Mycological Society of Toronto Meetings

The MST organizes five informative meetings a year for our members, in October, November, February, March and April. Guest speakers are invited to give presentations on various topics associated with the field of mycology, usually illustrated with slides.

MST meetings are held in the Auditorium of the Toronto Botanical Garden, located at the southwest corner of Leslie St. and Lawrence Ave. East in Toronto. For General Meetings, meet by 7:45 pm unless indicated otherwise. Refreshments are served following meetings.

Members of the public are welcome as guests to attend one meeting prior to joining the Society.

Meetings for 2020-2021

Monday, November 23, 2020 7:30 p.m.

Speaker: Mikhael Crystallah-Selk

Presentation: Parasites of the Fungal World - Achlorophyllous plants, fungal molds, and other Fun-Gis that just can't seem to live without each other

Mikhael is the taxonomist/science leader for SOMA, the Sonoma County Mycological Association. He will be focusing his presentation on species found in Northern California and Oregon with some species that crossover into our region.

Ten years ago Mikhael blew out his back working retail. It took him three years of physical therapy to teach himself how to walk without a cane. Much of that time was spent slowly walking through the woods, where he began to pay attention to the amazing diversity of fungi surrounding him. A mild curiosity soon became a passionate new (for him) field of study. He found himself fortuitous enough to begin learning from experts around the world, allowing him to fast-track his studies. He currently specializes in Jelly Fungi and taxonomy in general, volunteering hours per day poring through observations, while maintaining a full time job as an aspiring chef.

Monday, December 21, 2020 7:30 p.m.

Speaker: Sheila Mazur

Presentation: Tree Identification

This meeting will be held online via Zoom

How to Join:

This tree identification course was designed to help you identify some of the most common trees in Ontario that have relationships with fungi - both to help you find and identify mushrooms. The material was lovingly curated from government conservation websites and scans of long forgotten Arbor Day pamphlets, as well as things half remembered from a Grade 6 field trip. Using bark, leaves, environment and other unique attributes, you will learn how to find the following trees: apple, ash, aspen, beech, birch, cedar, elm, helmlock, maple, oak, pine and spruce.

Sheila Mazur doesn't have any fancy accreditation or letters after her name. What she does have is heart, and a genuine love and curiosity for the natural world around her. She is an amateur edible wilds enthusiast, and has been studying edible and medicinal plants for over 20 years. Sheila joined the MST by attending Pat Burchell's Mushroom ID course back in September 2016, and has been fascinated by fungi ever since. Oh, she's also the president too. We still don't know how that happened.