NAMA Wildacres Regional Foray
The annual NAMA Wildacres Regional Foray is unique for several reasons, not the least of which is the awesome natural beauty of the area, including Mt. Mitchell, at 6,684 feet elevation, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. If you stop along the Blue Ridge Parkway in September, you find evidence of Fall’s arrival, including a huge diversity of mushrooms.
"A conference center dedicated to the betterment of human relations" © Photo by David Rust
NAMA’s Allein Stanley, who initiated this foray some 15 years ago, says that "limiting the number of participants means having an opportunity to get people into smaller woods than a larger group could manage," and that "participants can have a more personal connection." "To me, the Wildacres experience is unique," says Stanley. Not only can people go to the same locations to collect fungi year after year, there is lots of social time. A traditional wine and cheese feast on the lower deck each afternoon before dinner is very popular. And yes, Wildacres Retreat is a beautiful place to sit, watch, and listen. There is no television, cell phone reception is weak, and wi-fi in the lodge goes south with cloud cover and rain.
Inonotus hispidus found along the Blue Ridge Parkway |
Hygrocybe sp. |
"Originally, we specified mycologists with some southern experience. Over the years, professional mycologists have included: Orson Miller, Greg Mueller, Dennis Desjardin, Coleman McCleneghan, Juan Mata, Brandon Matheny and Rytas Vilgalys, Bart Buyck, Patrick Leacock, and Walt Sundberg (who served many years as recorder). Additionally, we have had the support of a whole bunch of gifted mycologists like Jay Justice, Owen McConnell, David Rose, Donna Mitchell and Bill Roody, Susan Mitchell, Glenn Freeman, Glenn Boyd, and many others," adds Stanley.
NAMA regional forays are designed to provide an in-depth learning experience. Limited to 40 participants, folks come from up and down the East Coast to Wildacres to learn about local fungi in this unique habitat.
Jay Justice and Allein Stanley look over some mushrooms. |
Todd Elliott, Rytas Vilgalys, Jay Justice and Gregory Bonito "fiddle around" |
At the most recent foray in September, participants were able to interact with a large cohort of professional and amateur mycologists including Jay Justice, Brandon Matheny, Rytas Vilgalys, Noah Siegel, Debbie Viess, David Lewis and a number of notable students from the Vilgalys Lab at Duke University and the Matheny Lab at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Conditions were not ideal this year, but our group still gathered approximately 207 species. Click here to see the species list. Despite collecting for 15 years at the same location, approximately 20% of species found each year are new to the master list.
Calostoma ravenelii. © 2012 Photo by Christine Braaten |
Marisol Sanchez-Garcia, Brian Looney, Joshua Birkeback, and Christine |
Both Christine Braaten and Debbie Viess collected a gelatin-free Calostoma species, Calostoma ravenelii, with a scaly exterior, solid white interior and a red stoma just below the skin. Just below the lodge, I found a mysterious white gilled mushroom which immediately fell on the radar of UT graduate student Marisol Sanchez-Garcia. Debbie Viess brought in a collection of Multiclavula mucida, one of a relatively small number of mushroom-forming lichens, which can usually be found growing on a bed of green algae. A stunning collection of Omphalotus illudens glowed yellow orange on the table.
This odd ascomycete was identified by Debbie Viess, who |
 Hydnotrya cubispora spores. © Photos by Debbie Viess |
Ursula Pohl, Alyssa Allen and Pat Olson put together a demonstration of mushroom dyes. Jackie Schieb, Peggy Horman, Judy Roberts, Carol Kanapka, and Nancy Byer cleaned the fungal bounty we collected and Ursula Pohl worked her magic in the kitchen transforming the wild mushrooms into marvelous samples for everyone to taste.
Peggy Horman, Judy Roberts, Ursula Pohl and Carol Kanapka display |
Lounging on the patio with wine and cheese. |
On Sunday morning, Brandon Matheny eschewed the normal "walk through" of mushrooms in favor of a more educational discussion of the evolution of fungi, using examples from the display tables.
Dr. Brandon Matheny talks about the fungi. Facing camera: David Lewis, Jack Green, and David Rust. © Photo by Nancy Byer
