Mushrooms and Autumn Plants Show

^43rd edition of the Autumn Mushrooms and Plants Show

Exhibitions of fresh mushrooms, fresh plants, insects, travertine and two lectures (one on plants, one on mushrooms).

Due to building work at the Faculty of Pharmacy, the ^43rd Champignons et Plantes d'automne will be held at the Institut de Botanique in Montpellier, organized by the Société d'Horticulture et d'Histoire Naturelle de l'Hérault in partnership with the Faculty of Pharmacy.

The ^43rd edition of Champignons et Plantes d'automne will feature the following exhibits:

1. fresh mushrooms with a workshop on the confusion between edible and poisonous or even deadly species in our region;
2. autumn flowering plants, collected by members of the SHHNH and the Montpellier Faculty of Pharmacy.

Insect showcases and a travertine display will also be available.

Mushrooms collected or brought in by the public over the two days will be identified by SHHNH members and academics. The CD-ROM "Les principaux champignons comestibles et leurs sosies toxiques ou mortels", created by several SHHNH members, will be available to the public. Three card games created by a SHHNH member will enable the public, including students, to test their knowledge of mushroom identification, edibility and toxicity.

Two conferences will be held in the Flahault amphitheatre of the Institut de Botanique (Montpellier):

• Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 4pm: "La face cachée des orchidées" (The hidden face of orchids) by Michel NICOLE (President of the Société Française d'Orchidophilie du Languedoc).
  
  Orchids hold a fascination for mankind that reflects not only the spectacular beauty of their flowers, but also their rich diversity. With almost 30,000 species, the orchid family is one of the largest in the plant kingdom. This is due to the ability of these plants to adapt over time to the different environments in which they live. They have thus developed very close relationships with insects and fungi that share their habitats.
  
  Buscail R., Dabonneville F., Léwin J.M.et Nicole M. 2019. A la découverte des orchidées en Languedoc et Pays Catalan. Editions Biotope 368 p.
  
  Nicole M. 2020. Endemism in the orchid family. L'Orchidophile 227: 337-350.
  
  Nicole M., Buscail R., Brissaud A. and Klesczewski M. 2022. La gestion conservatoire des orchidées du littoral d'Occitanie. L'Orchidophile 235: 327-334.

• Sunday, October 22, 2023 at 4pm: "Hydne hérisson: a mushroom with promising neuroprotective properties" by Maya CAVALLI (Doctor of Pharmacy, University of Montpellier).
  
  Hydne hérisson(Hericium erinaceus) is an edible mushroom with multiple medicinal properties. Whether wild or domesticated, its neuroprotective properties are mainly 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 advantageous tolerance profile of hedgehog hydne makes it a species whose use could prove promising in neurodegenerative diseases, cognitive functions and depressive disorder.
  
  Cavalli M., 2023. Le trouble dépressif : Approches mycothérapeutiques prospectives avec Hericium erinaceus et Psilocybe sp . Thèse d'exercice du diplôme d'Etat de Docteur en Pharmacie, Université de Montpellier, 84 p. Montpellier.
  
  Cavalli M., Fons F. and Rapior S, 2023. Prospective mycotherapeutic approach to depressive disorder using Hericium erinaceus. Annales de la Société d'Horticulture et d'Histoire Naturelle de l'Hérault, 162 (in press).