NYC Mushroom Field Guide

A FIELD GUIDE

TO MUSHROOMS IN NEW YORK CITY

welcome!

Right now mushrooms are eating oil spills, providing insulation for buildings, and decomposing organic matter that creates the soil we use and the food we eat.

Mushrooms are one of many ancient links we have to our past and the potential key to our future.

Come along with us and explore the latent potential of the fungi kingdom here in NYC and beyond with the help of this guide developed by Strataspore, Columbia’s Urban Landscape Lab, NOAH and Spatial Information Design Lab!

Credits The MycoMap project is a collaboration between Columbia’s Urban Landscape Lab, Columbia’s Spatial Information Design Lab, Strataspore and Networked Organisms and their Habitats (NOAH).

Urban Landscape Lab: Janette Kim, Simon McGown, Evan Sharp, Anne Yen Strataspore: Chris Kennedy, Monique Milleson, Athena Kokoronis, Kate Cahill, Caroline Woolard, Gary Lincoff Spatial Information Design Lab: Sarah Williams NOAH: Yasser Ansari Illustrations by Anne Yen

an introduction

to mushrooms

Scientists have discovered what could be the largest and oldest living organism on earth, an individual mightier than the blue whale, the giant sequoia tree or such past pretenders to size supremacy as the dinosaur.‌the finding will force biologists to rethink their assumptions about what constitutes an individual, a fundamental problem in the study of the natural world and its ecosystems. Scientists normally view a single organism as something bound by a type of skin, whether of animal flesh or plant cellulose. But fungi grow as a network of cells and threadlike elements whose boundaries are not always clear.

(The New York Times April 2, 1992)

an introduction

what is a

to mushrooms

mushroom?

Mushrooms are part of a larger group of plants known as fungi. A fungus is different from an ordinary green plant because it can’t make it’s own food.

Mushrooms come in many colors, shapes, and sizes. As a matter of fact, there are 38,000 different varieties.

They survive by eating decaying matter.

Mushrooms like to live in dark, damp places. They feed off of the decaying matter around them using mycelium. As the mushroom grows, it develops spores in the gills. The gills are located on the underside of the cap. New mushrooms grow from these spores. The spores are so tiny that you can’t see them without a microscope. Millions of spores together would look like fine powder.

When the spores are ripe, they shoot out of the mushroom. Then they drift away

with the wind. They mix with the spores of other mushrooms. If they land in a dark, damp place with a food source, they will grow into new mushrooms.

First, they develop a threadlike structure called a hyphae. Lots of hyphae grow together and form the mycelium. The hyphae and the mycelium grow under the surface where you can’t see them.

Next, the fruiting body starts to grow. It grows above the surface. When it first appears, it looks like a little button. This button-like part of the fruiting body is called the cap. The cap is protected by a thin covering called a veil. As the mushroom grows bigger, the veil splits and falls down around the stalk (stem) of the mushroom and forms the annulus.

an introduction

major types

to mushrooms

of mushrooms Basidiomycetes

A. Agarics: Mushrooms with flat, radiating bladelike projections under the cap B. Boletes: Fleshy mushrooms with tubes rather than gills

A. B.

C. Chanterelles: Fruiting body fleshy, vase or trumpet-shaped, the underside (fertile surface) veined, ridged or smooth; true gills absent; terrestrial.

D. Club & Coral Fungi: Fruiting body fleshy, simple to multi-branched

C. D.

F. Polypores (Conks, Bracket Fungi, etc.)

Leathery conks or brackets, typically perennial, occasionally annual and fleshy;

E. F.

G. Jelly Fungi: Fruiting bodies gelatinous in texture, convoluted, sometimes cupulate, H. Puffballs and Earthstars Fruiting body spherical to pear-shaped, the outer layer of some splitting into star-like rays;

G. H.

I. Bird’s Nest Fungi: Small, cylindrical to cup-shaped fruiting bodies, approx. 4-8 mm broad J. Stinkhorns: Fruiting body consisting of stalk and slimy, malodorous fertile head, or an orange latticework basket

I.

J.

K.

