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Chicago, Illinois
chicagomushrooms@gmail.com

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chicagomushrooms@gmail.com

We hope you’re as excited for this season as we are!! Join us this May and June for a cemetery heavy experience :) we can find some mushies and also some bugs getting it on (maybe even ladybug fungal STDs?!?). This section of our season includ
We hope you’re as excited for this season as we are!! Join us this May and June for a cemetery heavy experience :) we can find some mushies and also some bugs getting it on (maybe even ladybug fungal STDs?!?). This section of our season includes collaborations with some wonderful Chicagoans. We’re proud to be a part of this community and hope you’ll join us. Check out our website in the next few days for more specific details regarding each meetup. As always, free of charge. Love y’all. ________________________________________________ #chicago #chi #chicagomushrooms #fungi #chicagonature #mycology #chicagomushroomclub
It’s outing day!!! If driving, remember to park at the foster entrance, as the Cicero lot is closed for water main repairs. We’re so pumped for today, the fungi have been flourishing after the rain and recent warmer weather. It might b
It’s outing day!!! If driving, remember to park at the foster entrance, as the Cicero lot is closed for water main repairs. We’re so pumped for today, the fungi have been flourishing after the rain and recent warmer weather. It might be a bit gloomy today so dress accordingly, we’ll be out rain or shine! #chicago #mushrooms #education
✨🍄🍄‍🟫🍄🍄‍🟫✨ It’s time for another outing and spring has certainly sprung! Sunday April 7th at noon, we’ll see you at LaBagh✨🍄🍄‍🟫🍄🍄‍🟫✨ Meet us at Picnic Grove #3! We will walk into the preserve together as a gro
✨🍄🍄‍🟫🍄🍄‍🟫✨ It’s time for another outing and spring has certainly sprung! Sunday April 7th at noon, we’ll see you at LaBagh✨🍄🍄‍🟫🍄🍄‍🟫✨ Meet us at Picnic Grove #3! We will walk into the preserve together as a group. Due to this foray taking place in an Illinois Forest Preserve, harvesting of anything is prohibited. During our preserve walks, we will be observing, photographing, and discussing our finds. We will also be absolutely respectful of our surroundings as our actions reflect our group as a whole. We can have so much fun without picking anything!  As always our meetups are family friendly, queer friendly, relaxed, and free! #chicagomushroomclub #chicago #freechicago #mushrooms #mushroom #educational #anticonsumerism #anticapitalist
We’re not certain what this mushroom is, wagering Mycenaceae, maybe Atheniella. Found on the outskirts of West Chicago, growing from hardwood bark. It displays a beautiful blue glow under 365nm UV light. The peachy cap compliments this nicely
We’re not certain what this mushroom is, wagering Mycenaceae, maybe Atheniella. Found on the outskirts of West Chicago, growing from hardwood bark. It displays a beautiful blue glow under 365nm UV light. The peachy cap compliments this nicely. At CMC, we have minimal technological abilities due to the financial hurdles we juggle in this capitalist landscape. But, we make do. These photos are taken with an iPhone clip on macro lens, the specimen floating in a cardboard box lined with black felt. The closeups are a bit grainy, but we’re satisfied with them all things considered. Anyone know this mushroom? _____________________________________________ #chicago #chi #chicagomushrooms #shotoniphone #mushrooms
Here is our upcoming schedule for spring 2024! Can’t wait to see you all ❤️ If you are curious about joining our club, all you have to do is show up! We will welcome you, walk with you, and learn together with you. We are all about open-access
Here is our upcoming schedule for spring 2024! Can’t wait to see you all ❤️ If you are curious about joining our club, all you have to do is show up! We will welcome you, walk with you, and learn together with you. We are all about open-access to education for all. If you’re shy, quiet, outgoing, anxious, whatever; we have no expectations, and just hope to see you enjoy the nature around us. And hopefully you can learn something along the way! Due to most of our walks taking place in Illinois Parks and Preserves, harvesting of anything is prohibited. During our park and preserve walks, we will be observing, photographing, and discussing our finds. However, forays on public land mean harvesting is okay! So if we find anything scientifically significant we can collect it and send it off to have its DNA sequenced. Love you all!!! _____________________________________________ #chicago #mushrooms #chicagomushrooms #chi #fungi
✨Mush Camp 2024✨ Check your calendars and save 09/05/24-09/09/24 for CMC’s first annual Mush Camp! 4 days of foraging, mushroom hunting, cooking, hiking, and swimming with your new best friends. We’re so excited to take you to the upper peninsula forests where we cemented our love of fungi. This club has grown into a community and we’re so grateful for every one of you, we love you!!! More info and applications for the scholarship spot coming soon!
