The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is asking everyone to keep an eye out for a new invasive mushroom that’s been appearing in forests in the state.

DNR invasive species spokesperson Joanne Foreman tells us the golden oyster mushroom is quite popular with foodies, explaining how it got here.

“It happens to taste really good, and you know as things go when things taste good, people like to bring them to where they live,” Foreman said.

But because fungi can spread easily, the invasive shrooms have now been found around wooded areas in mid-Michigan. Foreman says that’s a problem.

“What’s happening is it’s decreasing the diversity of native mushrooms in the forest. So after sampling a bunch of downed logs and tree stumps, they found that when golden oyster mushrooms were present, they blocked out about 50% of the diversity of native mushrooms.”

Foreman says stopping the spread of an invasive mushroom is especially challenging because they get around via the proliferation of spores and killing them with pesticides can just harm native species.

The DNR is hoping to contain the golden oyster mushroom where it can. It’s asking those who spend a lot of time outdoors, as well as mushroom hunters, to become familiar with what the golden oyster mushroom looks like and report it when they see it. That can be done by submitting a photo via the “I Naturalist” app.

You can find photos of the golden oyster mushroom right here.