Boletes and Boletales of Arizona by Christopher May

In addition to its famous dry deserts, the state of Arizona contains many forested mountain ranges where rainfall is much more abundant in the late-summer monsoon season, supporting large stands of oak, pine, fir, spruce, and other trees.

Many kinds of mushrooms grow in this habitat, among them a number of boletes and their close relatives. Many knowledgeable mycophiles all over the country are well acquainted with the delicious "Ruby" or Red King Bolete of the Rocky Mountains, Boletus rubriceps, as well as the equally tasty White King Bolete or Barrows' Bolete, B. barrowsii, both of which are usually found in good numbers when the thunderstorms of July through September arrive in Arizona.

But dozens of other members of the order of Boletales can be found there too. Some of them exist only in the southwestern states and northern Mexico, while others are found more widely in the forests of the West. There are even a few interesting Eastern species that exist nowhere else west of the Mississippi River, relicts of the last Ice Age when boreal forests covered what are now the Great Plains.

Christopher May's presentation will show these interesting organisms in all their variety, followed by a period for questions and answers.

8PM Eastern | 7 PM Central | 6 PM Mountain | 5PM Pacific

April 8th, 2024

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