What:
These online forays, like our in-person forays, are for members only. The online platform can be a good option for people who can’t make the long trek to an in-person foray or who have a different learning style. But, everyone is welcome! Your virtual hosts for these events will be Greg Marley, Michaeline Mulvey, Aaron Witham and Meg Stout. The first part of the meetings will be led by Michaeline and consist of her showing mushrooms she has recently collected, explaining key identification features and interesting facts. The second part of the meeting will be run by Greg, who will do the same with mushroom photos that you all submit ahead of time. See more details on how to submit mushroom photos under the directions of “How to Participate” below.
When:
See the homepage for upcoming dates.
Where
On your computer or tablet-
The meeting ID and password will be emailed to you usually one week before the virtual foray. Load the free Zoom application to a computer that has a camera and speaker. If you don’t have a camera or speaker, you can plug in a portable webcam. Or, you can attend on your phone…
On your phone-
Most smart phones have the capability of joining a Zoom meeting by simply clicking on the link to the meeting. Usually, you’ll be able to watch the meeting directly from your phone.
If your phone is slow or your wireless service isn’t great, you can also call the phone number given out with the Zoom link and just listen to the meeting. Michaeline and Greg do a good job of describing the mushrooms they are talking about.
How to Participate:
Passively-
If you are too busy to find mushrooms to submit for the meeting or simply feeling shy, just show up and watch the presentation. We want you there!
Actively-
If you are feeling brave, collect up to three different species of mushrooms during the two weeks leading up to each virtual foray. These can be any species you want, and it’s okay if you don’t know what they are. However, keep your eyes peeled for emails from Michaeline as she may pose a challenge to find a specific genus if there is one that is especially interesting or prominent popping up.
You will submit multiple pictures of each species you collect and an information sheet to Aaron. Info on how to get the submission to him will be sent out with the Zoom link. Pictures should capture the various details of each mushroom’s physical appearance. The information sheet includes your observations on habitat, growth pattern, flesh color, odor, texture, etc. The deadline for submissions is the Wednesday at 5 pm before the virtual foray. Aaron will share your submissions with Greg and Michaeline, so they can study them and prepare to discuss them at the event.
If a participant has trouble joining the meeting on the day of, they may email Aaron and he and Meg will help the person join.
Accommodations:
If you would like closed-captioning to help you follow the conversation, please click on the cc button on your Zoom panel and choose “Live transcript.” Please keep in mind that this is a computer-generated transcript, so it may include errors. If you have additional accommodations, please let Aaron know ahead of time, and we will do our best to assist if we are able to.
Guidelines for Photos:
*If you are technologically savvy, please save Aaron time by naming each picture file with this nomenclature: YourFirstName_LastInitial_NumberMushroom. For example: “Sammy_H_1a”, “Sammy_H_1b”, Sammy_H_2a”, “Sammy_H_2b” etc.).
Photos taken in natural light are better than indoors but avoid photos in full sun or photos that are backlit by the sun. Sometimes you can shade the specimen with your body or some other object to get a better photo. Photos taken during “golden hour,” during good weather, tend to be the best.
If you don’t want the hosts to see metadata about where your picture was taken (i.e. if it would reveal a secret foraging spot that you want to keep private), then please make sure to strip the location data from the photo before you email it to Aaron. Pictures taken on most phones automatically collect that information unless you change your settings or remove it.
Take several photos of each mushroom, so that you can capture the following features:
‐ the top of the cap
‐ side/edge of the cap
‐ underside of the cap where it meets the stem
‐ a close up of the upper stem, including any partial veil present
‐ the base of the stem (be sure to dig for the base!)
Questionnaire: (to be completed to the best of your knowledge!)
*Please complete a separate questionnaire for each separate mushroom species you collect, and email it to Aaron along with your photos. And, if you are technologically savvy, please save Aaron time by naming each questionnaire with this nomenclature: YourFirstName_LastInitial_NumberMushroom. For example: “Sammy_H_1”, “Sammy_H_2”, etc.).
Participant’s Name‐
Number of participant’s mushroom (1st, 2nd, or 3rd to match the file name of the photos)-
Describe the habitat you found it growing in?
Was it growing on wood or the ground?
What species of tree(s) was it growing on or near?
What was the pattern of growth? (i.e. was it single or growing near others or growing in a cluster)
What does it smell like? (no, like a mushroom is not a helpful description!)
If it has a cap, gills, or pores, veil, or stem, what color are they?
What color is the flesh in the cap or stem when freshly cut open?
Does the flesh change color after exposure to oxygen? How long did it take?
If it has pores, does the color change when bruised?
What shape is the base of the stem?
What color is the spore print? (for a good range in spore print, do one on white paper and one on black paper, or a single spore print on glass)
How tall is it?
How wide is the cap?
What kind of spore releasing structure does it have? (gills, ridges, pores, other)
Do the gills, ridges or pores stop short before touching the stem, do they touch it narrowly, do they touch it broadly, or do they run down the stem?
Can you easily peel the skin off the cap?
Can you easily separate the cap from the pores?
When you break the gills, does a milky substance ooze out? If so, what color is the liquid? Does it change color?
How does the cap surface feel? (Velvety, smooth, sticky, wet)
How does the stem surface feel?
What do you think it is?
Maine Mycological Association 