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Welcome to the Missouri Mycological Society |
| The purpose of the Missouri Mycological Society is to foster and expand the understanding of mushrooming. It promotes the hunting and identification of wild mushrooms and provides opportunities to share ideas, experiences, and knowledge. As a member, you are in touch with a network of other mushroom scouts and aficionados. Together we can enhance our learning and harvests. MOMS was started in 1987. It is one of about 100 such amateur mushroom clubs affiliated with the North American Mycological Association. Their website is namyco.org. Missouri is a large state with metropolitan centers on both east and west sides. This society leans towards the St. Louis area with members ranging throughout Missouri and Southwestern Illinois . We encompass all of Missouri except Kansas City and Northwestern Missouri . Mushrooming is Mushrooming Interest in mycology is growing for a number of reasons - nouvelle cuisine, environmental awareness, Euell Gibbons, the emergence of the popular Audubon and Petersen field guides in the 1980s, and your interest right now, to name a few. Perhaps you’ve tasted your first morel and just have to find your own. Or you’ve taken an autumn walk and been amazed at the abundance of fungi and want to know more. Or you just have to know if the "toadstool" in your yard is deadly or delicious. MOMS is a great way to get started in this lifetime quest for knowledge. You’ll get the support you need to get started mushrooming safely. Just download and fill out a MOMS Membership Application. Earthstar Examiner As a member, you will receive a subscription to our society's newsletter, the Earthstar Examiner. In it are recipes, resources, articles, mycological news and announcements of upcoming events and forays. Forays and Events Forays are a major activity of the Society. We meet in a selected natural area, spend an hour or two collecting fungi, then gather around and try to put names on them - maybe eat some. It is a great way to get to know mushrooms. Attendance is in no way mandatory. In February we have our Annual Winter Luncheon. We get together and have a mushroom and wild foods feast, a guest speaker, and lots of fungal fun. Each fall is our Annual Missouri State Foray. For an entire weekend, we forage, learn from professionals, sample a few wild mushrooms, eat wonderful meals and relax with friends. Other activities include advanced workshops and special forays for morels and chanterelles. Additional activities are always in the works. Education and Research With our base at Tyson Research Center , an outpost of Washington University , members of MOMS Education and Research Committee are assembling a herbarium and accumulating information on area fungi. To expand awareness of mycology, classes and other events are offered for beginner and advanced mushroomers alike. For more information Contact Shannon Stevens, President, at 314-481-4131. Or check out our website: momyco.org or missourimycologicalsociety.org.
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