Biscogniauxia marginata This cool ascomycete fungus produces little “buttons” on its host tree. If you pluck a button off the tree, it leaves this cool jaguar pock-mark pattern. The microscopic features are even cooler. The spores are
Biscogniauxia marginata This cool ascomycete fungus produces little “buttons” on its host tree. If you pluck a button off the tree, it leaves this cool jaguar pock-mark pattern. The microscopic features are even cooler. The spores are black with a sigmoid germ slit down the center. There are 8 spores in each asci. The paraphyses are long and slender giving the feeling of an alien world. While researching, we discovered each ascus bears a discoid apical ring. This ring stains blue when in contact with iodine. We placed some Lugol’s solution on the mount and sure enough, it glowed blue. This phenomenon is shown in photos 4 and 5. ____________________________________________ #chicago #chi #mushrooms #chicagomushrooms #microscopy #fungi
To reflect our anti-capitalist views, we do not believe in “membership dues”. We believe in the free proliferation of mycological education and community building. In order to achieve our goals of being able to host free fungal cultivatio
To reflect our anti-capitalist views, we do not believe in “membership dues”. We believe in the free proliferation of mycological education and community building. In order to achieve our goals of being able to host free fungal cultivation and dye workshops for our members, we need capital to purchase supplies. We decided to self publish a semi-annual zine to fund these costs. To celebrate the release of our very first publication, we’ll be hosting a party! Every zine purchase will come with an invite to our collab with Chelsea B Soda at their new warehouse in Bucktown. We’ll be serving vegan snacks, good music, great cbd beer, and lots of love! If you’d like to come to the party, we’ll be handing out your copies! When checking out, choose the “pick up at party” shipping option and we’ll email you party venue info after the holidays! For our members who prefer not to deal with people or live to far away, we will be shipping on 01/19/2023! We hope to see you and talk fungi soon! Our first bound edition includes: -Incredible art from O.G. Marquette based club member, Kieran Murphy. @kieranmacmurphy -Regionally specific mushroom photography. -Fungally inspired writing and art by Dylan and Mead Taylor. -Dylan’s Digest- Dylan reads the newest scientific papers in mycology so you don’t have to. -Numbers 10-6 of CMC’s top observed Chicagoland species (5-1 will be released with the next edition!) Check out the preorder link in our bio to make a purchase. Love you all ❤️ _____________________________________________ #chicago #fungi #chicagomushrooms #zine #chicagoart #chicagozines
Entoloma sp. Possibly Entoloma carolinianum or something in section Rhodopolia. Mushrooms in the Entoloma genus have pink spores. This coloration influences the color of their gills as the fruit matures. The gills start out white, but often become
Entoloma sp. Possibly Entoloma carolinianum or something in section Rhodopolia. Mushrooms in the Entoloma genus have pink spores. This coloration influences the color of their gills as the fruit matures. The gills start out white, but often become pink, lending the common name “pinkgills.” Under a microscope, the spores are angular, jagged; like little gems, faces glistening, refracting light. Entoloma gills attach to the stem directly. This differentiates them from another common pink-gilled mushroom genus - Pluteus; which have gills that do not touch the stem. Oftentimes, Entoloma mushrooms have ridiculously twisted stems, which is obvious in these photos. It looks like something Junji Ito would like. We find this specific mushroom often, growing in poor soil near the Chicago River. _______________________ #chi #mushrooms #meetup #fungi #chicago
Penicillium vulpinum This amazing fungus is a mold in the same genus as the mold Penicillin was derived from. This was found 20 minutes west of Chicago proper. This species specifically grows on predator dung, in this case, likely a coyote based on
Penicillium vulpinum This amazing fungus is a mold in the same genus as the mold Penicillin was derived from. This was found 20 minutes west of Chicago proper. This species specifically grows on predator dung, in this case, likely a coyote based on our location. The matchstick shaped eruptions are called synnemata. At the tips of these appendages are conidia, asexual spores. That’s the green stuff! These photos were taken in a makeshift light box with an iPhone SE using a cheap clip-on macro lens. Chicago Mushroom Club loves ALL fungi, even the ones on poop! ______________________ #chicago #mushrooms #chicagomushroomclub #fungi #shotoniphone
