Hello Mushroom Enthusiasts!

My name is Aishwarya, and I’m a 3rd year PhD student in the Pringle Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying invasive Golden Oyster mushrooms.

I am writing to ask this fantastic community to help with research if you are willing and able! I’m doing a population genomics study to understand whether cultivation and/or invasion have affected the evolutionary trajectory of golden oysters. This mushroom season, I’m looking for folks to send me specimens of golden oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus citrinopileatus) collected from natural areas all over North America. I need specimens from everywhere other than Wisconsin:

• Ontario, Canada
• Colorado
• Texas
• Alabama
• New York
• New Jersey
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Maryland
• Delaware
• West Virginia
• Pennsylvania
• Massachusetts
• Connecticut
• Tennessee
• Missouri
• Kansas
• Illinois
• Michigan (and the Upper Peninsula)
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Minnesota
• Ohio
• Nebraska

It would be extra important to observe and collect golden oysters from places where it could be, but has not yet been recorded:

• New Hampshire
• Rhode Island
• Maine
• Kentucky
• Arkansas
• North Carolina
• West Virginia
• Mexico (there used to be a legitimate observation in central Mexico on iNaturalist, but it has since been deleted?)

Protocol:

1. Find and take photo(s) of a golden oyster specimen growing “naturally” outdoors (i.e., not cultivated). Feel free to post this observation on iNaturalist or MushroomObserver. If you do, please let me know the observation # of your observation (e.g., 218929426, found at the end of the URL of your completed post: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/218929426).
2. Collect the mushroom in a brown paper bag or wax bag. No need to collect more than 3 individual mushrooms (i.e., the whole cluster is not needed; chunkier mushrooms preferred). Refrigerate until you are able to send it. If you are unable to send it fresh, you can make a spore print on tin foil and send that with a dried specimen. Be sure to fold the tinfoil and seal it carefully such that spores are not disturbed.
3. Note down the location of the collection spot, to whatever degree you are comfortable with, but at least down to the county or township. Note the type of wood it is growing on if possible/identifiable. If you want to, note the latitude and longitude of the collection spot. If you don’t have a GPS, you can drop a pin on the location where you are in a map-based app and check the coordinates shown. Sometimes this is automatically recorded in the photo you take with your phone, or you can turn on this setting by allowing your camera to access Location services on your phone.
4. Send the specimen to the address below, accompanied by an email or physical note containing your name, the location of the collected specimen, and any other information you might have to add (e.g., type of wood substrate, online observation #, anything else you might have noticed). Ultimately, I plan to culture from these specimens and get them growing on agar plates. If you are familiar with isolating cultures and would rather send a specimen as a plated culture, I am happy to receive that as well.
5. Receive a thank you note from me and a token of my deep gratitude for helping contribute to this research. Brag to friends and family that you helped solve mysteries about golden oyster mushrooms.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I’ll be more than happy to answer at veerabahu@wisc.edu.

Thank you all and happy mushroom hunting!

Aishwarya Veerabahu

Shipping Address: