2013 Spring Foray 3 to Heartland Niagara

The Mycological Society of Toronto’s spring foray to the Heartland Forest near Niagara Falls was held on Saturday May 4, 2013. In all, eight vehicles and about 16 members were in attendance on this glorious spring day. Due to other events to be held at Heartland, we were asked to move our vehicles from the parking lot and parked at the back side of the forest where we entered a more secluded area.

The forest floor was carpeted in spring beauties in great abundance. Rich green patches of ramp also dotted the forest floor amid wildflowers including trout lilies, toothworts, and violets. Trees in this Carolinian zone area include oak, beech, and shag bark hickory, but no conifers. One understory shrub we noted was the spicebush, fragrant when twigs were crushed, in bloom with tiny yellow flowers.

We also saw other wildlife including brown snakes, garter snakes, toads, and red-backed salamanders, warblers, woodpeckers, and robins.

This winter and spring have been cool and wet so the spring was slightly later than usual. The Heartland site is not known for morels and at any rate this was an inventory foray so we were not hunting for the pot. We often do manage to make interesting finds here, different from what is found in the Toronto area and farther north. But, the pickings were slim, mostly over-wintering polypores, one poisonous gilled mushroom, one edible polypore, and some eyelash cups. Here is our list of 21 species: