Ambiance was in abundance at our annual winter foray held at the Bayou Boudin and Cracklin Café and Cabins in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Owners Rocky and Lisa Sonier made everyone welcome and served excellent Cajun food. The cabins, situated on the Bayou Teche, were just right for our group. Breaux Bridge is about 10 miles east of Lafayette, LA (the site of our NAMA/GSMS 2009 Foray) on IH-10.
On Friday evening, we met old
friends and new friends, as people arrived from seven states. New members
attending were Dennis and Angie Miller, of Richardson, TX, and Libba and Spencer
Campbell, Foray Chair, and Past President, respectively, of the New Mexico
Mycological Society, from Albuquerque..jpg)
Our Guest Mycologists, William (Bill) Roody and Donna Mitchell, from West Virginia, arrived, and went right to work on
the fungi on the tables. Bill is a general mycologist, and Donna specializes in
the Genus Russula. We enjoyed potluck dishes and beverages brought by members,
and Cajun gumbo and rice prepared by Patricia Lewis. We sincerely thank everyone
who brought food items, and Donna Mitchell, who did more than her share of
slicing and dicing.
Saturday morning, after a breakfast of boudin, cracklins, hogshead cheese, ham and eggs, we packed our sack lunches and departed for our foray site in Lafayette. The Acadiana Park and Nature Center is a heavily wooded 110 acres with 3+ miles of trails, owned by the City of Lafayette. After foraying in smaller groups for two hours, we had a picnic lunch in the pavillion. The majority of forayers then returned to Breaux Bridge. A few people explored a local cemetery with more pines present, and collected several other species that we did not find in the predominately oak forest of the nature center. Our guest mycologists, Bill and Donna, jumped right in, sorting and identifying many of the specimens collected. Also assisting with identifications were Chris Crabtree, David Fuller, Heinz Gaylord, Jay Justice, David Lewis, Dennis Miller, Clark Ovrebo and Paul Scott. A Cortinarius species was one of the more interesting species found.
Bayou Café owners Rocky and
Lisa treated us to some excellent Cajun food on Saturday evening, serving
catfish and shrimp etouffee with all the trimmings. Later, Bill Roody spoke on
“Winter Mushrooming in the Florida Panhandle”. His presentation on his research
on Florida fungi was well received, as many Florida species are found in other
Gulf Coast states. Many of us commented on his excellent photographs. Later, we
sampled several liquors made by Peyton Wilson. Peyton, please have more ready
for the next meeting.
After breakfast and the comments by the mycologists on the mushrooms displayed, we packed up and headed home.
BIG THICKET MUSHROOM WALK
NOVEMBER 15, 2008
Conditions were good, and 66 taxa of fungi were collected during the GSMS fall mushroom walk held in the Lance Rosier Unit of the Big Thicket National Preserve along Teel Cemetery Road. After the walk, forayers returned to the Field Research Station in Saratoga, where specimens were organized and discussed by President David Lewis and visiting mycologist Jay Justice from Arkansas.
GSMS members attending were Matthew Bastian, Heinz Gaylord, Eric & Sergio Henao, Jay Justice, David and Patricia Lewis, Dennis & Angelica Miller, John Soileau, and Brooks & Bernadine Young. Eighteen non-members also attended the walk
Interesting finds include: Hygrophorus mississippiensis, a small red Hygrophorus described by Bill Cibula from southern Mississippi; Pseudofavolus cucullatus, a branch- dwelling tropical polypore common along the Gulf Coast; Rhizopogon baxteri, a rare small pea-shaped fungus known only from Michigan and Mississippi; and Russula vinacea, a common purple caped mushroom with an acrid taste. The last three are new records for Texas. Nine new records were also made for the
SUMMER FORAY – JULY 11-13, 2008
Our foray was held again at King’s Arrow Ranch Inn in Hillsdale, MS, 20 miles north of Picayue MS. It began with our shrimp boil on Friday evening, done by David Fuller,vice president, and many thanks to him. Forays on Saturday went to Julia O’Neals farm, Black Creek Trail at DeSoto National Forest, and Pascagoula River WMA. Our annual business meeting was held on Saturday afternoon and our officers were elected for another year. Breaux Bridge LA was approved as the site for our Winter Foray.
Our guest Mycologist was
Dr. M. Catherine Aime (Cathie). She began her studies at Virginia Tech under
Dr. Orson K. Miller. She completed her studies at the University of Oxford in
England, and has worked as a Research Molecular Geneticist at the USDA's
Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville, MD. Cathie is now Asst. Professor
of Plant Pathology at LSU in Baton Rouge. She specializes in rusts and other
basidiomycete phytopathogens. Cathie also studies the biodiversity of fungi in
the tropics, and has traveled worldwide in this pursuit. She is an elected
Fellow of the Explorers Club, and currently serves as elected Secretary of the
Mycological Society of America.
Dr. Aime presented on "Exploring for New Species of Fungi", an account of her adventures in an extremely remote region of tropical forest in the tepui highlands of Guyana. She showed the difficulties of collecting and identifying fungi in a very primitive setting. It was amazing to hear that her group has discovered hundreds of new species and genera of mushrooms and other fleshy fungi. We heard many favorable comments on her presentation, and will certainly ask her to return.
The student hosted by our Society at the 2008 summer foray was Allison Walker. Allison is a Ph.D. Student in Marine Mycology at the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs, MS. She presented on "A Comparison of Fungal Decay Communities in Natural and Created Gulf Coast Saltmarshes, with Implications for Coastal Restoration". Allison enlightened us on the little black dots found on Spartina grass commonly found in coastal marshes. We now know that they are marine ascomycete fungi, important in nutrient recycling in the marine environment. Our members appreciated her bringing a little-know aspect of mycology to our attention.
