NAMA 2012 Foray
December 13-16, 2012 | Scotts Valley, California
Registration for the 2012 NAMA Foray is full.
Discover for yourself California’s best kept secret — when most of the country is frozen over, California’s mushroom season is in full swing! Join us in the beautiful hills of Scotts Valley for the North American Mycological Association's 52nd annual foray from December 13-16, 2012.
Big Basin State Park © photo by Noah Siegel
Our Chief Mycologist will be Dr. Else C. Vellinga, an accomplished fungal taxonomist and renowned Lepiota expert from UC Berkeley. She has been published extensively, including co-authorship on three volumes of Flora Agaricina Neerlandica, as well as numerous articles in Mycologia and Mycotaxon. Else is not only active in academia, she has an impressive field sense and engages with amateur clubs in her effort to inform the public about this “forgotten kingdom.” It is our distinct pleasure and honor to have Dr. Vellinga as the taxonomic advisor for the 2012 foray.
Special Guest Mycologist David Arora, author of the nationally renowned books, Mushrooms Demystified and All That the Rain Promises and More, will also join us in celebration of NAMA returning to California.
Foggy redwoods © photo by Noah Siegel
Mushroom hunting in the Santa Cruz area is sure to turn up a great diversity of mushrooms, from the beautiful to the delectable. Some of these may include the striking blue and purple Entoloma, an array of brilliant red, yellow, and green Hygrocybe, the handsome Boletus edulis var. grandedulis (better known as Porcini) and California's often massive, endemic chanterelle, C. californicus!
For the 2012 NAMA foray we have arranged very special permission to collect in Henry Cowell, Wilder Ranch, and Nisene Marks State Parks, which include every major habitat type found on the central coast, including hardwood groves, Douglas-fir forests, the critically endangered and globally unique pine-clad sand hills, and last but certainly not least, the dark, damp, awe-inspiring Coast Redwoods.
For those of you who will be accompanying your mushroom-obsessed significant other, this is the perfect opportunity for a California vacation! You will not be far from great sightseeing and shopping — our foray will be located at Mission Springs Conference Center in the woods on 300 acres less than 10 miles from downtown Santa Cruz, a beautiful town and one-of-a kind shopping destination. A day trip to San Francisco for sight-seeing or shopping is only an hour and a half from our site, with numerous picturesque stops along the way.
We hope to see you at NAMA 2012 in California!