E. Teeth Fungi: Fruiting bodies variously shaped; all with a fertile, lower surface composed of tooth-like projections;

K. False Truffles: Rounded, potatolike to irregularly-shaped fruiting bodies, developing underground, sometimes erumpent

an introduction

to mushrooms

major types of mushrooms

Ascomycetes

Ascomycetes A. Cup Fungi: Fruiting body, disc-shaped to cupulate, sometimes ear-like (Otidea), stipe short or absent, fertile tissue lining the upper/concave surface; drab to brightly colored; growing on wood, soil, or dung.

A.

B. Earth Tongues: Fruiting bodies

variously shaped but frequently small, stipitate with a fertile, rounded, clavate, arrow-shaped to flattened head

C. Morels, False Morels, and Elfin Saddles: Morels--usually stipitate, cap B.

C.

D.

E.

conic, ovoid to bell-shaped; typically with longitudinal, sterile ridges and interspersed pits, nearly smooth in Verpa; margin of cap attached to stipe except in Verpa and Morchella semilibera.

D. Flask Fungi: Saprophytic and parasitic fungi, fertile tissue consisting of minute asci-lined flasks embedded in variously shaped fruiting structures; examples: branched structure of Xylaria species, parasitizing Hypomyces molds of Russula, Suillus, Boletus, and Helvella species, and slender, capped fruiting bodies of Cordyceps growing from an insect or hypogeous fungus host like Elaphomyces species.

E. Truffles: Fruiting body rounded, wrinkled, to irregularly lobed, developing underground (hypogeous) or partially emergent; fertile tissue internal, convoluted, folded, to marbled or simply lining a hollow interior as in the genus Sarcosphaera.

mushroom

hunting

“It’s a limitation to be bound by the three dimensional body. So, reconfigure the three dimensional body into a cellular body -- instead of thinking Deborah Hay, I think 384 trillion cells at once.”

- Deborah Hay

mushroom

what to bring on a

hunting

mushroom hunt • Water, snack or lunch, hat, sunscreen, insect repellent • Appropriate shoes and clothes for the possibility of brambles, poison ivy, ticks, variable weather and a long walk • Basket, wax or paper bags to keep mushrooms separate, and a pen for taking notes • Map, compass, hand lens, mushroom identification books

• Whistle to call over your others if you find something interesting, or if you are lost • Knife to dig up mushroom • Eat only that which you are absolutely certain is accurately identified as edible.

Even so, cook and eat only a little to be sure you’re not allergic to it.

mushroom

how to hunt

for mushrooms

hunting

mushrooms

in new york city

“When ‘experts’ bask in the glory of explanation, they stop looking.” -Gary Lincoff “You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive.”

--Merce Cunningham, 1919-2009

mushrooms

in new york city

Common mushrooms

found in nyc Oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus Deadly Galerina (Galerina autumnalis) Psathyrella Hydrophila Spring Agrocybe, Agrocybe dura Wine cap (Stropharia rugoso-annulata) Wood Ear Jelly fungus (Auricularia auricula) Fawn Mushroom (Pluteus cervinus) Mock Oyster (Phyllotopsis nidulans) Dryad’s Saddle (Polyporus squamosus) Mica inky Cap (Coprinus micaceus) Spring Agaricus, Agaricus bitorquis Mower’s Mushroom, (Panaeolina foenisecii) Dunce Cap (Conocybe lactea)

Coprinus micaceus

Calvatia gigantea

Daedaleopsis quercina

Coprinus Quadrifidus Coprinus Plicatilis common Psathyrella (Psathyrella candolleana) Tubaria, an LBM (little brown mushroom) Russula Aeruginea Russula Mariae Mutinus Elegans Phallus Ravenelii

Laetiporus sulphureus

Oyster

Crepidotus

mushrooms

in new york city

Tremella mesenterica

Agrocybe

Stropharia rugosoannulata

Psathyrella

Polyporus squamosus

Daldinia concentrica

Stereum ostrea

Coprinus micaceus

Common polypore

Stropharia rugosoannulata

Morel

Mutinus caninus

Phallus ravenelii

mushrooms

in new york city

Common trees found

next to mushrooms Most Common Trees: Black Locust Tree, Red Maple, Black Cherry American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera) River Birch (Betula nigra) Water Birch (Betula occidentalis) Cottonwood: Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) Douglas-Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) American Elm (Ulmus americana) Douglas-Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) Hemlock: Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) Hickory: Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata) Holly: American Holly (Ilex opaca)

