Ep. 253 : Mushroom Color Atlas with Julie Beeler

As Julie Beeler writes, it wasn’t until 1969 that fungi were taxonomically separated from plants and recognized as inhabiting their own kingdom. There is so much that we do not understand about their taxonomy, their natural history, their functions in their ecosystem, or their medicinal values. With all that we do not know, Julie Beeler’s amazing work, set on paper as the Mushroom Color Atlas draws a clear path towards understanding the possible tones and timbres of colour and shade which we can pull from some of members of this vast kingdom.

byron murray 2024-04-01 byron murray 2024-04-01

Ep. 239 : Wood Rots

Ok, so this is weird, but I love death.
Dying, decay, decomposition, breakdown.. synonyms that sort of warm my heart in a strange kinda way. When I think of death I think of nutrients breaking down into small parts, making it easier for other things to consume and to continue to grow and live. I too am grateful to those things which help break things down. The decomposers which turn trees into soil and enable all the plants to grow, soil bacteria to thrive and create suitable substrates to all the fungal bodies in the dirt.
Today’s show is all about those fungal forms which help breakdown trees into consumable soil nutrients; white rot and brown rot. I have talked about them before on the show, but I wanted to dig in a little bit more.

byron murray 2023-05-08 byron murray 2023-05-08

Ep. 216 : Morel Mushrooms

Lately a lot of folks I know have been finding Morels in and around the city where I live. Possibly one of the most prized edible fungi on the planet, everyone seems very excited to bring them home and cook them into an ephemeral dish. If I find a bunch I may do the same, but until then I wanted to look into this amazing fruiting body a little bit more.

byron murray 2022-10-24 byron murray 2022-10-24

Ep. 199 : Death and Decomposers

Tis’ the season to be considering the concepts of death and decay. We can smell it in the cool wet woods, and we can see it draped across the doorways along our streets. Skeletal trees sway with boney branches scratching at grey skies, and the dark is ever creeping in. Why not celebrate some of the most profound and interesting parties involved in this death and decomposition : Fungi!