Zombie Moths
There is a group of fungi in the genus Cordyceps that are capable of manipulating the behavior of insects that they invade. There are well over 100 known related species (Ophiocordyceps spp.) that infect a wide variety of insects, including butterflies, moths and beetles, and at least 35 that perform “mind control” on their hosts. Fortunately, humans appear to be immune from these fungi.
One Cordyceps fungus replaces a moth’s tissues (see photo) and controls the moth’s end-of-life movements in an attempt to increase the likelihood that its spores are dispersed to new hosts. The spikes you see on the pictured moth are a result of the fungus’s invasion of the moth. (Photo by Janni Jacobs; discovery of this Zombie Moth in Vermont by Jake Jacobs)
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Phomopsis Galls
At this time of year, when leaves are rapidly falling off deciduous trees, it is easy to spot clusters of woody galls on the branches and trunks of Bitternut Hickory, Red Oak and maple trees, among others. These abnormal, woody growths known as Phomopsis galls are caused by a fungus in the genus Phomopsis. They begin to form as patches of rough bark, and when fully formed they range from the size of a pea up to the size of a basketball.
Spores are produced by the fungus throughout the summer and are spread by wind and rain splashes. It is thought that spores infect a host by entering a wound in a young twig. The fungus then spreads to the branches and trunk. The galls do not kill the host tree, but can girdle small branches causing dieback. Many affected trees live for decades. (Photo: Bitternut Hickory tree infested with Phomopsis galls.)
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Bleeding Tooth Fungus
As startling as it is beautiful, the Bleeding Tooth Fungus (Hydnellum peckii) stands out as one of our more unusual mushrooms. When it is young, the fruiting body of this fungus “bleeds” red droplets. This phenomenon is called guttation—the secretion of droplets of water from the pores of an organism. When the soil surrounding the fungus is very wet, water is forced into the mushroom by osmosis. This creates pressure inside the mushroom, eventually forcing liquid through the surface pores of the cap and underside, carrying with it a deep red color from a pigment present in the flesh.
The blood-like “sap” is anti-bacterial and has also been shown to have anti-coagulant properties. It contains a substance called thelephoric acid which may be beneficial in the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease. (Photo by Jody Crosby)
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Scaly Vase Mushroom
Recent rains have produced an explosion of fruiting fungi, among them the distinctive Scaly Vase or Woolly Chanterelle (Turbinellus floccosus). This particular mushroom is not a chanterelle, but does have similarities. Like chanterelles, Scaly Vase appears in mid- to late July, has false gills that look like ridges or wrinkles and is an orange color (chanterelles are usually more golden yellow than orange, while scaly vases are orange to pinkish). Unlike the chanterelle that foragers highly prize as a dining delicacy, Scaly Vase causes gastrointestinal distress. While it won’t kill you, you might regret sampling it.
As far as recognizing this mushroom, look for a cap that looks like a vase or an empty ice cream cone or a turban (hence the scientific name Turbinellus). These fungi can grow up to a foot tall and a foot wide.
The Scaly Vase mushroom grows in mycorrhizal association (symbiotic relationship between a fungus and a green plant) with conifer trees, including pines, firs, hemlocks, and spruces. It usually grows singularly, but there is often more than one scattered around the area. It only grows from the ground, never on or from trees, stumps, or logs.
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Drumstick Truffleclub Fruiting
Finding a mushroom in January is a delightful discovery, especially finding one that is only 3” high with a yellow stipe, or stem, (when in its prime) and a tiny, bumpy brown cap. Drumstick Truffleclub (Tolypocladium capitatum) is unusual not only for its size, but for the late timing of its fruiting period (typically November/December) and the fact that it is a parasite of another fungus. If you were to dig down beneath a Drumstick Truffleclub, you would likely find that it was attached to a species of truffle (another fungus). (Photograph by Sally Fellows)
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Ravenel’s Stinkhorn Spores Dispersing
A group of fungi known as “stinkhorns” generate a lot of interest, mostly because of their appearance and their odor. These fungi vary in color, shape and size, but they all share two characteristics. All stinkhorns begin producing fruiting bodies by sprouting an “egg” from which they erupt, often as quickly as overnight, and a portion of their fruiting body is covered with slime (gleba) which contains spores.
