The Quest For a New Specie of Mushroom

Since it is estimated that about 95% of all fungi have not yet been found and written up, it appears that there is a good chance of finding one that no one has found before or at least is not known to science.  The hard part is to recognize it as new, when I meet it.  I realize that beginners tend to jump to conclusions.  I am not sure if my 8 plus years experience of hunting mushrooms is enough to recognize something new if I find it, but I am willing to give it a try.  Being retired sure gives me an advantage as far as time is concerned.  I also appear to have a knack for spotting unusual mushrooms.  The hunt will start in the spring of 2009, or earlier.

The 2009 season was a very poor mushroom season in my area.  Never mind new species, the familiar species were hard to find.  Hopefully the 2010 season will be better.

The 2010 season is even worse.  The spring and rain came early when it was still cold.  The summer was hot and dry.  Finally fall arrived and some rain then things turned cold.  In spite of that I found some candidates for new species, at least they are new to me.  The first is a Lactarius as described at the bottom of the page here and next page.  Also on top of this page.

The second candidate of 2010 is a mushroom that is not unusual in any way except that I can not identify it.  Take a look and see if you recognize it?  If you do, please let me know.