Monthly Meeting Dec 5 — Daniel Winkler

Please join us for our December 2023 SVIMS meeting at St. Luke’s Cedar Hill, 3821 Cedar Hill Cross Road, Victoria.

Meeting details. We suggest 6:45pm arrival for a 7 pm meeting. This meeting is in-person only–no simultaneous online broadcast. (A short-term recording, only accessible by active SVIMS members, will later be available on this website.)

Foray. A foray with the speaker will take place on Dec 6. Time and location TBA.

Talk Title: “Fungal Fruits of the Forest – Edible Mushrooms in the PNW and Beyond”

Talk summary: The Pacific Northwest may be the richest region in the Western Hemisphere for great edible mushrooms. Choice edibles–Chanterelles, Hedgehogs, Matsutake, King Boletes, Oysters, Conifer Bearhead, and Cauliflower mushroom–are fairly easy to identify. There is also a variety of often-overlooked mushrooms in our woods that are superb edibles, such as Sweetbread Mushroom, Conifer Woodtuft, and White Coral Fungus. In this richly illustrated presentation, Daniel will help us learn to identify, collect, and prepare many great edible mushrooms.

Speaker bio: Daniel grew up collecting and eating wild mushrooms in the Alps. For the last 27 years, he has been living in the US Pacific Northwest. He shares his enthusiasm as a mushroom educator, photographer, and guide on his mushroaming.com website. Daniel recently published Fruits of the Forest – Field Guide to Pacific Northwest Edible Mushrooms. (It will be available at the talk.) This 400-page, gorgeously illustrated book, which focuses on the edible mushrooms of the PNW, distills a lifetime of mushroom hunting from around the world. Daniel previously published a series of fold-out field guides: Edible Mushrooms of the PNW, Edibles of California (both by Harbour Publishing), Amazon Mushrooms, and Medicinal Mushrooms of North America.  He has also published the MycoCard set “Boletes of Western North America.” His ethno-mycological cordyceps research in Tibet and other Asian locations has been featured in National Geographic, New York Times, NPR, and BBC World Service.

SVIMS Foray Government House Fall 2023

SVIMS members returned on November 8, 2023 to the grounds of Government House. The 18 hectares of the provincial property include extensive natural woodlands (mossy balds, Garry oak meadows) on the south side. 

The foray personnel were composed of both Government House volunteers and SVIMS members. At the end of the foray, participants were welcomed at the Government House cottage for refreshments and sharing of finds.

The 20 or so SVIMS people in attendance divided into four groups. Each group had one recorder (Elora Adamson, Ann McCall, Richard Winder, and Kem Luther played these roles.)

Abundant rains over the last month helped bring out a large number of mushrooms, both mycorrhizals and decomposers. The fungal species from the day can be viewed on iNaturalist. In all, forayers found about 40 different species (as always, the iNaturalist count may change as other people weigh in on the observations). 

Photos courtesy of Steven Strybosch. Click on pics to enlarge.

Bolbitus titubans, the fried egg mushroom, was found throughout the grasslands.
Sarah demonstrates the proper mushroom hunting posture. Eyes on the ground!
Ann records some tree rotting mushrooms.
The group laid out the mushrooms on a table at the cottage and debated IDs.
A jelly fungus, Naematelia aurantia, chows down on some yummy Stereum.

Annual SVIMS Raffle 2023

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! 

2024 SVIMS Calendar

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.

Calendar image

Svims Cowichan Foray 2023

Prez Mel welcomes the crown on Saturday morning

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.

The SVIMS home for the weekkend--the Cowichan Lake Education Centre
Andy takes a group down the Schenstrom Trail and the Pacific Forestry Centre
Because of a ground frost the night before--many of the mushrooms were frozen when collected. Calocera cornea, for example.
Bryce and Adolf work on identifying the mushrooms that were collected.
On Saturday afternoon, several SVIMS people stayed in the collection room to begin laying out and identifying mushrooms.
With the mushrooms identified, a little time for musical fun on Saturday evening.
Some folks sneaked out in the evening for a UV light visit to the mushrooms around the centre.
On Sunday moring, foray participants talked about their favourite discoveries.

SVIMS Mushroom Show Returns to RBCM

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. 

Visitors walking through the doors of the RBCM were guided to Newcombe Conference Hall by a series of posters.
A big thanks to the many, many SVIMS members who contributed their time and effort to make the show a success. And also the the staff from the RBMC, who worked throughout the day to ensure that everything worked smoothly. (Photos by Steve Strybosch).
As the mushrooms were brought in on Saturday, SVIMS volunteers identified them, attached ID cards, and arranged them on the display tables.
The final display sat overnight at the museum, waiting for the morning rush of visitors.
A new addition this year--wooden pedestals to hold some of the specimens above the table.
The show in progress.
The show featured more than a dozen good edibles, such as this Bleeding Milk Cap.
People also learned that some mushrooms found around Victoria should never be eaten.
Andy works the ID table behind one of the new tent signs. Is it Andy or the mushroom that is "currently unidentified?"