Want to help with the search for new sites of psathyrella aquatica? (See EarthFix’s report on Oregon’s aquatic mushroom.) Mycologist Darlene Southworth believes it could be growing in mountain streams and rivers across the northwest, but says its pretty dam hard to spot. Here are a few tips:
Psathyrella aquatica is small, with caps of about 1 cm that are pale white to light brown. It fruits from July to October.
You have to be moving very slowly in order to spot it.
Darlene Southworth recommends wearing hip waders and using ski poles to keep your balance in the stream.
Jonathan Frank says getting down on your hands and knees and crawling along the river bank is a good way to search.
Aquatica may be associated with debris from alder trees.
It’s growing in a stretch of the Rogue River that has a good deal of aeration and many waterfalls.
The mushroom appears to grow in places where the river has slowed down and silt is collecting.
Psathyrella aquatica has never been found growing on land, but it’s possible it could grow on stream banks.
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