A single toadstool or a clump of mushrooms
can appear suddenly, mysteriously, over night, in my backyard or among the
leaf litter of the forest– in fact almost any natural place - even in the midst
of a well manicured lawns. Mushrooms can appear in a great variety of colors and forms, from minuscule to amazingly large.
Here in northern California they come pop up like magic after winter rains begin.
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German New Year's card wishing " Lots of luck" -
Many people if Northern Europe, Russia, and parts of Asia take mushroom hunting as one of the joys of life... |
The mushroom structure that we see popping up in our garden is only the tip of the iceberg!
At the
end of the season, last year, when mushrooms were ripening, spores were
produced in huge numbers, and releasing into the air. Each spore is microscopic
– between 1-5 x the size of a typical bacterium.
Spores are designed for waiting.
They desiccate and bide their time – perhaps
blowing in the wind all summer– but they stay alive until the winter rains
begin the following year.
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| Oak mushroom |
Now is their moment!
The spore divides once, twice – again and
again and forms a system of cytoplasm filled tubes (hyphae) in the rich soil or
within an organic material.
The division
continues and as tubes come into contact with potential foodstuff; digestive
enzymes are released into the material to break it down.
The nutrients are then absorbed back into the
organism; and it is now empowered to continue its growth and expansion.
Large masses of fluid filled hypha form an
underground tangled mass.
(Mycelium).
Oddly these tubes do not divide into separate
cells –but open tubes that permit nutrients to flow freely within the hyphae
mass.
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| growing on a soil rich in decaying organic material |
Finally when the organism has stored sufficient
nutrients, an environmental trigger stimulates a portion of the DNA to become activated
and a complex series of biochemical reactions occur to cause the mushroom fruiting
body to be formed and thrust up from underground and to form a mushroom – often
overnight!, to begin the next generation of spore making. Some factors that can
contribute to ‘triggering” mushroom formation are temperature, moisture or
humidity, light, or balance of gases in the environment.
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Growing on a rotten log in rain forest |
Many mushroom masses continue to live
for many years… becoming inactive during times of drought or freezing cold, but
when conditions are right again – the growth begins and the expansion to gather
more nutrients happens again.
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| Some mushrooms are given fanciful names - can you guess what these black finger like fungi are called in the rain forest of Ecuador? |
Some hyphae masses live in close
relationship with living tree or plant roots in a symbiotic relationship.
The tree gains water collecting ability, and
nutrients from the soil; and the fungus harvests a small amount of
nutrition.
In some cases the fungus
takes too much from the plants and the plant dies.
Some fungal masses are enormous – One
documented case in a Washington State forest is a single fungal mycelium that
extends for over 1500 acres and has lived continuously for at least 2400
years…
This makes them the largest
living organism in our planet…and one of the longest lived.
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| Growing in my raised vegetable bed |
Fungi have been superb at evolving
to make use of different food sources.
Many have adapted to certain plant communities – adapted for living or dead
tissue.
There are some that prefer the
more scarce organic material to be found in open soil; and others that prefer
the roots of oak trees, aspen trees, or clusters of perennial grass.
In addition to mushroom fungus, some have
adapted to human skin (ever had ring worm?), living plant leaves, and organs of
living animals, and on and on… In addition to mushrooms the fungus group also includes molds and other non fruiting varieties.
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| Ring worm on human skin - not a'worm' at all - but a fungus! ( not on me!) |
Fungi definitely cannot be
considered plants because they don't make their own food – they gain nutrition
by breaking down dead or living tissue.
They are definitely are not animals because they have no motion or
responsive to their environment.
They
are currently considered to be a kingdom of life all by themselves.
To read more: http://tolweb.org/fungi
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| Underside of log in rain forest ( Ecuador) |
One of the grandest of experiences
is to join a mushroom hunt with people who know what they are doing … I have several
times hunted mushrooms in Europe and once in Kyrgyzstan… A group of people walk
in a line though the forest – Each person separated from the next by 15 feet or
so… and it is just like when you were a kid hunting for Easter eggs.
“I see one!” “There’s a whole cluster”
“ Look how big that one is”… Of course its
true that there are very dangerous mushrooms – and so each group must have a
trustworthy knowledgeable person that can make critical decisions about each
mushroom - which to keep for eating and which to discard.
And ‘Oh my goodness’ they are tasty – a blend
of wild mushrooms sautéed in olive oil and herbs… served with good meat…
fantastic!
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| The 'forest' of mushrooms was growing in Golden Gate San Francisco |
I see such beautiful mushrooms here
in California but I do not know enough to trust myself to choose which ones to
eat.
Such a pity… there is classes that
one can take… But I hear the best strategy is to go with someone who is has the
knowledge and learn from them.
Sadly
the bad mushrooms are deadly bad.
So
this is a high stakes ‘sport’.
Even so I
enjoy their ephemeral beauty – they are delicate and wonderful!
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| Shelf fungus - can grow for many years - adding a new layer each year... (Nor. Cal. coastal fog zone) |
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One of then strangest - This Northern California fungus is called "Slime Mold" -
...the cell mass can actually move very slowly from one place to another seeking a better food source. |
