South Vancouver Island Mycological Society
The Annual SVIMS Raffle is underway! Tickets will be available to purchase at the next meetings until the draw on December 5th!
Tickets are 2$ each or 3$ for 5
Prizes include…
First Place: Basket valued at over 200$
Second Place: One of a kind local art print
Third Place: Signed Mushrooms of BC book
And many more smaller prizes….
Donations from places like Luna Collective, Sea Cider, Foragers Galley and more!
Please contact svims.mal10@gmail.com for any questions or concerns.
Happy Foraging!
The beautiful 2024 SVIMS Calendar is now available (see front cover below). SVIMS members have contributed their photographs and graphic art for each month. The calendars can be purchased by either members or non-members.
The calendars are $20 each. They make a great gift to family and friends.
If you require shipping, please add $5 per calendar for shipping and handling.
See Payment Options on Merch menu.
If you would like to contribute to the 2025 calendar, see the lower part of Merch menu.
The weather was frosty but clear for the annual SVIMS foray to Cowichan Lake.
About 60 people came for all or part of the weekend to collect samples of the local mushrooms and identify them.
The collections started on Saturday morning. Groups went to three different areas and brought back specimens. These were arranged on a display table and given IDs. In the afternoon, groups went out again.
It was a good year for mushroom variety. Just over 175 species were identified–a SVIMS record. The list can be viewed here.
A big thanks to Kurt and all the rest of the time who put the foray together. Photos by Steve Strybosch.
Newcombe Conference Hall in the Royal BC Museum became the site for the SVIMS 2023 mushroom show. This was a return to RBCM for SVIMS–the show was at the museum in the 1990s. The 2023 show was the capstone event of a wide-ranging RBCM Fungi Fest that included the opening of a new IMAX film on mushrooms, a mushroom walk, and two noontime lectures.
This year’s event was, without doubt, the most stylish show ever, thanks to some new table signage prepared by Leya Costa, the species cards created in 2022, and elegant posters coordinated by show runner Andrew Anderson.
In the days before the show, SVIMS colllectors ranged far and wide to harvest the show mushrooms. Setup for the show was on Saturday, October 21. Workers arrived about noon and quickly assembled the displays. The mushrooms were arranged on small paper boats and plates. Identifiers worked to put names to the more than 200 species that were brought in.
After the doors to the show opened at 10 am on Sunday, nearly a thousand visitors streamed through the displays, smelling and touching the mushrooms, asking questions to the SVIMS members behind the tables, and lugging in mushrooms to be identified. Visitors were able to buy the new SVIMS calendar and take out SVIMS membships. Displays at the edges of the room attracted children and foragers. Beginning at noon, short illustrated talks by five different SVIMS members–to capacity audiences–took place in the room next to the bookstore.
October 8 foray results, SVIMS mushroom show October 22, Cowichan Lake Foray October 27-29.
Results of the October 8 foray have been posted.
The mushroom show is coming! This year it’s at the Royal BC Museum. (Click on poster for more info.) Buy a 2024 SVIMS Calendar.
Cowichan Lake Foray
OCTOBER 4, 2023 Update:
Registration closes October 16, 2023. There are still a few spaces remaining for the Weekend and Day participants. Don’t be disappointed.
The Foray is for both novice and knowledgeable mushroom enthusiasts.
More specific information about the site and the Foray, including the registration form and fees can be found under “Resources”, “Docs” and then “Cowichan Foray 2023 Information” and “Cowichan Foray 2023 Registration Form”.
If you have any questions please contact Kurt Raeder as svims.treasurer@gmail.com
The October Monthly Meeting and Presentation can be attended via Zoom or in person at St Luke’s Hall, 3821 Cedar Hill Cross Rd, Victoria BC.
Note that this is a Monday, not the usual Tuesday time.
6:45 pm promptly, ending 9:30 pm. Zoom link will be sent to members by email.
Our speaker is Alison Pouliot, on tour through Pacific Northwest from Australia, She will speak in person about her new book and experiences as an Australian ecologist, author and professional photographer. The title of the presentation is Curry Brain and Jelly Punk. More details after the photos.
Curry Punk & Jelly Brain
Alison will talk about the Conservation & Aesthetics of Fungi. The earth’s rapidly changing climate and environmental issues have come into sharp focus through the demise of charismatic megafauna and the ‘biodiversity crisis’.
But what about stinkhorns and slime moulds? How do fungi and their kin get our attention when they are not only overshadowed by more ‘popular’ organisms, but are rarely included in our ideas about ‘nature’ or ‘biodiversity’?
Over the last 25 years Alison has divided her time between hemispheres, working both with fungi and their followers. She has been actively involved in fungal conservation and land restoration programs. In this talk Alison will explore how fungi are perceived across hemispheres in conservation contexts and which fungal flagships best capture the public imagination. Alison will also some stories from the writing of her recent book, Meetings with Remarkable Mushrooms, in which she interacted with fungi and their followers across a dozen countries.
DR ALISON POULIOT is an ecologist, author and professional environmental photographer with a focus on fungi. Her work spans both northern and southern hemispheres ensuring two autumns and a double dose of fungi each year. Alison is actively involved in teaching, research and conservation, and has conducted over 800 fungus forays across many countries. Alison is author of The Allure of Fungi, Wild Mushrooming, and Meeting with Remarkable Mushrooms. www.alisonpouliot.com
Registration Information and Forms are now available under Docs on the Resources menu.
