These posts are not for foraging. They are intended for entertainment and intellectual satisfaction only. These posts are not a field guide nor comprehensive in any way - their accuracy is not assured in any way. Do not eat wild mushrooms unless you are a professional, have substantial professional assistance or have a wealth of personal experience with a specific species. Do not make any foraging decisions based on these posts. To do so could be dangerous or life threatening.

This post makes no reference to edibility or toxicity

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I missed my publishing deadline!

Not like I have an editor breathing down my neck or anything, but I do like to be disciplined about when and what I post mycology-wise - hence the Tuesday/Thursday schedule.

However, there's only going to be one post this week!

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Because tomorrow afternoon I'm leaving for Switzerland to meet some @steemstem folks!

I am slightly nervous, feel mild trepidation, extremely pumped, and very excited, both to meet a bunch of the #steemstem crew in person, as well as to see CERN and CMS upclose and personal! It is going to be, for me, almost certainly a once in a lifetime experience - and I can say, unequivocally, it would not have happened if I didn't start writing mushroom and pop-science blogs on Steemit.

And boy oh boy, have I written A TON of fungi and slime mold related posts on Steemit. So many, in fact, that the list of links at the end of my posts is getting totally out of hand. So, although I've only done one other Amateur Mycologist compilation post, I think now is a good time to update things! After all we are almost 9 months into this blogging experiment, with over 1200 followers and a ton of OC content.

So, first, a compilation - then a note about the present - and finally a note about the future.

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So Many Mushrooms! So Much Information!

Over 55 posts on Fungi, Slime Molds, Compound And Dissecting Microscopy, Tree Health and, most recently, Growing Your Own Mushrooms

When I first started on Steemit, I was dumping countless hours of my life into video games at the expense of everything else. I decided to transition to this platform, cut video games out of my life entirely, and devote that compulsive energy to something more positive. Looking back on this body of work is immensely satisfying.

Thank you all for reading about and supporting my strange hobby! You've all been so generous with your time, energy, and input as I document my learning process. I hope it's been even a modicum as enjoyable to read as it has been to experience.

What is a mushroom? How To ID A Mushroom 101 Phallus Ravenelii/Ravenel's Stinkhorn Lycoperdon perlatum/The Common Puffball Lactarius Indigo/The Indigo Milk Cap Amanita bisporigera/The Destroying Angel Laetiporus sulphureus/Chicken of the Woods Boletus edulis/The Porcini Coprinus comatus/The Shaggy Mane Calvatia gigantea/The Giant Puffball Gyromitra esculenta/The False Morel The Genus Morchella/The Morel Hericium erinaceus/The Lion's Mane Stobilomyces strobilaceus/The Old Man Of The Woods Auricularia auricula/The Jelly Ear Mushroom Cortinarius iodes/The Spotted Cort Phallus rubicundus Possible "Mycenoid" species/Tiny Mushroom Foray Lyophyllum decastes Random Find Ganoderma applanatum Random Find L.sulphureus The Nidulariaceae Family/Bird's Nest Fungi Random Lycoperdon Pyriforme Agaricus bisporus, AKA The Button Mushroom Random Find, Probable Flammulina velutipes Random Find Likely Agaricus campestris Random Find, Fomitopsidaceae family, possibly Hapalopilus nidulans Random Find, probably G.saccatum Laetiporus cincinnatus Tree Health Special Grifola frondosa, Hen of the woods. Reagent Basics and Making KOH Solution Random Find - Tulostoma lloydii Pycnoporus cinnabarinus Random Find - Probably Cerrena unicolor Random Find - Probably Coprinellus disseminatus Coprinellus micaceus/Coprinellus Sect Micacei The Importance of Saprobic Fungi Cleaning And Calibrating A Microscope Pluteus cervinus, "The Deer Mushroom." Hypholoma sublateritium - "Brick Caps" Lycogala epidendrum - Wolf's Slime or Toothpaste Mold Hypholoma sublateritium - "Brick Caps" Lycogala epidendrum - Wolf's Slime or Toothpaste Mold Cordyceps capitata Probable Crepidotus Mushroom Myxomycetes Overview Metatrichia vesparium Probable Hemitrichia or Trichia Species Hypholoma fasciculare, Sulfur Tufts Introduction To At Home Microscopes Tiny Fungal Molds Parasitic Fungal Infection Of A Tiny Bug Licea Variabilis Slime Mold Likely Armillaria Species, Tree Pathogen How To Turn Your Christmas Tree Into Food Part 1 How To Turn Your Christmas Tree Into Food Part 2

