I’m sure you’ve seen some interesting looking mushrooms as you walk in the woods, parks, in your garden or on your lawn. Did you ever wonder what kind of mushrooms they are?

The members and guests of the Kingsville Horticultural Society learned a lot about identifying these fungi from Grant Munroe, the speaker at our February meeting. Grant has been foresting and learning about the mushrooms in Essex County for the past five years. His slideshow demonstrated the vast diversity of types of fungi.

Above is the Tawny Milk Cap. The Cap varieties are quite common. They are the mushrooms with gills on the underside. They are soft to the touch and many are beautiful.

It’s good to know that there are NO species of mushrooms in North America that can poison you by touch alone. However, the Destroying Angel, a lovely white mushroom, which can sometimes be found in Essex County, can kill you if eaten!

Grant emphasized his number one rule of foresting for mushrooms. Never eat anything you find without expert advice!

Those in attendance were treated to photos of Boletes, Bracket Fungi, Tooth Fungi, Coral Fungi, Puffballs and some aptly named Oddities.

To learn more about fungi, Grant recommends that we check the Field Naturalists website for information on guided hikes or seek out the book titled The Smithsonian Field Guide to Mushrooms.

Seedy Saturday update:

Seeds, crafts, exhibits and a bake sale await you at the Unico Centre on March 11th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Please stop by and remember to bring cash for your purchases.

Next Meeting:

Join us on Monday, March 20 at 7:00 to hear Brandi Belanger talk to us about Edible Landscaping.

A great topic as many people are gaining interest in growing their own food

Photos provided by Kingsville Horticultural Society