Before heading to the woods, be sure you’ve verified the permissions needed to collect at a certain location. These can vary by state and by land type (county park, state preserve, etc.) as well as by collection type (i.e., can harvest edible mushrooms but not scientific collections, etc.). Sometimes, special permits are needed – and collecting on Federal lands are not permitted.

If you have any questions on whether you can collect in a certain area, reach out! We’d be more than happy to help you clear things up.

After verifying necessary permissions, go to your nearby (or more distant) forested area of interest and look for trees that have green leaves. Refer to the RESOURCES tab in the top menu for tips on how to identify different tree species.

Not sure about the identification? That’s OK! We will be able to identify the species by sequencing DNA present the in plant roots.

Once you have found a tree you are interested in sampling, record the GPS coordinates. There are a number of free smartphone applications available for download, including Google Maps (see the RESOURCES tab in the above menu for more information). Please make sure the location is as accurate as possible, as it is important for us to obtain environmental information, such as precipitation and soil type.

Remove the top layer of vegetation and debris from a small area of soil under the tree canopy. Use your hand trowel to dig a hole within 1-3 feet from the base of the tree; the hole should be 3-6 inches deep.

Collect “fine” roots, which are small, finely-branched tree roots, similar to those in the picture below. Shake clean and carefully remove any large clumps of soil.

Note: Although small and fine, tree roots will be thicker and often darker than those of herbaceous plants and grasses. See if you can notice the difference when digging up roots!

Image: Fine roots of Eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides).

Place acquired tree roots into a properly labeled sandwich bag. A proper label includes:

Wipe the soil off your hand trowel – and, if you wish, you are ready to sample another tree! If you take multiple samples from the same tree, however, please combine them into one bag. Many sandwich bags containing different samples can fit in a shipping vessel (see Ship Your Sample(s) below), so let your trowel run free.

Once you are ready to send your sample(s), you can:

1. Put them in an envelope (or suitable vessel of your choosing) with the appropriate postage and drop them in the mail at your own expense. We thank you for your generous contribution!
2. Email us at forestfungiproject@plantpath.wisc.edu to request a USPS shipping label that you can print and attach to a 12.5″ x 9.5″ padded flat-rate envelope (available at most post offices); all we need is the zip-code from which you will be sending.

TIP: Check to see if the 12.5″ x 9.5″ padded envelope is available at your local post office before collecting samples. That way you know they have them in stock and they are available to you without delay! If this size is not available, shoot us an email and we can let you know of our additional options.