Get to know your mushrooms at Santa Cruz's Fungus Fair

During this soggy time of year, gardener hot lines light up with inquiries about mushrooms sprouting up all over. A circle of mushrooms ringing the base of your oak tree may be armillaria, a "honey" fungus that is "the harbinger of death for your oak tree," says LeeAnn Ray, co-leader of the hot line of the Master Gardeners of Santa Clara County. "It's one of the most common things" discovered by callers, Ray says of the fungus, which eats away at the tree's root system.

Learn about the mushrooms in your world and beyond - wild and tame alike - at the 37th annual Fungus Fair set for Friday-Jan. 9 in Santa Cruz.

It takes place from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Louden Nelson Community Center, 301 Center St. General admission is $5 on Friday; on Saturday and Sunday it's $7, $5 for seniors age 60 and above and free for children 12 and under.

Fungi kingdom aspects to be highlighted include its medicinal, culinary and even garden components.

Billed as a family event - there will be hands-on fungus exploration for kids - the fair offers a program Saturday that features founder-author David Arora kicking off the "Wheel of Fungi," a presentation he concludes Sunday. Physicians will participate in "Poison Panel - Deadly or Dangerous" at 1 p.m. Saturday. Herbalist Christopher Hobbs will talk about medicinal properties of mushrooms on Saturday and Sunday, and chefs will give daily cooking demonstrations.

A habitat display, mushroom identification by experts, and vendors - some selling kits for cultivating your own mushrooms - are among the fair's staples.

The fungus fair is sponsored by the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz. Call (831) 684-2275 or go to www.scfungusfair.org for details.

- Laramie Trevino, home@sfchronicle.com

This article appeared on page K - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle