2013 Spring Forays Summary

1. 2013 Spring Foray Director's Report
2. 2013 Spring Forays Collections Summary

In the spring of 2013, the Mycological Society of Toronto (MST) held eleven forays. The earliest was on April 27th in Kleinburg, and the last on May 29th in Midhurst. There was an average of about twenty three attendants. The number of species varied from fourteen to twenty five. In most cases there were a few additional species that were not positively identified. On average 16 identified species were found per foray.

This year there was a rather early foray on April 27th in the Kleinburg area. At least five small black morels were found. Overall, there were twenty five identified species found on this foray. These included interesting bracket fungi, such as: Ganoderma tsugae, Gloeophyllum sepiarium, Grifola frondosa, and Polyporus varius. However, many of these specimens were leftovers from the previous year.

On May 4th there was a foray in the Heartland Forest near Niagara. This was the second most fruitful foray, with a species count of twenty one. However, no morels were found on this foray. The site does not appear to be a suitable morel habitat. There were, however, several interesting animal observations; there were many sightings of brown snakes, a few red-backed salamanders, and a number of warblers.

Overall this foray season was mediocre for morel aficionados; the late spring cold spell may have been sub-optimal for them. At least a few morels were found on all of the forays, save the one on May 4th. Over 175 morels were found on the Midhurst foray on May 8th. Yellow morels (Morchella esculenta) were found on most of the forays, while black morels (Morchella elata) were only found on about half of the forays.

- D. Andrew White, Foray Director

2013 Spring Forays Collections Summary