2023 was an amazing year for the Chicago Mushroom Club. We made new friends, forged partnerships, and continued to push our message of free dissemination of knowledge throughout our community. Thanks to everyone who has joined us. It’s truly
2023 was an amazing year for the Chicago Mushroom Club. We made new friends, forged partnerships, and continued to push our message of free dissemination of knowledge throughout our community. Thanks to everyone who has joined us. It’s truly been an honor to meet you and share our special interests. Every time we see new faces, our love for humanity increases. Thank you for being a part of our community. 1 - Dylan speaking on Midwest fungi for the Northbrook Garden Club. 2 - Dylan explaining gravitropism in fungi! 3 - the club at Jackson Park 4 - the club at West Ridge 5 - Dylan and Shane with the Hen of the Woods he graciously shared with the club! 6 - Dylan with the biggest oak he’s ever seen! 7 - CBGxCMC! 8 - view from the bridge to the Wooded Island 9 & 10 - film shots (courtesy of @runonvee) of the club at Jackson Park. Finding fungi in the city, our specialty. ______________________ #chicago #chi #mushrooms #meetup
Our first indoor meetup was so wonderful. Huge shoutout to @plantxmarket for hosting us and @chelseabsodas for sponsoring the event!! We had a presentation of interesting finds from this season. We had a table filled with our fungarium, UV reactive
Our first indoor meetup was so wonderful. Huge shoutout to @plantxmarket for hosting us and @chelseabsodas for sponsoring the event!! We had a presentation of interesting finds from this season. We had a table filled with our fungarium, UV reactive fungi, merch prototypes, and medicinal mushrooms to bring home with ya! We also had lovely hot sauce and information via @edible_illinois, and tinctures, salves, and awesome vintage duds via @rockabilly.grandma. Thanks so much for coming out and making it such a fun event!! We love y’all! Stay tuned for upcoming indoor events 🙃 ______________________ #chicago #xmarket #mushrooms #meetup #chi #chelseabsodas
Our final foray of the season at Jackson Park on 11/11/23 was a big success. Thanks to everyone who came out this year. We appreciate you and hope to see you this winter and next spring! Here’s what we found! 1 & 2 - Calycina sp. - yellow
Our final foray of the season at Jackson Park on 11/11/23 was a big success. Thanks to everyone who came out this year. We appreciate you and hope to see you this winter and next spring! Here’s what we found! 1 & 2 - Calycina sp. - yellow discos. Microscopy is needed to tell the species. 3 - Hypholoma fasciculare, sulfur tufts! 4 - Hypoxylaceae - the little pimples are where the spores are produced. 5 - Calvatia gigantea spore cloud 6 - Grifola frondosa (hen of the woods) being parasitized by Hypomyces polyporinus 7 - Daedalea quercina - a beautiful mazegill found on dead oak trees. 8 - Hypomyces tremellicola - bad pic but a super cool find!! 9 - the unknown Clitocybaceae/Leucopaxillus thing 10 - a wonderful photo of @mmmeaddd and I taken by @runonvee. Thank you!! ___________________________ #chicago #chi #fungi #mushrooms #meetup
On 10/29/23 we met up at West Ridge Nature Preserve. This meetup was a testament to the fungal diversity of even the smallest woodlands in the area! 1 - Dacrymyces spathularia - a rare conifer associate find in the area. Must’ve been an old pi
On 10/29/23 we met up at West Ridge Nature Preserve. This meetup was a testament to the fungal diversity of even the smallest woodlands in the area! 1 - Dacrymyces spathularia - a rare conifer associate find in the area. Must’ve been an old piece of pine timber! 2 - Ossicaulis sp. - the bonestem. 3 - Lacrymaria sp. - this is considered L. lacrymabunda, but it seems to fit what we used to call L. velutina. Very wet. 4 - Lepiota lilacea (possibly) - a stout, ringed, likely toxic Lepiota. 5 & 6 - Lentinellus ursinus - tucked away in the shadow of a nurse log; photo 6 shows the “serrulate” gill margins indicative of this genus. 7 - Mycenaceae - eagle eyed member Jack (tag yourself?) spotted this minuscule Mycenoid. 8 - Trametes trogii - @mmmeaddd calls this this the Kurt Vonnegut. A mesmerizing pore structure. 9 - Trametes versicolor - the pores of the Turkey Tail 10 - Marasmiellus candidus - a rare(ish) find for us and the area Come hang with us the winter :) _______________________ #chicago #chi #fungi #mushrooms #meetup
If it smells funny, fungi gettin’ peeled 🤧 #chicago #mycology #urbanmycology #mushrooms #urbanmushrooms #foraging #club #chi
Party with us in Uptown! We’ll be hanging out with our friends @chelseabsodas , @edible_illinois and @rockabilly.grandma Dm us for the link to our 2023 Foray Finds Folder to have your photo on the big(ish) screen! 6pm-8:30 at XMarket on Mont
