The Tasty and the Toxic at the Mushroom Fair

Hundreds of fans of the world of mycology stopped by the 46th annual Mushroom Fair at the Arcata Community Center on Sunday to improve their mushroom identification skills. Attendees checked out tables filled with local mushroom species labeled “Edible” or “Toxic,” and stopped by the bring-in-your-mushroom identification table staffed with experts. They ought to know — the event is organized by the Humboldt Bay Mycological Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering education and appreciation for fungi, with funds supporting scholarships and various educational programs throughout the year.

Back for his 14th year at the event, keynote speaker and expert mycologist Noah Siegel also offered some succinct, cautionary identification advice to mushroom hunters. “Don’t force a mushroom you’ve found into a species ID if you’re a little uncertain,” said Siegel. “Don’t convince yourself that the mushroom you found is what you want it to be.”

Siegel stressed this advice throughout his “California: Land of Year Round Mushrooms” presentation by showing examples of edible mushrooms visually similar to ones that will harm you. One example: edible Springtime Amanita mushrooms are visually similar to the Death Cap Amanita mushroom that will kill you if eaten.

Siegel is the author of the popular Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast mushroom identification book, and his entertaining talk outlined identification methods for mushrooms that can be found in nine weather “seasons” throughout California. These include “Rain at Last! The First Flush” (October-November), on through winter, spring, “Let It be Foggy” (summer) and “Waiting for the Rains” in September-October.

Siegel pointed out that locally this fall we have far fewer mushroom displays than normal likely due to the early fall rain and then long dry spell. Through 2022, tables have displayed from 186 mushroom species to as many as 470. This year many mushrooms encountered while collecting were too soggy to display, but still more than 250 species from Humboldt County and inland areas were on the tables.

Elsewhere at the event, crowds of attendees gathered around the “Some Mushrooms Make You Sick” table, staffed by founding fair member Joann Olson in the absence of mushroom medical expert Bruce Kessler. “We’re warning people that Amanita phalloides — the Death Cap — has been identified in three Humboldt County locations since 2022,” said Olson. “It has a toxin in it that will kill you, similar to Galerina marginata,” known locally as Funeral Bell.

Located nearby to Olson’s table, however, was a display of “Munchable Mushrooms” and two friendly volunteers showing examples of local mushrooms that are safe and delicious. But remember that old joke, “All mushrooms are edible — at least once!”

For fans seeking tasty edible mushrooms that you can cultivate on logs yourself, vendor Levon Durr of Fungaia Farms in Eureka was back again at the fair offering mushroom-growing kits and sharing how to grow your own edible shitake, Lion’s Mane and Oyster mushrooms. “The best part of mushroom gardening is that they grow in five to six days from inoculation to harvest, unlike months required for growing tomatoes, for example,” said Durr. He said our local coastal climate and ample availability of small-diameter hardwood logs (as a growing medium) make for an ideal grow-your-own mushroom opportunity.

The weather kept scheduled Karuk keynote speaker Sara Calvosa Olson from attending, so Maria Morrow, a College of the Redwoods professor and HBMS board member stepped into that slot with a presentation on “Early Season Mushrooms of Coastal Humboldt.” Alan Rockefeller, mycologist and expert in DNA barcoding, discussed “Tryptamine Fungi of North America and New Discoveries in the Taxonomy of Psilocybin Mushrooms,” providing a deep dive into psilocybin fungi, including photos and details on new species.. Over in the arts and crafts room, artist Elissa Callen, of Oakland, was offering fungal-sourced pigments to a crowd of attendees creating their own paintings along with her own artwork and supplies for sale.

The family-friendly fundraising event also included a mushroom costume contest, a scavenger hunt for children and many vendors offering mushroom-themed art. For more information, visit the Humboldt Bay Mycological Society’s website at hbmycologicalsociety.org.

See more photos at northcoastjournal.com.

Mark Larson (he/him) is a retired Cal Poly Humboldt journalism professor and active freelance photographer who likes to walk.

This article appears in Holiday Gift Guide 2024.