The MycoVault

New gouache sketchbook page featuring some of my favorite fungi. ✨️🍄

Since this is the busiest part of my year, I was brainstorming something fun and simple I could paint during my free moments that wouldn't require too much thought; I decided on painting a sheet of fungi in a ROY G BIV fashion. This is the result! And yes, these are all real fungi!

7 months ago | [YT] | 3

The MycoVault

Shout-out to my boyfriend for spotting the most massive patch of morels I've ever seen while driving! I present to you, the most morels we've ever found in a single day. 😄

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1 year ago | [YT] | 10

The MycoVault

The first yellow/blond morels of the season are popping up in Northwestern PA. I'm happy 💛❤️ This was from today. Can't wait to get back out there again tomorrow..

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1 year ago | [YT] | 6

The MycoVault

Hey friends!

I'll be back with more videos in the coming months. It's dead of winter here at the moment and there aren't any cool, fun, or fantastic fungi to discuss at the moment. We're well into a deep freeze state! This Spring I plan to invest into a new camera and try to take this channel to the next level. Thanks for sticking around. Mush love!

1 year ago | [YT] | 14

The MycoVault

I'd like to make a few videos addressing your most pressing mushroom questions! What do YOU want to know about fungi? It could be anything. Comment below and I'll bree up some video ideas.

1 year ago | [YT] | 5

The MycoVault

As a forager, I'm always keeping an eye out. It's not uncommon for me to always carry a basket or a bag at all times when taking a walk/hike.

Sometimes you'll bring it and find nothing, especially during those warmer months. Sometimes you'll find an abundance and your basket is overflowing! Annnd sometimes you'll decide not to bring your basket and JUST take a walk. However, the "mushroomer" in you sees everything and you come home with your pant pockets full and your arms barely holding on as you carry a massive load of fungi. 😅

So yeah, as I was stumbling around yesterday I found some Maitake (Grifola Frondosa), C. olivieri (A type of Shaggy Parasol), Honey Mushrooms (Armillaria sp.), and Aborted Entoloma (Entoloma Abortivum). All of these are local fall fungi here and Pennsylvania that I can't help but bring home with me.

Cheers to fall mushrooming! What have you found lately?

1 year ago | [YT] | 17

The MycoVault

Over the weekend I found an iconic mushroom known as the "Black Gold," or "Chaga."

Chaga, (Inonotus obliquus) is a highly prized medicinal fungi that has been used for centuries to treat various ailments. Its also an antioxidant superfood! These strange black growths only inhabit birch trees and appear "burned" or charcoal like. They are a parasite that will kill its host within a decade after infection. However, what kills the tree is a highly sought after fungi. The black growths can be used to make tinctures, teas, be ground into a powder and thrown into coffee, etc.

The black growth is sterile and will not produce spores like most fruiting bodies associated with fungi. The fungi only produce once in its lifetime; Once the host tree has died.

I brought mine home and powdered it using a hammer and coffee grinder ~ it looks just like ground coffee once processed. There are a variety of ways to use this fungi and it is sold throughout the world. Steeped as a tea it has a very mild earthy taste, slightly reminiscent of coffee.

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1 year ago | [YT] | 6

The MycoVault

Look, it's a tiny little horn sticking out of the ground! That's not just any horn, that's the "Horn o'plenty," also known as the Black Trumpet Mushroom (Craterellus Falax).

These beautiful fungi are generally found growing on moss or humus under oak in mixed deciduous woods. The tiny Trumpets can be hard to spot, as they tend to blend in with their leaf-litter surroundings. Not much else looks like the Trumpet Mushroom ~ which makes them a great beginners fungi! They generally start to pop out in the cooler months of late summer/early autumn and can be found growing back in the same spot year after year.

My spot didn't produce much last year but lo and behold I found this massive patch this year! I took these home and fried them up with some butter and salt. I love their dark, smoky flavor.

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1 year ago | [YT] | 14

The MycoVault

Have you ever seen something that looked straight out of a zombie movie, but in real time? If not, let me introduce you to the creepy "Akanthomyces Tuberculatus" species complex.

Imagine a fungus that could take you as its host; Kind of like in "The Last Of Us." However, a single spore would need to land on your body, slowly growing and eating your insides before killing you and spreading across your corpse. After this occurs, the fungus grows into these large towering spikes that contain spores at their tips. Good thing you aren't a Moth, as this species creates a horrific reality for these creatures.

So, next time you're having a bad day, just remember, "Hey, at least I'm not a Moth!" Thankfully these types of fungi are known only to attack insects.

1 year ago | [YT] | 16

The MycoVault

"Look, a beautiful bouquet of flowers, Maw!" Well, maybe not a flower but a Cauliflower?

Silly goose; That's not a flower nor a Cauliflower! That's a fungus among us! In fact, that is a delicious edible fungi that has the texture of cooked noodles when prepared properly. 🍜

It's known appropriately as the "Eastern Cauliflower Mushroom," or "Sparassis spathulata." There are several variations of this mushroom throughout the US. It is a saprobe, which means it derives its nutrients from decaying matter. It can be found on the ground at the base of decaying oak trees, or sometimes on very well decayed wood during the autumn months. A must-see and a must-eat (only if 100% identified properly) 🌱

2 years ago | [YT] | 16