The Wild Ones

Not so long ago, I attended a political event in New York City and met a candidate running for city council. “I love mushrooms!” she said. “I want to hunt for them. Can I hunt for them in the city?” She certainly can. There are mushroom clubs all over North America, and our own urban New York Mycological Society is active in the local parks. We used to hold forays in the summer and fall and mushroom dinners and lectures in the winter, but as our late and dearly missed club scientist, Gary Lincoff, pointed out, you can forage any time of year. And indeed, there were plenty of winter walks where members followed Gary into snowy Central Park in search of sticks colonized by scabby Ascomycetes. He loved them all, bless him.