg said. "They are pure white and relatively easy to identify correctly. The first thing you want to learn is these varieties in order to avoid them."
Accuracy counts
Thornburg said that he didn't know of any cases of serious mushroom poisoning, but that a couple of people recently had become sick after eating Chlorophyllum molybdites, a common lawn mushroom in Lawrence.
"It is a strikingly large mushroom that is liable to be as large as a dinner plate. They look so delicious that people eat them," Thornburg said. "It isn't deadly, but will make you sick. The worst symptom you develop is
FUNGI FACTS
Some of the smallest fungi, microfungi, inhabit the guts of insects and arthropods in symbiotic relationships
■ The largest fungi, "humongous fungus," is one of the world's largest organisms. The growth of Armillaria bulbosa mushrooms weighs 100 tons and covers 30 acres in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Testing showed the growth was one big clone and therefore, one organism.
- Mushrooms are not complete organisms. They are the fruiting bodies of the fungus that grow when the organism is ready to reproduce by making spores.
For more information go to the Kaw Valley Mycological Society website at http://sunflower.com-piitto29/;
Source: Bob Lichwahrt, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology and the Houston Chronicle.
regret."
Mushroom hunters call five common edible species that can be identified with a high degree of confidence the "foolproof five," Thornburg said.
The five species are morels, oyster mushrooms, puffballs, yellow, trumpet-shaped chanterelles and shaggy ggme.
A diverse society
Membership in the Kaw Valley Mycological Society includes retired KU ornithologist Richard Johnston, who studies birds, and Sherry Kay's husband, Richard Kay, a retired KU professor emeritus of medieval history and an expert on Dante.
Kay is also an expert on mushrooms. He has compiled A Checklist of Kansas Mushrooms and is coauthor of A Guide to Kansas Mushrooms with Bruce Horn and Dean Abel.
The society welcomes new members, regardless of their level of knowledge about mushrooms, Meyers said.
"Mushroom people are some of the friendliest people I've met anywhere," he said. "Mushroom people are fun."