"Mushrooms and Fall Plants" Fair
During the46th edition of the “Autumn Mushrooms and Plants” fair, several exhibitions, workshops, and tours will be offered in the fields of mycology, botany, entomology, geology, and pharmacy.
The mushrooms and plants will have been collected by members of the Hérault Society of Horticulture and History (SHHNH) and the Montpellier School of Pharmacy (Laboratory of Botany, Phytochemistry, and Mycology).
Fresh fall mushrooms:
- an exhibit featuring more than 200 fresh mushrooms;
- a workshop on how to distinguish between edible and poisonous—or even deadly—mushrooms in our region: the slideshow “The Main Edible Mushrooms and Their Poisonous or Deadly Look-Alikes,” created by several members of the SHHNH, will be presented to the public.;
- a workshop to identify specimens brought in by the public: SHHNH members and university faculty will identify the mushrooms collected or brought in by the public over the course of the two days;
- educational tools to help the general public and students (pharmacy, medicine, science, liberal arts, humanities, and social sciences) identify mushrooms : Three sets of cards and a “Mushrooms” quiz, created by members of the SHHNH, will allow the general public and students to test their knowledge of mushroom foraging, preservation, ecology, identification, as well as their edibility and/or toxicity.
Fall fruits and flowers:
- an exhibition of more than 200 wild plants from the region that were recently collected;
- A workshop to identify plants brought in by the public. SHHNH botanists will answer your questions about the flora of our region.
Insects:
- Entomologists will display cases showcasing the diversity of insects in the region. Insects: Champions of Biodiversity. Nearly 43,000 different species in metropolitan France.
- An interactive card game, created by a member of the SHHNH, will help you learn about this diversity.
Rocks:
- An exhibition of rocks tells the story of changes in the Mediterranean Sea’s sea level over the past 15 million years by examining the evolution of the coastline.
- Current studies predict that this change will occur in the near future.
Free guided tours of the Albert CIURANA Pharmacy Museum are offered on Saturday afternoons, Sunday mornings, and Sunday afternoons.
Two lectures will be held in Lecture Hall A of the Montpellier School of Pharmacy:
Saturday, October 17, 2026, at 4:00 p.m.:“Epiphytic orchids are not plant parasites!” by David LAFARGE (Editor-in-Chief, L’Orchidophile – Fédération France Orchidées)
Sunday, October 18, 2026, at 4:00 p.m.: “A Legal Mushroom Hunt…” by Pierre MOUSSERON ( Professor at the Montpellier School of Law, President of the Institut des usages, Montpellier)
