I met a new SoCal mycoheterotroph I’ve never met before!!! Pterospora andromedea (woodland pinedrops – they grow under conifers and look like pinecones that grew red stipes, I wonder if that’s how they got their name). Pinedrops are obligate symionts with the truffle-like mushrooms Rhizopogon, meaning they only partner with this specific mushroom and get their primary nutrients like carbon from them in order to survive. Below is an example of a Rhizopogon I’ve documented in SoCal (Rhizopogon brunsii - which has only been documented & identified six times on iNaturalist):
Next week Monday we will be celebrating Exploring the Mycoverse turning 5 years old this month.
I’m appreciating all the help – the job market is TOUGH right now. Thank you for sending me job boards, opportunities, and connecting me with potential future employers! Keep on sending them along! I’m still looking for job opportunities, see my previous post for more about my experience, resume and how you can help:
Spring and early summer bring the flowers of mycoheterotrophic plants! These plants otherwise live underground with the fungi so it’s a rare chance to meet them. Mycoheterotrophs are plants that evolved to live exclusively with fungi, known as obligate symbiots. They evolved to depend on fungi so intimately to get carbon they no longer need to eat/process sunlight into sugars. Hence why they are not green like other plants because they don’t have chlorophyll. Snowplants or Sarcodes sanguinea are another example of mycoheterotroph and are probably our most common one. I have a pretty cool photo of snowplants I’m publishing in my book I can’t wait for you to see.
A North American orchid (whoa!), Corallorhiza maculata (spotted coral root), I also met in June in SoCal’s mountains.
It’s uncommon to find large fleshy mushrooms in the mountains this time of year when it’s hot and dry so you can imagine my delight & surprise to meet this Suillus (slippery jack)!
Friday, July 24th, 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm $10 – $40
I’ll be teaching a workshop on Mushrooms and Mythology. Exploring our ancient human relationships with fungi through stories of folklore, science, and art. Here’s more info from Descanso:
Descanso After Dark: Nature’s Magic invites you into a night of wonder and whimsy inspired by the hidden magic of the natural world. From earth-based folklore to the secret lives of plants, explore the mysteries that surround us every day and lean into the wonder of Descanso.
Wander the grounds at your own pace, discovering performances and activities that unfold throughout the evening.
Monday, July 13th, 6pm, free by donation
(Note we’re trying something different, we’re meeting earlier at 6pm!)
You are invited to join us to celebrate our fifth anniversary of gathering and sharing our love of fungi together. We have grown and myceliated to have reached over 1,000 people these past five years of over 100 free, open to the public workshops.
We will celebrate be sharing food together and revisiting a few of our favorite fungi-inspired activities we’ve done together including activities from the Third F Manual and the feminist ethnomycological zine, Learning and Collaborating with Fungi by Lenka Vráblíková and Elspeth Mitchell.
Monday, June 8th, 6pm, free by donation
(Note we’re trying something different, we’re meeting earlier at 6pm!)
Join us as we explore how the recent research about the consciousness of natural world is connected to the future of conservation. Michael Pollan’s new book sets the stage for the high stakes of who we consider to be conscious deserves legal rights and protections. Along with the rise of AI technologies and their trillion dollar industry, comes the claims for legal for protection and rights – arguments centered around consciousness.
We will be discussing the book in its entirety. If you don’t get a chance to read the book, we invite you to please watch Michael Pollan’s talk about A World Appears he gave at this year’s Bioneers conference, a conference centered on building better relationship with the natural world.
You can now preorder my book Meeting the Mushrooms of Los Angeles: Curiosity, Queerness, and How to Love a Fungus via my website or wherever you buy books! If you purchase through my website you directly support me and my work. I am offering signed and personalized inscriptions (fun for gifts!) through my website. I am so excited for you to read it. From the publisher:
Thinking with Plants & Fungi recently published a book of their conference gathering last year. Wow this has been a delight to read so far – we will be reading and discussing this book later this year.
Tonight 7/8 6:30p at Pasadena Presbyterian Church! An Evening for the Trees with environmental activist legend Julia Butterfly Hill
Declare interdependence! A new movement by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Canadian town officially recognizes trees as living beings with rights
Looking sporeward,
Aaron
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