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THE BOSTON MYCOLOGICAL CLUB The oldest surviving amateur mycology club of its kind in the United States, the BMC was organized in 1895 to study mushrooms and other fungi, both edible and poisonous, to collect and spread information concerning them, and to arouse interest by exhibitions, lectures, and publications. (As stated in the BMC bylaws) |
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Click here: for a Membership Application Form to join the Boston Mycological Club
Here is a PDF version of the BMC Brochure.
Here are descriptions of the activities of the club:
At a walk, members and guests arrive at the time and place given in the walk schedule. People get out their collecting gear, put on their bug repellent, talk about what they've seen during the week - friendly mycological chit-chat. Someone from the ID committee will give preliminary advice about mushroom collecting and answer a few questions. The host gives information about the area in which people will be walking - interesting features or history can be pointed out. Sometimes a map of the area is handed out to show trails, ponds, sights, etc. The group agrees on a time to return to the meeting place. Then all set out. Generally, we do not walk as one group through the area. Instead, people break up into individuals on their own, or small groups of two or three who walk together. Each person carries a collecting basket and collects whatever fungi they come across. Some people stay to the trails and collect what is seen trail-side. Others go "cross-country" or "bushwhacking" through the woods. Some go straight to the spots they think most fruitful, others prefer to explore more serendipitously.
At the agreed upon time, usually an hour or two later, all meet back at the starting place with their basket of collections. There are usually tables set up so that all mushrooms can be taken out of the baskets and organized into groups of similar species. This allows everyone to see what the entire group has been able to collect. Because the group dispersed and covered different areas, there are often fungi found by some that others did not come across. Someone from the ID Committee of the club will talk about the mushrooms collected and answer questions from the group. This is an excellent time for discussion and comparison of mushrooms. The mushrooms are then put into ice chests so that they can be taken to the Monday night meeting the next evening. A list of the mushrooms identified is written up and recorded.
