CHESTERVILLE  — “Some Edible Wild Mushrooms of Western Maine” will be the title of a talk at the Chesterville Center Union Meeting House on Sunday, August 25, at 3 p.m.

Long-time fungi forager Cynthia Stancioff of Chesterville will present slides and offer guidance about safely identifying edible and medicinal species of mushrooms and other fungi common to western Maine.

Cynthia Stancioff, local mushroom forager, with a mushroom from Wyoming. Submitted photo

Though not a professional mycologist, Stancioff self-identifies as a mycophile and devoted mycophagist (i.e., she’s chiefly interested in eating them). After 30 years of mushroom foraging she targets two dozen species or so with confidence.

Attendees at the free talk are encouraged to bring with them any specimens of fungi from their own property that they may have been wondering about.  Says Stancioff, “The best place to start a wild mushroom hobby is in your own back yard or nearby spot where you can observe the same thing reappearing every year. Becoming acquainted with a recurring mushroom will give you some skills to move on to others one by one.”

The Meeting House is wheelchair-accessible and is located at the corner of the Borough and Zion’s Hill Roads in Chesterville. The organization is a non-profit which sponsors a broad range of events open to the public.  FMI visit www.chestervillemeetinghouse.org.  For questions about this talk, call 778-3513.