Ho me I mp rovement
Mycology for Fun and Delectability
NRV Mushroom Club
Text by Becky Hepler Photos courtesy of NRV Mushroom Club
Even though she’s heard it before hundreds of times, Rebecca Rader, president of the New River Valley Mushroom Club, does NOT roll her eyes when a newbie tells her: “I want to join because I’m a fungi.” She takes it in stride because, “…(those jokes) just reflect that a new person has been turned on to the wonderful world of fungi, which is great! Every joke is a reflection of newfound enthusiasm for mushrooms and mycology,” she says. There is a local group which meets monthly for people who want to learn more about mycology and how to identify mushrooms for cooking or medicine. NRV Mushroom Club meets monthly to hear speakers and plan forays into the woods to look for these specialists 10
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in the cycle of life in the natural world. Neither plant nor animal, mushrooms and fungi exist to break down dead plant and animal matter and return the nutrients to the soil to feed more plants that will feed more animals. It all started with some people, many inspired by former Virginia Tech mycology professor Orson Miller, who would get together on walks to look for different fungi. In 2008, they organized enough to find a place to meet. [see sidebar for details] Forays into the woods are planned for April through September or October, and the club sponsors two a month - one during the week and one on the weekend. At least one knowledgeable club member is assigned
to each walk, so the found mushrooms can be identified and catalogued. This lets members contribute to the larger body of knowledge about mycology, submitting the results to mushroomobserver.org, according to communications chair Ava Pope. Some of these finds can be quite amazing. “We stumbled upon this tree that had a bunch of dead flies hanging on the branches. Upon closer look, they were infected with this kind of fungus that had taken over their bodies and gotten them to land on this tree and die and spread their spores,” she relates. In addition to planning forays, the meetings include speakers who help educate the group. Walt Sturgeon, author of Appalachian Mushrooms, spoke on what mushrooms are found here. Shannon Nix, a fungal ecologist at George
May/June 2020