Many species of stinkhorns have a phallic form, including Ravenel’s Stinkhorn (Phallus ravenelii). Brown, foul-smelling, spore-laden slime is located at the tip of this fungus. Attracted by the odor, insects (mostly flies) land and feed on the slime. With bellies full and feet covered with spores, the flies depart, serving as efficient spore dispersers.
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Yellow Orange Fly Agarics Fruiting
The Yellow Orange Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria var. formosa) is common in New England, especially where conifers grow. Out West this mushroom is often a bright red color, but in the East it’s typically orange/yellow.
When certain gilled mushrooms, including many Amanita species, first form they are encased in a membrane called a “universal veil.” As the mushroom enlarges and matures, the veil ruptures, with remnants of it remaining on the mushroom’s cap. Fly Agaric fungi got their name from the custom of placing little pieces of the mushroom in milk to attract flies. The flies supposedly become inebriated and crash into walls and die. This mushroom is somewhat poisonous (as are many Amanita species) and hallucinogenic when consumed by humans. The toxins affect the part of the brain that is responsible for fear, turning off the fear emotion. Vikings, who had a reputation for fierceness, are said to have ingested this mushroom prior to invading a village.
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Berkeley’s Polypore Fruiting
Polypores are a group of fungi that bear their spores in tubes, or pores, rather than gills. One of the largest mushrooms to fruit on living trees is Berkeley’s Polypore (Bondarzewia berkeleyi), often found on hardwoods, especially on oak trees. Its growth is unusual in both size and form. When the fruiting body starts to emerge, it resembles a giant hand with short, fat fingers. The tips of the “fingers” expand into huge, flat, fan-like shapes up to ten inches wide that together form an irregular rosette. The rosette can be more than three feet across and can weigh up to 30 pounds.
You usually find this fungus at the base of trees, but it can fruit from the ground far from any tree if there are roots or the remnants of an old stump beneath the ground, for it is saprophytic (lives on dead or decaying trees) as well as parasitic.
Berkeley’s Polypore is edible when it is young. With age, the fruiting body becomes increasingly tough and has been compared to eating cardboard. It goes without saying that one should be sure of the identity of any fungus before consuming it. (Photo of Berkeley’s Polypore & Leo Clifford by Lawrence Clifford.)
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Cedar-Apple Rust Galls
Galls are abnormal plant growths caused by various agents including insects, mites, nematodes, fungi, bacteria and viruses. During the summer spores of a particular fungus cause the formation of brown Cedar-Apple Rust galls (Gymnosporangium juniperivirginianae) on Eastern Red Cedar trees. Members of the fungal family Pucciniaceae are known as rusts because the color of many is orange or reddish at some point in their life cycle.
This fungus requires two hosts, Eastern Red Cedar and primarily apples or crabapples, to complete its life cycle. The two host trees are usually located within a mile of each other. When the Cedar-Apple Rust galls on cedar trees get wet from spring rains, orange, spore-filled fingers or horns, called telia, emerge from pores in the gall. As the horns absorb water, they become jelly-like and swollen (see inset). When the jelly dries, the spores are carried by the wind to apple trees, where they cause a brownish mottling on apples, referred to as Cedar-Apple Rust, which makes apples difficult for growers to sell, even though it doesn’t affect the flavor or texture of infected apples. The rust produces spores on the underside of apple leaves in late summer, which, if they land on Eastern Red Cedar trees, cause galls to form, thereby continuing the cycle.
Spores produced on apple trees do not infect apple trees, only cedar; spores produced on cedar trees infect only apple trees. (Photo: Brown winter form of Cedar-Apple Rust gall & (inset) orange spring form of Cedar-Apple Rust gall. Blue “fruit” on Eastern Red Cedar branch is actually a cedar cone.)
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Shaggy Manes Dissolving
Shaggy Mane, Coprinus comatus, is one of a group of mushrooms known as Inky Caps. Both of these common names reflect the appearance of the mushroom at different stages of its development – the cap has white, shaggy scales, and as the mushroom matures its gills liquefy into a black substance that was once used as ink.