Party with us in Uptown! We’ll be hanging out with our friends @chelseabsodas , @edible_illinois and @rockabilly.grandma Dm us for the link to our 2023 Foray Finds Folder to have your photo on the big(ish) screen! 6pm-8:30 at XMarket on Montrose and Clarendon! #chicago #mycology #urbanmycology #mushrooms #urbanmushrooms #foraging #club #chi #freeeventschicago #freeevent
November 11th, 2023 at 11am! Meet us on the northern bridge to the Wooded Island at Jackson Park! This is our final official outdoor foray of the year, so come and see some mushrooms while they still exist, our timing should be perfect! In the upco
November 11th, 2023 at 11am! Meet us on the northern bridge to the Wooded Island at Jackson Park! This is our final official outdoor foray of the year, so come and see some mushrooms while they still exist, our timing should be perfect! In the upcoming months, our events will head indoors for warmth. Keep an eye out for upcoming events! It may be a bit chilly, so bring layers if needed! Also, feel free to bring a bag to pick up garbage along the way! Please keep in mind that we will be stopping frequently during our walk, which may be obnoxious to younger folks. When we find something, we stop to discuss our find. It is best if the group all stays together so everyone can see and hear! Our meetups are family friendly, queer friendly, relaxed, and free! Forays on public land mean harvesting is okay! So if we find anything scientifically significant we can collect it and send it off to have its DNA sequenced. _______________________________ #chicago #fungi #mushrooms #chi #meetup
October 29th, 2023 at 4pm! Meet us at the entrance of West Ridge Nature Preserve! It may be a bit chilly, so bring layers if needed! Also, feel free to bring a bag to pick up garbage along the way! Please keep in mind that we will be stopping freq
October 29th, 2023 at 4pm! Meet us at the entrance of West Ridge Nature Preserve! It may be a bit chilly, so bring layers if needed! Also, feel free to bring a bag to pick up garbage along the way! Please keep in mind that we will be stopping frequently during our walk, which may be obnoxious to younger folks. When we find something, we stop to discuss our find. It is best if the group all stays together so everyone can see and hear! Our meetups are family friendly, queer friendly, relaxed, and free! Harvesting any organisms from Cook County Forest Preserves is illegal, so, we won’t be harvesting any fungi. We will, however, be photographing and discussing our finds! _______________________________ #chicago #chi #fungi #chicagomushrooms #mycology #meetup
Despite todays WILD weather swing, we’re anticipating chillier temps on our last couple outings. So dress appropriately: -Layers -a bag to carry your layers when it gets inexplicably hot for 15 minutes -another bag to pick up garbage As the s
Despite todays WILD weather swing, we’re anticipating chillier temps on our last couple outings. So dress appropriately: -Layers -a bag to carry your layers when it gets inexplicably hot for 15 minutes -another bag to pick up garbage As the season closes on foraging and forays, let’s all come together and stave off the winter madness as a community! We hope to host educational lectures and classes on everything from growing your own mushrooms to their many uses! Do you have a big living room and want to learn all about inoculation? DM us and we’ll give you free merch for hosting ❤️🍄 Stay tuned for venue and date announcements. #chicago #mushrooms #mycology #urbanmycology #urbanmushrooms
On 10/21/23, we met up at Oz Park. We walked around the park and the surrounding blocks. We found some cool things!! 1 - Cyathus stercoreus, still encased. The birds nests. Mead was telling the club about these before we found them. 2 - possibly Ros
On 10/21/23, we met up at Oz Park. We walked around the park and the surrounding blocks. We found some cool things!! 1 - Cyathus stercoreus, still encased. The birds nests. Mead was telling the club about these before we found them. 2 - possibly Rosellinia sp. growing on a magnolia seed pod. A tiny sordariomycete with a singular peaked ostiole! - found by @rickyr13 3 - Phlebia coccineofulva tucked into the crevice of a half-dead tree. We took some to experiment with the pigments. 4 - grainy photo of a Trichiales slime mold (we think). Also a little discomycete hanging out above it! 5 - seemingly a tiny Hebeloma species growing in poor soil in the park. Found by @farrahraq ! 6 - a wasp cleaning itself as it exits the mortal wound of an American robin. 7 - Echinoderma sp. - a distinct Lepiotoid mushroom we find often in city mulch. This one hadn’t opened up yet and looked like a puffball. 8 - Coprinellus disseminatus sneaking up between bricks. 9 - gigantic Scleroderma sp. - there were a ton of these. Bonus white Hypomyces-esque fungus growing on them too. 10 - mycoparasite growing on Scleroderma. Possibly Mycogone rosea. Thanks for coming out! ___________________________ #chicago #mushrooms #chi #fungi #nature #club
