43rd Annual Fall Mushroom and Plant Fair

Due to construction work at the School of Pharmacy, the^43rd edition of the Autumn Mushrooms and Plants Fair will take place at the Institute of Botany in Montpellier, organized by the Hérault Society of Horticulture and Natural History (SHHNH), still in partnership with the School of Pharmacy.

The following will be on display at the^43rd edition of the Autumn Mushrooms and Plants Fair:

October 21 and 22, 2023

From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Institute of Botany

163 Auguste Broussonnet Street

Montpellier

• fresh mushrooms, along with a workshop on distinguishing between edible and poisonous—or even deadly—species in our region,
• autumn flowering plants, collected by members of the SHHNH and the Faculty of Pharmacy in Montpellier.

There will also be insect displays and a presentation on travertine.

Members of the SHHNH and university faculty will identify the mushrooms collected or brought in by the public over the two-day event. The CD-ROM “Major Edible Mushrooms and Their Toxic or Deadly Look-Alikes, ” created by several members of the SHHNH, will be made available to the public. Three sets of cards created by a member of the SHHNH will allow the public, including students, to test their knowledge of mushroom identification as well as their edibility and toxicity.

Two lectures will be held in the Flahault Auditorium at the Institute of Botany.

“The Hidden Side of Orchids” by Michel NICOLE (President of the French Orchid Society of Languedoc)

Saturday, October 21, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. 

Orchids hold a fascination for humans that reflects not only the spectacular beauty of their flowers but also the richness of their diversity. With nearly 30,000 species, the orchid family is one of the largest groups in the plant kingdom. This prominence stems from these plants’ ability to adapt, over time, to the various environments in which they live. As a result, they have developed very close relationships with the insects and fungi that share their habitats.

Buscail, R., Dabonneville, F., Léwin, J.M., and Nicole, M. 2019. Discovering Orchids in Languedoc and Catalonia. Editions Biotope, 368 pp.

Nicole M. 2020. Endemism in the orchid family. L’Orchidophile 227: 337–350.

Nicole M., Buscail R., Brissaud A., and Klesczewski M. 2022. Conservation management of coastal orchids in Occitanie. L’Orchidophile 235: 327–334.

“Hydnum erinaceum: A Mushroom with Promising Neuroprotective Properties” by Maya CAVALLI (Ph.D. in Pharmacy, University of Montpellier)

Sunday, October 22, 2023, at 4:00 p.m.

The lion’s mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceus) is an edible mushroom with numerous medicinal properties. Whether wild or cultivated, its neuroprotective properties are primarily due to erinacins and hericenones, molecules that promote the synthesis of NGF (Nerve Growth Factor). Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) is a neurotrophic factor involved in regulating the growth, maintenance, proliferation, and survival of certain target neurons. The hedgehog mushroom’s favorable safety profile makes it a species whose use could prove promising in neurodegenerative diseases, cognitive function, and depressive disorders.

Cavalli, M., 2023. Depressive Disorder: Prospective Mycotherapeutic Approaches Using Hericium erinaceus and Psilocybe sp. Thesisfor the State Doctorate in Pharmacy, University of Montpellier, 84 pp. Montpellier.

Cavalli M., Fons F., and Rapior S., 2023. A prospective mycotherapeutic approach to depressive disorder using Hericium erinaceus. Annals of the Hérault Society of Horticulture and Natural History, 162 (in press).