“Fungi in History” Talk at WSU Nov. 18

PULLMAN, Wash. – Frank Dugan, USDA Agricultural Research Service plant pathologist, will present “Fungi in History and Folklore: Mushrooms, Yeasts, Molds, and Mildews in the Lives and Stories of our Distant Past” at 7 p.m. on Nov. 18 in Smith Center for Undergraduate Education (CUE) 518 on the campus of Washington State University.

An expert on the history of fungi, Dugan said that “Fungi are manifest in a multiplicity of folktales and fairy tales, and in folk remedies and rituals. They appear as foods, poisons, decorations, dyes or tinder, and even in insults, compliments, graffiti and video games.”

Dugan’s talk is sponsored by the WSU Department of Plant Pathology and the Palouse Mycological Association. Dugan is the author of the 2008 book, “Fungi in the Ancient World.”

The talk is free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact Lori Carris at 509-335-3733.

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