Pink Beds Foray – July 23-25, 2010

Foray Leaders: Charlotte Caplan, Arnie Cremer, Coleman McClenaghan

Foray Location: Davidson River Valley near Brevard, NC. Foray routes included Pink Beds Loop, part of Sycamore Cove and Pressley Cove

Foray Habitat and Weather: All foray routes were in mixed forest, with some areas of mainly conifers (white pine and hemlock). Conditions were superficially moist, but rainfall in the previous month had been below normal for the area.

Summary: 24 AMC members, one MCG member, and two dogs took part in the foray. Ten of us camped at the North White Pine group camp, from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning. On Saturday everyone met at 9:00 AM at the Pink Beds picnic area (note: the shelters can now be reserved, for a fee) and collected along both arms of the Pink Beds loop. The far end of the loop is now an impassable swamp, possibly due to beaver activity. Back at the picnic shelter we had lunch and set about identifying our finds. After lunch, Coleman gave us a tour of the table, concentrating on identification to genus level. In the afternoon, we split into small groups to explore other sites in the Davidson River valley, meeting up again at the campsite, where some of us cooled off in the creek. It rained quite heavily in the early evening, but thanks to Arnie’s splendid canopy we stayed dry and enjoyed our potluck dinner.

Mushrooms, particularly the choice edibles, were not as plentiful as in previous years. Lactarius species were probably the most numerous, Boletes were thinly scattered, and Amanitas very sparse. However, many small species were collected, and the total tally was 84, with an impressive 81 identified to species level thanks to Coleman. Thirteen species were recorded for the first time on an AMC foray, including three unusual boletes: B. aurantiosplendens, B. tenax, and B. vermiculosus; two tooth fungi: Hydnellum aurantiacum and H. suaveolens; the Goldenthread Cordyceps, C. ophioglossoides, growing on a false truffle; Spotted Collybia, Rhodocollybia maculata; and an uncommon chanterelle relative: Gloeocantharellus purpurascens.

Species found: