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Fungi of the Gardens
Sunday, January 25
from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM
with Naturalist and Educator, Damon Tighe at the MCBG Entry
Fungi inhabit every aspect of the world around us, from our bodies to the land around us. They make partnerships with organisms, parasitize others, and keep the forests from piling high with logs or other plant debris. On this walk, we will survey the Gardens' grounds for fruiting bodies (mushrooms) and other fungal activity. In the case of mushrooms, we will cover edibility, toxicity, and medicinal uses all while trying to develop an eye for reading the landscape to where they might fruit.
The Details​​
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If you have one, bring a hand lens and a UV flashlight (recommended option).
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Come prepared to use your cell phone or camera to take photos and upload them to iNaturalist!
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The walk involves standing for long periods of time, and venturing off the main trails on varied terrain.
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Be prepared for the weather with appropriate layers.
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Bring a water bottle, notebook, and a pencil/pen.
Walk Registration
Class size is limited! Registration for this walk must be completed in advance online or at the MCBG Store. The registration fee is $36.00 per participant or $26.00 for MCBG Members and covers your admission for the day. All fees are non-refundable unless the talk has been canceled or rescheduled by the Gardens. ​​​​Proceeds support our nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
Registration – $36.00 per participant, includes Gardens admission for the day
Member Registration – $26.00 per current MCBG Member – sign in to access your discount​
About the Instructor
Damon Tighe grew up in Calaveras County, California and made his way to the Bay Area to attend Saint Mary's College in Moraga to study Biology and Chemistry. After stints as a teacher in Portland, Oregon, a filmmaker in Bozeman, Montana, he returned to the Bay Area to work on the Human Genome Project at the Joint Genome Institute and now works for Bio-Rad Laboratories helping teachers bring biotechnology and modern biology education into classrooms. He has fallen head over heels for fungi ever since running out of food on the John Muir Trail and wondering of the mushrooms "can I eat that?" He currently volunteers with the Fungal Diversity Survey helping to build a DNA sequence and voucher-based herbarium to understand California's diversity of mushrooms.
Tracking your observations
You can contribute as a citizen scientist and keep track of all your observations made in nature using the iNaturalist app. This powerful tool allows anyone with an account to help identify and document anything you observe in nature, including birds, bugs, plants, scat, marine life, and more. iNaturalist observations are also helpful to scientists because they document a species in a location and date, and the phenology (blooming, fruiting, larvae, adult, etc.).
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Download iNaturalist to your phone or mobile device and begin to build your profile and observations!
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Click here for some helpful video tutorials to get you started
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Familiarize yourself with iNaturalist and check out all of the observations that the community has made at the Gardens so far — MCBG Community Page
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Prepare your smartphone or digital camera for a day of photographing the flora and fauna of the Gardens