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The Present And Near Future

Ever since Steemit funded the purchase of a new dissecting microscope, I've been able to capture several amazing images on scales much tinier than I was previous even able to see, let alone photograph. The photo above is the most recent growth, what I believe to be living, undulating brown slime mold plasmodium on one of the moist chamber experiments. When I return next week I will check in to see whether things...develop.

Additionally, there is the Christmas tree log to finish. The weather dipped into the low double digits soon after I prepped the log, so I put off the actual inoculation until I return from Switzerland, but Part 3 is coming!

After I return on Sunday, I am aiming to have two posts next week - Part 3 of the Christmas tree series, and a moist chamber species - however I'm not making any promises. I have a very busy week at work and I'm also planning for...

A two week vacation.

That's right - the Amateur Mycologist is taking a vacation - and not just a couple of days to see the most amazing human technological achievement on Earth, but a genuine, long, vacation. I'm really looking forward to it - but it will also mean a break in content production. As a result, February is going to be pretty light for my mycological content.

However, there will be hiking on my vacation, and I'm sure to come back with some great content!

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The Future!

Here's where things get really exciting. I have a number of plans for the future that should result in a major increase of my mycological knowledge.

Once I get back in March, I will be doing more local forays to find and identify wild growing mushrooms in the tri-state area.

Also in the March time frame, I will be building a miniature clean box and together we will learn how to grow mushrooms from spore! In this we may very well fail, but as you will discover, sterilization is going to be the key to success.

The biggest news by far is that I'll be headed on a Mycological foray to Chile at the end of April into May, for several weeks. This is going to be an amazing experience, and an incredible learning experience for me to learn from some of best mycologists and mycological minds about species often exclusively found in the various ecosystems of Chile. I have been looking into what Chile has to offer mycologically speaking, and some of the species are bizarre and astounding.

From a technical viewpoint, I also plan on acquiring two major new pieces of hardware around the March/April time frame:

1. A more legit macro photographic set up - probably a Canon 80D with a reversed manual lens. I have been doing TONs of research on this in order to get the most bang for my buck and I think this is the best option. The Canon 80D is a double whammy acquisition, because it will also allow an easy transition into video creation on dtube and youtube.

There are two other fledgling hobbies I have not yet exposed you all to and I think they both are well suited to HD video. (Spoiler, they would also provide consistent giveaways!)

1. Finally, I will also be acquiring a new, more complex compound microscope. However, this has also been a major point of ongoing research and I have not yet made up my mind. I think, though, that in order to get both dark field and phase-contrast functionality at any price that isn't outrageous, I will likely be sticking with AMSCOPE.

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The Steemit Community Has Been Incredibly Kind To Me

My readers and supporters have changed my life in concrete ways, and for that I am incredibly grateful! A special thanks to Acidyo for the early support that kept me blogging in the beginning, everyone at the #steemstem community, as well as the folks down at the #homesteading and #nature communities as well.

There is still so much more to learn, and so much learning left to share!

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Photos And Videos Are My Own Except The Map Of Chile Which Is A Public Domain Image

Microscopic photos were taken using an AmScope SM-4TZ-144A dissecting microscope and an AMScope M150B entry level microscope. The camera lens is also AMScope, MU300.

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Information Sources:

Hundreds and Hundreds of webpages and book cites! Always check down here at the end of my posts for tons and tons of helpful information!

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Support @steemstem and the #steemstem project - curating and supporting quality STEM related content on Steemit

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