Flammulina velutipes (Curtis) Singer Edible, but tough. Despite appearances, the commercially produced “enoki” mushroom found in many grocery stores is a cultivated form of this mushroom. One of the best-known […]
Category: Illinois / regional
200 Years of Illinois: The half-eaten bison sandwich of Richard M. Nixon
September 22 is an auspicious date in Illinois history. As this post recounts, boxing history took place on the date. Willie Nelson took time out from his 1985 to team […]
Q&A with Lex Tate, Co-author of An Illini Place
Lex Tate is an adjunct lecturer in journalism and advertising at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and served as associate director of the University of Illinois Office for University Relations. She […]
Entoloma salmoneum, an attractive fungus
Entoloma salmoneum (Peck) Saccardo Entoloma salmoneum can be found growing alone or scattered in leaf litter under hardwoods, or in moss under conifers; frequently on rotting, moss-covered conifer logs. When […]
On Mutinus elegans, a mushroom both naughty and smelly
Mutinus elegans (Montagne) E. Fischer Usually at least partially submerged in the ground; appearing like a whitish to pinkish or purplish “egg” up to 4 cm high; when sliced, revealing […]
200 Years of Illinois: They Haunt By Night
Forget Halloween. August is the time for monster mashing in Illinois. One peruse of the state’s long history of monster sightings shows that warm summer nights bring the cryptids out […]
The Food’s The Story
While on the UI Chicago campus this week, we had the distinct pleasure of visiting the current Special Collections and University Archives exhibit at the library: “The Food’s The Story.” […]
“Working for Change: Stories of Labor History in Illinois”
An exhibit titled “Working for Change: Stories of Labor History in Illinois” greets visitors as they enter the North-South Corridor of the main library on the UIUC campus. A series […]
200 Years of Illinois: Golden Nature Guides
Born on July 12, 1909, Herbert S. Zim taught at the University of Illinois in the 1950s. It was during his years in Champaign-Urbana that Zim penned or cowrote several of […]
200 Years of Illinois: Cosmic Fireworks
On July 4, 1054, an extraordinary event attracted the attention of peoples around the world. A supernova appeared in the constellation Taurus. This guest star, to use a Chinese term, suddenly […]
200 Years of Illinois: Eads and elephants
The Eads Bridge, named for its designer/builder James B. Eads, materialized in 1874 amidst a blizzard of superlatives. At 6,442 feet, it was the largest arch bridge on earth, and the […]
200 Years of Illinois: The Elwood Ordnance Plant explosion
On June 5, 1942, the Herald-News in Joliet reported on one of the deadliest industrial accidents in state history: the explosion at the Elwood Ordnance Plant. At 2:41 a.m., an explosion […]