Welcome to The Susquehanna Valley Mycological Society

The Susquehanna Valley Mycological Society (S.V.M.S.) is a non-profit organization and was founded in 1992 by ten people in the south central New York State region who had a common interest in mushrooms. Over a decade later, our club is thriving and our membership fluctuates between seventy and ninety members each year.

A Wealth of Knowledge

S.V.M.S. is charter member of North America Mycological Association (N.A.M.A.) and Northeast Mycological Federation (N.E.M.F.). Both of these organizations are comprised of almost all of the Mycologists in the Western Hemisphere. We have a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips. You could have that also.

Look, Learn and Laugh

Join our club and walk the mycologically rich forests of New York and Pennsylvania with us. We have three to four annual forays from the spring through the fall each year. These forays offer you a chance to learn more about the local varieties of fungi and enjoy the company of fellow mushroom minded people.

Feel Right at Home

What's new

9/20/2008 The Seventh Annual Gary Lincoff Mid-Atlantic Mushroom Foray This foray is organized by the Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club. The foray will be a North Park just north of Pittsburg, PA. A registration and other information is available at WPMC's web site.

Just In NAMA Foray The late-fee date has been extended once more to August 26. This is in aid of giving as much encouragement as possible to NAMA members to attend the foray! Any questions, please call me, the registrar, at 208-344-7371. I'll be happy to assist with any questions.

9/4-7/2008 NAMA's annual foray. Greetings from NAMA and the Southern Idaho Mycological Society! We wish to invite all of the members of each of NAMA's affiliated clubs to come to McCall, Idaho, September 4-7, 2008, for NAMA's annual foray. A registration form and other information is available at SIMS's web site. Good news for all is that our "late fee" date has been changed. It is now July 26, 2008, NOT June 30. Those who have procrastinated can take heart and preserve $30 if they will register by July 26! Anyone with questions is welcome to contact the Registration chair, Susan M. Stacy, at 208-344-7371

6/29/2008 Immediate Action New York wants to eliminate fungal foraging The NYSDEC has decided to add "fungi" to items prohibited for removal from state land. Supposedly the reason is to prohibit "commercial collecting" but it is already prohibited to conduct a commercial enterprise or to harvest any products for resale from state land. The complete rule can be seen as ID # ENV-21-8-00002-P and was published on May 21, 2008. There is a 45 day comment period which should be directed to David Forness NYS DEC Bureau of State Land Management 625 Broadway Albany , NY 12233 lf190reg@gw.dec.state.ny.us

3/25/2008 New Foray pics and Newsletter Yes, it took long enough, but the Summer II and Fall pics from last year are now up in the photos area. You should have received the most recient newsletter (winter 2008) in the mail a few weeks ago.

2/23/2008 Sad News for the Mycological Community SVMS was just notified of a great loss to our club and all the other Northeastern mycological organizations. On February 11th 2008 John Boyle passed away suddenly. John has always been a great repository of fungal knowledge in our area. He was always willing to share his time and abilities with organizations all over the Northeast. Always a ray of sunshine, even on sunny, mushroomless days, he improved any event with his presence. SVMS will greatly miss his company and friendship and offers our condolences to his surviving wife Dawn and his family.

Current Armillaria research I am a graduate student at Duke University in Rytas Vilgalys' mycology lab. I first became involved with NAMA during my undergraduate work at La Crosse, Wisconsin with Tom Volk and was impressed with how active NAMA members are in going out and collecting mushrooms and how proficient many are at taxonomy. For my PhD thesis I am interested in deciphering the parasitism that leads to aborted Armillaria (formerly known as aborted Entoloma). However, to do this I need extensive sampling throughout North America so I can track which species of Armillaria are involved in which regions. This is where I hope NAMA members might be of assistance! These mushrooms will start appearing over the next few months and I would be most grateful if mushroom hunters would keep an eye out for me and send any specimens they collect. I've attached a flyer with more information and my contact information if you would like to distribute it to your club members. Thank you so much for your time. This project is not possible without the cooperation and assistance of clubs such as yours and I appreciate these efforts very much. Bernadette O'Reilly Check out the "Wanted Poster" (pdf) for more information. You can also contact .

Current Amanita phalloides research Benjamin Wolfe, a PhD student at Harvard in the Pringle Lab in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, needs our help. That lab is conducting a comprehensive biogeographical survey of the mushroom producing fungus Amanita phalloides throughout the world to answer questions regarding the potential introduction and spread of A. phalloides in North America. It is thought that A. phalloides may be acting as an "invasive species" in North America, and they are trying to confirm or refute this idea by observational and experimental work in their lab. They are now conducting a biogeographical survey on the East Coast, where there have been known introductions of A. phalloides. Check out their "Wanted Poster" (pdf) for more information. You can also contact or his research advisor .