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| Cercopithecus l'hoesti |
Today, we have a meeting in Bweyeye, a
village on the edge of the Nyungwe National Park (970 km²), located in the south
west of Rwanda on the border with Burundi, not far from the Lake Kivu. The mountain forest of Nyungwe is perhaps one
of the best preserved in Central Africa.
It has an exceptionally rich fauna and flora: around 13 species of
primates, 32 species of amphibians and 38 species of reptiles and not to forget
a thousand species of plants. The
mushroom flora is not so well known, just like in the surrounding countries
and regions. This is the motivation for
our scientific mission which has as a goal of gaining a better knowledge of
edible mushrooms.
Rendez-vous
in Batwa-land
After two hours hiking through a maze of
paths in the montane forest of Nyungwe, we arrive in Bweyeye. Here the local population are hunter-
gatherers. Jean Marie,
a forest ranger we met from an earlier scientific mission in October of last
year, is waiting for us.
The first exploratory mission in October
already indicated the presence of strange Amanites
– from the group ‘phalloides’
or ‘marmorata’. This remains to be confirmed but it has
almost certainly been introduced with Eucalyptus trees originating from
Australia. This is not so
exceptional. Many mushrooms have been
spread across the entire world in the way.
The hyphae or mycelium of the fungus were hidden on the roots of the
Eucalyptus or Fir trees. But most
surprising is that this Amanite is
considered as edible by the local population.
To science species of this group are unanimously considered as deadly poisonous !
Is
the Amanite edible?
Jean-Marie found a local inhabitant that
would act as a guide in our search for the Amanite. The aim: to collect large quantities of
Amanite to carry out genetic and toxicological analyses. In this way we can determine the species and check the presence or not of deadly poisons. In the meantime, Assoumpta, remained in the
village to find out how local people prepared these mushrooms for eating.
Without some effort you will not reach your
goal said Jérôme Degreef, the scientific coordinator of the expedition. Ahead of us a steep climb to the top of the
hill where these famous mushrooms can be found.
We are looking for mushrooms with a volva, which is a sort of sack
that remains on the base of the stem (stipe), a characteristic morphological
feature of Amanites. After three hours
of trekking we find some perfect specimens of other mushrooms – but no
Amanites. They nevertheless grow in large
numbers in October. A look of despair
could be seen on Jérôme’s face until finally our local guide leads us to a plot
of ground where he believes we could find what we were looking for. ‘Yes that’s it’ shouted Jérôme, and as quick
as lightning the mushrooms were photographed, listed and harvested for our
collection.
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After some ten minutes we find another
three examples in various stages of growth (see photo).
Sadly, the amount of material is far too
limited to be able to carry out a toxicological investigation.
We take the opportunity to ask our guide if
he eats these mushrooms and how he prepares them. His answer is yes, but he removes the cuticle
of the cap before cooking them. This
confirms what Assoumpta was told by the village women.
Tomorrow we will return to continue our
harvest but to be sure of success we ask our guide and the local village
children to help. What will the result
be? That will see on Friday.
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