We hope you’re as excited for this season as we are!! Join us this May and June for a cemetery heavy experience :) we can find some mushies and also some bugs getting it on (maybe even ladybug fungal STDs?!?). This section of our season includ It’s outing day!!! If driving, remember to park at the foster entrance, as the Cicero lot is closed for water main repairs. We’re so pumped for today, the fungi have been flourishing after the rain and recent warmer weather. It might b ✨🍄🍄‍🟫🍄🍄‍🟫✨ It’s time for another outing and spring has certainly sprung! Sunday April 7th at noon, we’ll see you at LaBagh✨🍄🍄‍🟫🍄🍄‍🟫✨ Meet us at Picnic Grove #3! We will walk into the preserve together as a gro We’re not certain what this mushroom is, wagering Mycenaceae, maybe Atheniella. Found on the outskirts of West Chicago, growing from hardwood bark. It displays a beautiful blue glow under 365nm UV light. The peachy cap compliments this nicely Here is our upcoming schedule for spring 2024! Can’t wait to see you all ❤️ If you are curious about joining our club, all you have to do is show up! We will welcome you, walk with you, and learn together with you. We are all about open-access
✨Mush Camp 2024✨ Check your calendars and save 09/05/24-09/09/24 for CMC’s first annual Mush Camp! 4 days of foraging, mushroom hunting, cooking, hiking, and swimming with your new best friends. We’re so excited to take you to the upper p
Biscogniauxia marginata This cool ascomycete fungus produces little “buttons” on its host tree. If you pluck a button off the tree, it leaves this cool jaguar pock-mark pattern. The microscopic features are even cooler. The spores are To reflect our anti-capitalist views, we do not believe in “membership dues”. We believe in the free proliferation of mycological education and community building. In order to achieve our goals of being able to host free fungal cultivatio Entoloma sp. Possibly Entoloma carolinianum or something in section Rhodopolia. Mushrooms in the Entoloma genus have pink spores. This coloration influences the color of their gills as the fruit matures. The gills start out white, but often become Penicillium vulpinum This amazing fungus is a mold in the same genus as the mold Penicillin was derived from. This was found 20 minutes west of Chicago proper. This species specifically grows on predator dung, in this case, likely a coyote based on 2023 was an amazing year for the Chicago Mushroom Club. We made new friends, forged partnerships, and continued to push our message of free dissemination of knowledge throughout our community. Thanks to everyone who has joined us. It’s truly Our first indoor meetup was so wonderful. Huge shoutout to @plantxmarket for hosting us and @chelseabsodas for sponsoring the event!! We had a presentation of interesting finds from this season. We had a table filled with our fungarium, UV reactive Our final foray of the season at Jackson Park on 11/11/23 was a big success. Thanks to everyone who came out this year. We appreciate you and hope to see you this winter and next spring! Here’s what we found! 1 & 2 - Calycina sp. - yellow On 10/29/23 we met up at West Ridge Nature Preserve. This meetup was a testament to the fungal diversity of even the smallest woodlands in the area! 1 - Dacrymyces spathularia - a rare conifer associate find in the area. Must’ve been an old pi
If it smells funny, fungi gettin’ peeled 🤧 #chicago #mycology #urbanmycology #mushrooms #urbanmushrooms #foraging #club #chi
Party with us in Uptown! We’ll be hanging out with our friends @chelseabsodas , @edible_illinois and @rockabilly.grandma Dm us for the link to our 2023 Foray Finds Folder to have your photo on the big(ish) screen! 6pm-8:30 at XMarket on Mont November 11th, 2023 at 11am! Meet us on the northern bridge to the Wooded Island at Jackson Park! This is our final official outdoor foray of the year, so come and see some mushrooms while they still exist, our timing should be perfect! In the upco October 29th, 2023 at 4pm! Meet us at the entrance of West Ridge Nature Preserve! It may be a bit chilly, so bring layers if needed! Also, feel free to bring a bag to pick up garbage along the way! Please keep in mind that we will be stopping freq Despite todays WILD weather swing, we’re anticipating chillier temps on our last couple outings. So dress appropriately: -Layers -a bag to carry your layers when it gets inexplicably hot for 15 minutes -another bag to pick up garbage As the s On 10/21/23, we met up at Oz Park. We walked around the park and the surrounding blocks. We found some cool things!! 1 - Cyathus stercoreus, still encased. The birds nests. Mead was telling the club about these before we found them. 2 - possibly Ros

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