Latest Posts

A Cave In Spain Contains the Earliest Known Depictions of Mushrooms

From Leon Shernoff’s excellent Mushroom, the Journal, an interesting article about the earliest artistic depiction of mushrooms. These were painted on a cave wall at Selva Pascuala in Spain some 6-8,000 years ago. In 2011, a multidisciplinary team of archaeologists and mycologists published a scientific paper in Economic Botany exploring the significance of … Continue reading →

NAU Bark Beetle Researcher Fights Back With Fungus

Here’s a story that should be of considerable local interest. All of us who spend time in the woods of Arizona’s high country have seen the devastation wrought by bark beetles on conifer trees weakened by drought. Over a million acres of our forests have been affected. While all those dead trees … Continue reading →

Foraying for winter oysters in Oak Creek Canyon tomorrow (18 Jan 2015)

Brian Marshall, who found oyster mushrooms in Flagstaff last month, sends us another interesting report from Oak Creek Canyon today: After spending a fantastic day of mountain biking in Sedona I spotted A TON of perfect looking Oysters on dead standing deciduous trees in Oak Creek Canyon. The stretch of riparian habitat from … Continue reading →

Native American Use of Edible Mushrooms in the Southwest

The Southwestern region of the United States is a landscape inherently shaped by the presence and practices of Native American groups, and has in turn shaped the cultures and traditions of those who have lived here. Civilizations in the arid and highly variable environments of the Southwest have found it crucially … Continue reading →

Blog statistics report 2014

As we come to the end of 2014, the Arizona Mushroom Forum got a very gratifying report showing our blog statistics for the year. The growth of our little web site has been remarkable, with over 45,000 visits from 108 different countries. Who knew that people in Sudan and Guyana and Khazakhstan would … Continue reading →

Even more December oysters, plus honeys, puffballs, and more

AMF reader Horace Sheffield sent in some pictures today from south of the Page Springs area in the Verde Valley, showing another big fruiting of oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus or P. pulmonarius) on cottonwoods (Populus fremontii). The heavy rains in early December, and subsequent moderate temperatures, have really given off-season foragers in … Continue reading →

2014 Photography Contest Winners

Many thanks to all who sent photographs for consideration in our 2014 photography contest. We had more than 70 to choose from, submitted by over two dozen entrants. The 15 pictures I selected for the final round have now been voted upon, primarily on the Facebook group page, and Jeff Rogers and … Continue reading →

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