I’m lucky to learn from people who have been teaching for many years. They have a fine-tuned presentation that I find inspiring. They also know which books and which online sites provide the greatest value in keeping up with the continuous stream of new mycological information. That’s a huge time saver.

Once again, I am in awe of Gary Lincoff and deeply grateful he shared Michael Kuo’s MushroomExpert.com website. Michael writes:

Mushrooms and trees are inextricably linked. Most trees cannot survive without mycorrhizal partners from the fungal world–and saprobic fungi play a vital role in forest ecosystems, decomposing tree litter. Thus identifying trees is essential to understanding and identifying mushrooms.

Mycorrhizal means mutually-beneficial and saprobic means decomposing dead organic matter. My language skills are also getting a workout.

Everything in nature is connected. But I’m always amazed when I see it on such a macro level.

For ten weeks, my fellow classmates and I will study boletes, amanitas and lactarius. We’re beginning with boletes.

The king bolete (Boletus edulis) is considered the best tasting of these mushrooms. Of course, it has a look-alike. Tylopilus felleus, the bitter bolete, looks and smells delicious, but – you guessed it – the mushroom, while not toxic, is unpalatable.

King boletes grow near Norway spruce (Picea abies), while bitter boletes grow near Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). That’s a vital clue.

When I first joined COMA, Mushroom University’s sponsor, I remember thinking, as I probed the forest floor in search of morels, that I would never look at the earth in the same way again.

Almost a year later, as I study the details of mushrooms I hope to find, I realize I’ll never look at trees in the same way again.