Most Inky Caps have gills that are very thin and very close to one another, which does not allow for easy release of the spores. In addition, the elongated shape of this mushroom does not allow for the spores to get caught in air currents as in most other mushrooms. The liquefication/self-digestion process is actually a strategy to disperse spores more efficiently. The gills liquefy from the bottom up as the spores mature. Thus the cap peels up and away, and the maturing spores are always kept in the best position for catching wind currents. This continues until the entire fruiting body has turned into black ink.
NB: WordPress has not been attaching the photograph that accompanies each post that is emailed to readers. I am working on getting it fixed, but meanwhile, if this continues, you can click on the title in the emailed version and it will take you to the Naturally Curious website, where you can see the photo. So sorry for the inconvenience.
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Fairy Rings
Occasionally, if you’re lucky, you may come upon a circle of mushrooms in the woods or in a lawn. To some, these are Fairy Rings, where the fairies dance. To those more scientifically minded, they are the fruiting bodies of an underground fungus (mycelium) that is growing outward in all directions from an initial spot (in the center of the ring), feeding on nutrients in the soil. As it grows, the mycelieum secretes enzymes into the ground ahead of it. These chemicals break down the organic matter, releasing nutrients so that the mycelium will have food when it reaches this area. When conditions are right for spore production, the active mycelium produces a circle of mushrooms just behind its outer edge. Growth of the mycelium continues, accompanied by the formation of wider and wider circles of fruiting bodies every year.
There are roughly 60 species of fungi that produce Fairy Rings. As a rule they form these in evenly composed soil, such as lawns and less frequently in woods. It’s possible to recognize Fairy Ring evens when they haven’t sent up mushrooms, as they form rings of grass up to 15 feet in diameter that have a distinctly different color or texture than the grass inside or outside of the ring. (A Fairy Ring in France measured 2,000 feet in diameter and was estimated to be 700 years old.) (Photos by Julie George)
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Green Stain Fungus Fruiting
Sac fungi, or ascomycetes, are a group of fungi most of which possess sacs, or asci, in which spores are produced. The relatively common blue-green cup fungi, Chlorociboria aeruginascens and its close relative, Chlorociboria aeruginosa, are in this group and are referred to as Green Stain Fungi (as well as Green Elfcup or Green Wood Cup). Most of the time you do not see the actual fruiting bodies of these fungi. More often you come across the brilliantly blue-green stained wood (often rotting logs of poplar, aspen, ash and oak) for which these fungi are responsible. Woodworkers call this wood “green rot” or “green stain.” 14th and 15th century Italian Renaissance woodworkers used Chlorociboria-infected wood to provide the green colors in their intricate wood inlays. The blue-green discoloration is caused by the production of the pigment xylindein, which may make wood less appealing to termites and has been studied for its cancer-fighting properties.
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Giant Puffballs Maturing
Puffballs are aptly named. When their spores mature and the fruiting body splits open, rain drops, an animal passing by, or the wind cause puffs of spores to burst into the air, dispersing them far and wide. While puffballs vary tremendously in size, most would fit in your hand. Exceptions include Giant Puffballs (Calvatia gigantea), one of which was collected in 1877 in New York state and measured 5 ½ inches by 4 ½ inches by 6 ¾ feet. The greatest recorded weight for a Giant Puffball is 44 pounds.
The production of spores takes place on basidia – club-like structures inside the fruiting body. The number of spores that these fungi produce is impressive. Mycologist Henry Buller estimated that a Giant Puffball measuring 16” x 11” x 8” (a fairly typical size) would contain more than 7 trillion spores. (If you want to grow your own Giant Puffball so you can count the spores yourself, you can even purchase seeding spores online!)
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Stinkhorns Maturing
There are a group of fungi known as stinkhorns — aptly named, as their foul odor can be detected even by the human nose. All stinkhorns first appear as an “egg” which can be up to two inches high. When the eggs rupture, the appearance of the different species of fungi in this family (Phallaceae) can differ dramatically, but many have a phallic-like shape. At maturity, all stinkhorns produce an olive-green to olive-brown slimy substance that has a putrid smell (to humans), but is very appealing to many insects. This slime is loaded with the fungi’s spores. Insects landing on a stinkhorn get their feet covered with the spore-laden slime while they are busy ingesting it. Once the insects depart, the spores are dispersed far and wide.
