New to Hoosier Mushroom Society

[ForTheFunga]

Hello there,

I recently learned about the Hoosier Mushroom Society and thought I’d introduce myself. My name is William Arthur. I am a podiatrist and amateur mushroom photographer that lives up in Northeast Indiana, Fort Wayne specifically. I moved back to the Midwest almost 4 years ago after being gone for 9 years training on the west coast.

Now that I am not doing long hours of training and have more time on my hands, I’ve been able to enjoy some of my hobbies I have neglected. Well, this hobby is more of a passion to me. I take photographs of fungi (and slime molds) then post them on social media with descriptions of the species or genus that I have photographed.

I have been exploring a local nature preservation 2-3 times a week since early February and have been surveying the fungal diversity there on my own. 

I thought I’d let the Hoosier Mushroom Society know about me so I can participate in any mushroom events going on in Indiana and so that you can follow along with my mycology journey for any of you that are curious about the fungal diversity of Northeast Indiana. My Instagram account is forthefunga. 

I added a few of my photos as examples of what I find up in the Northeast. 

Anyway, I look forward to being apart of the Indiana mushroom community. 
 

Sincerely,

William Arthur

forthefunga - Instagram 

[Hoosierfunguy]

Welcome William,  I'm Scott 👋🏼

Those are really great photographs! Thank you for sharing them.  I do look forward to seeing your input and possibly seeing you on future forays! 

[ForTheFunga]

Hi Scott, 

No problem! Thanks for the welcome message. I have over 200 posts on Instagram of mushrooms mostly found at the Lindenwood Nature Preservation up here in Fort Wayne. A few photos are from California and Georgia as well. 

I almost went to school for a PhD in microbiology with a focus on mycology but ended up going to podiatry school. So, I still get to work with fungi in my job, but in not so pleasant situations, lol.

I mostly post on Instagram but I’ll make posts on here from time to time, particularly if there is a species I am not familiar with. For example, here is a fairly recent find, which to me, has the appearance of some kind of oyster mushroom, possibly an aging Pleurotus populinus. Any thoughts?

 

I’m very curious as to what species this may be. I respect the nature preservation so I don’t ever take mushrooms from the site so I am not able to do spore prints or microscopic examination.