Contribute to Russula of North America
In cooperation with the 1,400+ members of the Russulas and Lactarius of North America Facebook group and the North American Mycoflora Project, we are starting a project to begin sequencing the most interesting Russula specimens that appear online. The genus Russula has a large number of species that are known to still be new to science, despite being a common genus across geographic and temporal gradients. The North American Mycoflora Project has provided a grant to sequence 30 specimens of Russula that are contributed by citizen scientists from the Facebook Group. We are looking to raise the funds to sequence an additional 100 interesting specimens in 2018.
There are two ways you can contribute substantially to this project:
1.) Take field photographs of Russulas you encounter and fill out the Russula field data form. Post your images to Mushroom Observer or iNaturalist. Dry these specimens and send them to the project organizers along with your field data form. These specimens will be included in the pool of specimens that may have their DNA looked at in 2018. Even if your specimen is not selected in 2018, it could still be utilized in future years.
You can also guarantee your specimens are sequenced by including a $10/specimen donation with your dried specimens.
2.) Make a cash contribution to this project. Each $10 contribution to this project will allow us to select another vouchered specimen for sequencing. If we can hit our goal, we will be able to sequence a total of 130 Russula specimens in 2018. (30 specimens from the NAMP grant + 100 specimens from donors).
Project Goals:
1.) Give citizen scientists who are interested in the genus Russula the ability to substantially contribute to the body of knowledge surrounding the genus.
2.) Encourage citizen scientists to make scientifically valuable collections of Russulas.
3.) Make a substantial contribution towards the genus Russula, by providing a large number of specimens that have color images, descriptions, and sequence data. This data will be used to make an update to the Kibby + Fatto synoptic key from 1990.
Please send dried specimens to:
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