If you find mushrooms
- Photograph first. Several photos: different angles; something for scale (a coin, a ruler, your hand); the top; the underside (gills, pores, or teeth); the whole stem including the base; the habitat. Photos of a specimen already picked and lying on a table are the least useful.
- Collect the whole thing, base included, if you have permission to collect there (Permission). One good specimen beats five crushed ones. Keep different finds in separate bags or paper.
- Post the observation to iNaturalist the same day if you can, with the location as exact as you are comfortable with (iNaturalist can hide the exact spot from the public while keeping it in the record). Put a note that you kept the specimen.
- Dry it. A dehydrator at low heat until it snaps, then a paper bag or envelope labeled with the iNaturalist observation number. A dried specimen keeps for years; a fresh one spoils within days.
When collecting events start (Events), each specimen will get a numbered sticker at the start, and that number ties the photos, the observation, and the dried tissue together. Until then, the iNaturalist observation number does that job.
If you lead forays, teach, or run a group
Volunteers are welcome. What helps most: a list of places your group can collect with permission, dates you already have planned for 2027, and how many people you can bring to a processing day (an indoor session where dried specimens go into tubes; see Events). Get in touch through About.
If you own or manage land
Written permission to collect on a site, even one small woodlot, is the single most useful gift. Collecting for science takes a few specimens, not many, and every specimen collected on your land becomes a public record of what grows there. See Permission.
What sequencing costs
MycoMap sequences specimens from its open network at no charge, on its own timeline. To get results faster, Gulf Coast Fungi plans to use MycoMap's paid plate service: dried tissue in plates of 96 small tubes, at the member price of $3.00 per specimen ($288 per full plate; lower per-specimen tiers for larger volumes). That price requires a MycoMap membership and comes with one condition we would choose anyway: every result is made public on GenBank (the public DNA database) and on iNaturalist or Mushroom Observer. On top of it come tubes, bags, labels, drying, shipping, and a donation toward MycoMap's lab work, much of which is still done by volunteers. Collectors are not asked to pay; Gulf Coast Fungi raises the money. Source: MycoMap, Fungal DNA Barcoding (tissue in plates), read 2026-11-02.
What this is for
Identification here is for science and for the record: a name, a sequence, and a public observation. Nothing else is offered or implied.
If you suspect a mushroom poisoning: call US Poison Control, 1-800-222-1222, or your nearest emergency room.
Gulf Coast Fungi · Baldwin County, Alabama · contact@gulfcoastfungi.com · Permission and disclaimers · Connections · Text on this site: CC0 (no rights reserved) · Updated 2026-11-04.