Stinkhorns appear suddenly, and their growth can almost be observed, as they go from the egg stage to maturity with impressive speed. While these fungi are not poisonous, it is doubtful that having smelled them, anyone would desire to eat them. (Photo: Dog Stinkhorn aka Devil’s Dipstick, Mutinus caninus)
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Chicken of the Woods Fruiting
Even though Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) is one of the few edible fungi that is easily identified, it’s always best to have an expert confirm its identity if you are collecting it for consumption. The bright yellow and orange coloring of its bulky, fan-shaped shelves is distinctive. On the underside of these shelves you will find tiny pores, instead of gills, containing spores, making it a polypore mushroom. You can find single clusters of this fungus growing on living and dead trees, as well as logs totally covered with them.
Chicken of the Woods gets its name from its taste and texture, which is much like that of chicken. If you are foraging for a meal, you want to be sure to pick a young specimen, and eat the outermost portion of the shelves (for their tenderness). There are several species of Laetiporus fungi; the ones growing on hardwood are preferable for eating.
Chicken of the Woods is saprotrophic – the fungus feeds on dead trees. It is also parasitic, and kills living host trees by causing the wood to rot, and the tree to become hollow and easily topple over.
For those interested, here is a recipe that the Oregon Mycological Society recommends:
POLYPORE OMELET
3 Tablespoons butter
1 cup diced Chicken of the Woods
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack or cream cheese
2 or 3 shallots, diced
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
5 or 6 eggs
1/2 cup cream or half and half
Salt and pepper
Melt the butter in a heavy frying pan over low heat.
Beat the eggs and cream, add salt and pepper to taste; pour into the pan.
As the eggs start to cook, sprinkle the Chicken of the Woods, cheese, shallots and parsley over the top.
Cook for 1 to 2 minutes more until the egg mixture sets.
Fold the omelet over and remove from the heat; cover and let sit for 1 minute.
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Hard-boiled Eggs & Lollipops: American Caesar’s Mushrooms Forming Fruiting Bodies
This is not the first Naturally Curious post on American Caesar’s Mushrooms, nor will it probably be the last. Every August the forest floor is bursting with the beautiful fruiting bodies of these fungi, and I find the urge to photograph them as well as the desire to celebrate their beauty with you irresistible. Pardon the repetition.
American Caesar’s Mushroom (Amanita jacksonii), a member of the Amanita genus found in New England, differs from most Amanita species in at least two ways. It is one of the few edible Amanitas (most species are poisonous, so consumption is discouraged unless an expert identifies the fungus). Secondly, unlike many other Amanita species, American Caesar’s Mushroom does not usually have any warts or patches on its cap.
The common name of this mushroom traces back to the fact that its close relative, Caesar’s Mushroom, Amanita caesarea, which grows in Italy, was a favorite of the emperors of the Roman Empire, the Caesars. Both of these species of Amanita are mycorrhizal, forming a symbiotic beneficial relationship with the roots of certain trees. Look for American Caesar’s Mushrooms under pine and oak. (Main photo: American Caesar’s Mushroom rupturing through its protective white membrane, or universal veil, as it matures, leaving a remnant white cup, or volva, at its base.)
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Land Snails Eating
While there are some terrestrial snails that are omnivorous and even carnivorous, most are herbivorous. Each species has a diet dependent on its size, age, habitat and individual nutritional requirements. They all must feed on foods that include significant amounts of calcium in order to keep their shell hard.
Those species that are herbivorous consume a variety of plants, including the leaves, stems, bark and fruits, as well as fungi and occasionally algae. They do so in an unusual way. Snails have an organ in their mouth with rows of tiny teeth, called a radula. When the food reaches this structure that looks like a sack, the teeth do not cut or grind it like human teeth would. Instead of being chewed, the radula scrapes the food and breaks it down before it passes through the esophagus to continue the digestion process.
The tiny teeth on the radula suffer much wear and tear as time passes. Therefore, they are continually replaced by others. Not all species have the same number of teeth. Some have rows with just a few teeth, while others have hundreds.