Black Locust Tree

Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) Big-Leaf Magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla) Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) Striped Maple (Acer pensylvanicum) Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) Oak: Black Oak (Quercus velutina) Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) “Tulip Poplar� (Liriodendron tulipifera) White Poplar (Populus alba) Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) Norway Spruce (Picea abies) Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) Tulip Tree Walnut

Red Maple

Black Cherry

mushrooms

in new york city

great places to find

mushrooms in nyc

6 5

2

4

a

3

1

8

7 1. Green-Wood Cemetary, Brooklyn

6. Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx

2. Woodlawn Cemetary, Bronx

7. Wolf’s Pond Park, Staten Island

3. Alley Pond Park, Queens

8. Cloves Lake Park, Staten Island

4. Forest Park, Queens

Other Staten Island Parks that have mushrooms: Blue Heron Park, High Rock Park Greenbelt trails, Bloomingdale Park

5. Riverside Park, Manhattan

mushrooms

in new york city

new calvary cemetary, queens

Grasslands, lawns, etc.

Agaricus bitorquis Agrocybe pediades Bolbitius vitellinus Conocybe lactea Coprinus atramentarius Coprinus comatus Coprinus plicatilis Lyophyllum decastes Marasmius oreades Marasmius scorodonius Panaeolina foenisecii Psathyrella velutina Wood-chip mulch [there may be mulching of plants near gravesites] Agrocybe dura Coprinus quadrifidus Crucibulum laeve Cyathus striatus Phallus rubicundus Pluteus cervinus Psathyrella candolleana Stropharia rugosoannulata On wood – trees, stumps or sticks [if such exists at the cemetery] Coprinus micaceus Exidia recisa Ganoderma lucidum Laetiporus cincinnatus Laetiporus sulphureus Meripilus sumstinei Panus rudis Pleurotus ostreatus Polyporus squamosus Trichaptum biforme

mushrooms

in new york city

Collection form id no.

Date:

Time:

Location:

Where did you find the mushroom?

Include street and closest cross street, gps coordinates, address, name of park, etc. the more specific the better

habitat

lawn? soil? wood chips/mulch? dung? leaves/needles? on a tree (dead or alive?, what kind?) down wood or stump? forest or woodland?

Common name

predominant tree species

nearby mushrooms? (Were they the same kind?)

odor? is cap slimy or dry?

other notes

spore print/color

mushrooms

in new york city

Collection form id no.

Date:

Time:

Location:

Where did you find the mushroom?

Include street and closest cross street, gps coordinates, address, name of park, etc. the more specific the better

habitat

lawn? soil? wood chips/mulch? dung? leaves/needles? on a tree (dead or alive?, what kind?) down wood or stump? forest or woodland?

Common name

predominant tree species

nearby mushrooms? (Were they the same kind?)

odor? is cap slimy or dry?

other notes

spore print/color

mushrooms

in new york city

networked organisms

and their habitats

About noah Noah is a tool that nature lovers can use to explore and document local wildlife and a common technology platform that research groups can use to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere. www.networkedorganisms.org How does it work? join the mushroom mapping mission!

1. Grab a photograph of an interesting organism that you want to share or learn more about, select the appropriate category, add some descriptive tags, and click submit.

We’ll capture the location details along with some other information and store it in the species database.

2. See what kinds of organisms are near you right now. Search through a list or explore a map of the most recent spottings based on your location, all on your mobile phone. We are working with local experts and provide you with as much species information as possible.

3. Sign in with a new or existing Google account to link up with My Noah. Once you’ve logged in from your phone, all of your spottings will be associated with your account. Keep track of your stats,browse your spottings, and see how you rank among other Noah users.

4. Noah is all about discovering and documenting local wildlife. We work with research groups and organizations to help gather important data and we want you to help! Missions can range from photographing specific frogs or flowers to tracking migrating birds or invasive species.

Missions can also be just for fun.

You can use NOAH to help map mushrooms in New York City! If you see a mushroom, take a picture of it and submit your data.

Make sure to include a habitat description and applicable notes on nearby tree types, the presence of other mushrooms, odor, spore print color, and whether the cap is slimy or dry.

Create an account via networkedorganisms. com and add your mushroom spottings use your mobile phone or computer!