South Vancouver Island Mycological Society
This month we have not one but two speaker events. The first, on Thursday November 7, features our own Richard Winder, and the second, on Saturday November 9, features the editor of FUNGI magazine, Britt Bunyard. Both have spoken to our meeting in previous years. See full information below.
St Luke’s Hall, 3821 Cedar Hill X Rd Victoria 6pm start
Title: A Resilient Planet Needs Fungi NOW
Overview: Fungi are weird, fungi are cool, and fungi are beautiful. But how much do we really know about them? For starters, they do much more than just rot things. They control pretty much all life on our planet and are everywhere. Britt Bunyard’s lecture will present fascinating stories and beautiful photos of amazing fungi featured in his latest book. Discover the crazy, wonderful life that goes on all around us, mostly hidden in plain sight. For general audiences, no knowledge of mycology is required, and all levels of mycological questions are encouraged for the Q&A. This lecture is based on features from Bunyard’s new book, The Lives of Fungi, A Natural History of Our Planet’s
Britt Bunyard, PhD, is the founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of the mycology journal Fungi, in print since 2008. Britt is a former university professor and has published over 100 academic and popular science papers. He has served as an editor for mycological and entomological research journals, and mushroom guide books.
A popular evangelizer on all things fungal, Britt has given more than 250 invited lectures to academic and popular audiences across North America and beyond. He has been featured on the BBC World Service’s Newshour, NPR’s All Things Considered, PBS’s NOVA and Wisconsin Foodie television programs; and interviewed or quoted in Discover magazine, The Atlantic, National Geographic, Vox, Vogue, Forbes, Saveur, Eating Well, Hobby Farm, Women’s World, and other magazines and newspapers.
Britt has collected fungi and lectured throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Annually, he leads mycological expeditions throughout the world. One such expedition, was the subject of a documentary film “Look Down Not Up” (2022), produced by documentary filmmakers Alok Siddhi Tuladhar and Dusty Shiva Panthi of Kathmandu, Nepal.
Britt has authored several books, including The Little Book of Fungi (2024; Princeton University Press), Lives of the Fungi (2022; Princeton University Press), The Beginner’s Guide to Mushrooms (2021; Quarry Books), Amanitas of North America (2020; The Fungi Press), and Mushrooms and Macrofungi of Ohio and Midwestern States (2012; The Ohio State University Press).
Britt has served as Executive Director of the Telluride Mushroom Festival since 2014. In 2021 he was awarded the Gary Lincoff Award “For Contributions to Amateur Mycology,” by the North American Mycological Association—NAMA’s most prestigious honor for American mycologists.
This is one of the two SVIMS Presentations in November: the other will be on Saturday Nov 9 with Britt Bunyard, editor of Fungi Magazine. And before those, the Mushroom Show Oct 20 and the Cowichan Foray Oct 25-27. And don’t forget the SVIMS 2025 Calendar.
On Thursday November 7, Richard Winder will talk with us about Mushrooms for All Seasons, his new 4 book series. Look below his photo for the exciting details: not only recipes, but culinary history, biology, and nutrition. He has been cooking up these books for several years and they will finally be available in 2024.
In person and zoom
St Luke’s Hall, 3821 Cedar Hill X Rd Victoria
7pm doors open, 7:15 start, end by 9:30 pm
Richard Winder, Mushrooms for All Seasons
Richard will discuss the highlights of his four book series, titled “Mushrooms for All Seasons.” Instead of a field guide or a plain recipe book, Richard has written a series of books that take an in-depth look at the most popular edible mushrooms available in B.C. (and elsewhere). Grouped into the four seasons they are available, mushroom chapters in book take a deep dive into relevant biological, ecological, historical, and nutritional information. As well, each mushroom chapter presents a savory and enjoyable collection of classical and modern recipes. Highlights Richard will discuss at the talk include the way morels were prepared in the Roman Empire, the traditional way that the Mixtec people of Mexico cook lobster mushrooms, the fascinating ways wealthy people of Medieval Europe liked to consume truffles (as aphrodisiacs), and how fish sauce from Asia led to the evolution of mushroom ketchup and eventually the tomato condiment we all know today. Whether your mushrooms are wild-harvested or purchased at the grocery store, every season brings a new set of mushrooms to cook and enjoy!
The annual SVIMS mushroom show, taking place for the second time at the Royal BC Museum, was a huge success. This year the event took place in Clifford Carl Hall, the main meeting space on the first floor of the museum. Short mushroom talks–four of them–were scheduled in Newcombe Hall on the mezzanine. A smaller room next to the RBCM store became the ID room and edibles/poisonous table. Children’s activities and special displays (lichens, etc) were ranged around sides of the room. The RBCM store put on a special display of mushroom merchandize.
SVIMS members under the direction of mycologist Shannon Berch spent Saturday in Newcombe Hall, receiving collected mushrooms, identifying and labeling them, and arranging them on tables by groups and spore colours. The tables were then moved down to the main hall and placed in a large ring. Signs created by SVIMS graphic artist Leya were placed at strategic locations.
Between 10 am and 4 pm on Sunday (October 20, 2024), visitors were able to enter the hall and take in the displays. Because of the multiple entry points to the hall, an exact count of visitors was hard to come by, but one estimate put the number of people at 1200. The four talks in Newcombe Hall were all attended at room capacity (about 100).
Coordinated by show runner Maggy and SVIMS president Mel, the volunteers–about 20 of them–interacted with visitors throughout the day. About ten volunteers staffed the inside of the ring (the “bull pit”), answering questions and rapping about mushrooms. Other volunteers, coordinated by Ai Linh, engaged visiting children in several crafts. Jenny, with the assistance of Ian and Tina, kept the volunteers fortified with snacks. Kem and Mitch spent most of the day identifying mushrooms brought in by visitors. Sinclair fielded endless questions about edible and poisonous mushrooms. Bob, Elora, and Sky took applications for SVIMS membership (a record number of new memberships for a SVIMS event) and sold about 65 of the SVIMS 2025 mushroom calendars.
Visitors took breaks from the mushroom displays and talks to view two mushroom films (Fantastic Fungi, Fungi: The Web of Life) that Alex, the RBCM Theatre Manager, had scheduled in the IMAX theatre.
Kim and Liz and Amina other RBCM staff were on hand for much of Saturday and Sunday to keep the show running smoothly.
SVIMS offers a big “Thank You” to the many RBCM staff and all of the club volunteers who made the day possible.
In the picture are six of the bull pit staff, left to right Richard, Mel, Josh, Sarah, Steve, and Brandon. (All pictures on this page were taken by Elora Adamson and are used with permission.)
