The Season of Fungi pt. 1
‘Tis the season to be on the look out for mushrooms. They are so abundant right now that I can honestly smell them on the wind while I walk just outside the wooded riparian trail by my house. They are rampant. But you know what? I don’t know very much at all about mushrooms, or polypores, or fungi in general. I want to learn more. I want to be able to i.d. certain species and how how they interact with their host plants and who feeds on them and what sorts of properties they hold and maybe even which ones can be used as food or medicine for people, but I don’t know yet. Yet. This is why I am writing this post, to force myself to learn more about these magnificent beings on, within and beneath the paths I walk each day.
I don’t know much but this is a little of what I am learning. When it comes to the phylogenetics of fungi, their place in the western model of hierarchical organization of life on earth, fungi are considered to be in the Domain of Eukaryotic organisms, which are multi-cellular life forms who’s cells contain a nucleus and other specialized organelles. Humans and plants are in this domain as well. Fungi were once considered to be plants, or at least in the same kingdom of plants, but was moved to their own kingdom of Fungi.
How are they not like plants? Well, fungi are non-photosynthetic (they don’t produce their food by sunlight), instead they eat lots of things, and they eat them in nifty ways like digesting the things they consume outside of their bodies through enzymes excreted from the hyphae and then absorbing the smaller molecules through the large surface area of the mycelium. Again, mycelium excrete enzymes from the hyphae tips which break down and "digest" complex molecules and then the hyphae keep growing and moving on, while the rest of the mycelial surface absorbs the more soluble products. It would be like vomiting all over the grocery store aisle and then as we walk down the aisle continuing to vomit, we rub all of the goo all over our bodies until we absorb the nutrients. I love this stuff!
Another cool thing is that the fungal cell walls are produced of chitin, which is pretty cool — that is the same stuff as arthropods like Ants and Crayfish, and not cellulose like plants. Fungi also breathe in oxygen and exhale CO2, again like people, not plants.
Now folks are writing about a sort of broader meta-kingdom that includes fungi, and animals, among others. Fungi are more closely related to animals than they are to plants. Getting to know fungi is like going to a family reunion and meeting some long lost relative! Or something..
So, its important to remember that while all mushrooms are fungi, not all fungi are mushrooms. There are molds, slime molds, yeasts, sac fungi, and likely thousands of other forms which I don’t know about yet. I will be focusing mostly on mushrooms because that has been the entry point I am taking in learning about fungi, and I think that rings true for most folks.
I believe this individual to be Flat Top, or Agaricus placomyces, which I found along the trail at work in July, but was still seeing them around during the last week of September. I have learned that this is an Agaricus mushroom because of a few common field signs:
FIELD SIGNS
Although many Agaricus mushrooms grow in grassy or roadside areas, this one was growing in the woods alongside a path which is also likely among this genus.
The distinctive ring (or annulus), along the stalk (or stipe) is a common characteristic of Agaricus species’.
The crowded pinkish gills (or lamella), and deep dark brown spore print are also indicative.
The huge parasol cap, which I did not measure on this one, can grow up to 15 cm across for A. placomyces. My guess from the photo is that this one was about 13 cm across.
ASSOCIATIONS
The Flat Top grows on the ground in more northerly woody areas where it is saprobic or is a saprotroph, which means this mushroom lives off of dead or decaying matter. This species, like many other fungi, are decomposers which break down the dead plant matter in the forest and help convert it to beautiful soil where new plants can grow.
HUMAN USES
Turns out that the definition of edible vs not-edible vs poisonous is variable across individuals trying the mushroom and the authors writing about them and the scientists in the lab with them. So in the case of A. placomyces it seems best to not try and eat them, but instead, enjoy the beauty of this lovely woodsy species.
Suillus americanus is also known as Chicken Fat Bolete, which seems to be a mushroom I have been seeing a lot this season. I have encountered them at the edges of Pine (Pinus spp.) plantations in the grass, or even popping up in the needle litter under the trees, which may make sense of another of their common names; White Pine Bolete. Another common name I read was American Yellow Bolete. I have learned that any species, mushrooms, plants, or animals, with multiple common names is likely encountered a lot by people in a wide range of places, or that it may indicate common human uses. This one seems to be prolific and edible.
FIELD SIGNS
Cap is between 3-10 cm across, yellow, with red-brown scales along the outer edges. The cap is also pretty slimy which is pretty cool. They aren’t just slimy after a rain, rather they seem to stay slimy all the time which likely contributes to the “Chicken Fat” common name, and can be a common feature within the Suillus genus.
Underside of the cap has tubes instead of gills, which is typical of Boletes, which are sometimes called “sponge fungi”
They grow singly or profusely. I have mostly seen them in scattered groups, with one mushroom about 10 cm from the next, and another about 1 m away, and then two more 30 cm from that one, and so on.
Usually less than 10 cm tall or wide, which makes sense. The bigger ones I saw were about 8.5 cm across.
Spore print is ochre-brown, but I think I might call it orange-brown... maybe I need to learn more names of colours, too.
ASSOCIATIONS
S. americanus fruits under White Pines (Pinus strobus) trees. Tom Volk writes “despite their intimate association with certain tree species, S. americanus and other Suillus species do not seem to be as ecologically dependent on the tree for their nutrition as other genera of boletes, since they can be more easily cultured in the lab.” This just sounds mean to me. If S. americanus is intimately connected with another species and can only be found in relationship to that other species, then why separate them only to grow it in a lab? Sounds like splitting up besties just to see what happens.
HUMAN USES
Chicken Fat Bolete is listed in all of my books as edible. One book says that the sliminess persists so it may be better to peel the cap before cooking with it. I am wondering now if this species also tastes like chicken fat? If so, this mushroom would be a delicious addition to vegan cooking.
This next fungi I found is related to the popular and common Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea) but this one is called Apioperdon pyriforme or by their old name Lycoperdon pyriforme which in direct translation is “Wolf-fart Pear Shape”. They are more commonly known as Pear-shaped Puffballs, but yeah, Wolf-fart Pear-shaped Puffball is a pretty cool name for these ones. They are the only species in the Apioperdon genus.
FIELD SIGNS
The fruiting bodies are white when they are younger, but change to this pale-beige-sandy brown. By next Spring I think they will be a bit of a darker beige getting closer to a coffee and cream “double double” brown.
Fruit bodies about 5 cm tall and 3-5 cm in diameter. Though called “pear-shaped” I think these ones and others I have seen were rounder which also seems to be written about in different texts.
As the fruiting body matures, a hole (ostiole) develops at the top where the spores will eventually be ejected as the puffball is hit by rain drops or by the pressure of wind. I wonder if the impact of insects walking along the surface of the peridium could cause the ejection of spores?
ASSOCIATIONS
Grows in dense clusters on decaying coniferous or hardwood logs and stumps. This one was along a decaying log in an older Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) plantation growing thick with young White Ash (Fraxinus americana) and Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) among other species.
HUMAN USES
Some folks write about them being edible when young (making sure that the entire puffball is entirely white), but they also write that A. pyriforme can be confused with other species such as the egg stage of a Stinkhorn or Amanita button. Everyone suggests cutting them in half to make sure that there is no pre-formed mushroom looking “primordium” inside
To learn more :
Season of Fungi pt. 2
Season of Fungi pt. 3