Now that we have the FTA plant saver cards we can prepare some samples for analysis. In early spring four WPMC members met and pooled a small collection of mushrooms together for the test samples. There were a mixture of fresh, frozen and dried samples:

  1. Craterellus tubaeformis (formerly Cantharellus tubaeformis) also known as Yellowfoot, winter mushroom, or Funnel Chanterelle. Most likely from Oregon and is highly correlated to the presence of western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) but purchased from Whole Foods Market.
  2. Laetiporus sulphureus also known as Chicken of the Woods or Sulfur Shelf Mushroom. Harvested from a wild cherry tree in West PA and frozen.
  3. Morchella esculenta? Dried morel, rehydrated, exact species and collection site unknown but from West PA.
  4. Morchella semilibera? Half Free Morel dried as above.

The samples were applied to the FTA plant saver cards taking care not to contaminate them with our own DNA or that of other material.

The FTA sample sheet was sent for analysis and the results will be reported shortly.