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Ravel’s Stinkhorn Fruiting
If anyone reading this blog considers fungi too boring to be of interest, they may be about to experience a change of heart. A group of fungi known as “stinkhorns” generate a lot of interest, mostly because of their appearance and their odor. These fungi vary in color, shape and size, but they all share two characteristics. All stinkhorns begin fruiting by sprouting an “egg” from which they erupt, often as quickly as overnight, and a portion of their fruiting body is covered with slime (gleba) which contains spores.
Many species of Stinkhorns have a phallic form, including Ravel’s Stinkhorn (Phallus ravenelii). Brown, foul-smelling, spore-laden slime is located at the tip of this fungus. Attracted by the odor, insects (mostly flies) land and feed on the slime. With bellies full and feet covered with spores, the flies depart, serving as efficient spore dispersers.
Cortinarius Species Fruiting
This slimy, purple mushroom belongs to the genus Cortinarius, the largest genus of mushrooms in the world. Mushrooms in this genus have partial veils, or cortinas – tissue that covers and protects the spore-producing gills, and they also have a rusty brown spore print and mature gills.
While it is relatively simple to determine that a mushroom is in this genus, identifying one down to species can be difficult. Two identical-looking species, C. iodes and C. iodeoides, can be found in the Northeast – both are purple and have slimy caps. Mycologists distinguish them by the size of their spores. For those more daring than I, there is a licking/taste test — the slime on C. iodeoides is said to be more bitter tasting than that of C. iodes.
Both species are mycorrhizal with oaks, in that both benefit from an association with each other. The mushroom helps the tree absorb water and nutrients while the tree provides sugars and amino acids to the mushroom. It is estimated that about 85% of plants depend on mycorrhizal relationships with fungi.
Fairy Clubs Fruiting
The fungal family Clavariaceae includes simple, unbranched upright clubs and fleshy, intricately branched, coral-like forms. This family includes several groups of fungi that, due to their appearance, are commonly known as coral fungi. Coral fungi come in every color imaginable and among them are “fairy clubs” – small, mostly fragile fungi that live off of dead or decaying organic matter. They are found on the ground or occasionally on rotting wood. These delicate fungi are usually unbranched or sparingly branched and shaped like slender, erect clubs. Appearing in late summer/early fall, they are often found growing in clusters. Due to their small size and fragility, they are not considered to have any food value.
Cedar-apple Rust Galls Maturing
If you have both Eastern Red Cedars (Juniperus virginiana) and apple (Malus spp.) trees, you may be privy to the show of a lifetime on your cedar tree one of these days. There is a fungus, specifically a rust fungus, that needs two hosts, Eastern Red Cedar and apple trees, to complete its life cycle. In order to survive, the fungus must “move” from one host species to another.
If contaminated by the cedar-apple rust, an Eastern Red Cedar tree will have small, woody brown galls on its twigs for the better part of a year. Following a warm spring/early summer rain, these brown galls transform into orange, gelatinous growths the size of a golf ball, adorned with “telial horns” that point in all directions. The function of these horns is to disperse spores. If the spores happen to land on the leaf of an apple or crabapple tree, and conditions are just right, galls will result. These galls look very different from the cedar’s galls. Small, yellow spots on the upper surface of the leaves appear after affected apple trees bloom. The spots gradually enlarge and become yellow-orange-red. Small, raised, black dots form in the center of the leaf spots on the upper surface of the leaves as the leaf spots mature. (Apple trees may defoliate early or spots may develop on the surface of the apple as a result of this rust.) Very short, finger-like, fungal tubes protrude from the lower surface of the leaf directly below the spot which release yellow to orange powdery spores. If the wind carries them to an Eastern Red Cedar, the cycle continues. The complete cycle of cedar-apple rust takes 24 months to complete and requires infection of two different hosts.
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Mouse Meals
Deer and White-footed Mice are viewed negatively due to their association with Deer, or Black-legged, Ticks, carriers of Lyme Disease. However, these mice are also beneficial, not only as a staple prey food for many predators, but as a vital contributor to the health of our forests.
Mice help spread various kinds of fungi by eating the fruiting bodies (which contain spores) and eventually excreting the spores. Certain fungi colonize the root system of trees, creating a symbiotic relationship called mycorrhizae. The fungus provides increased water and nutrient absorption capabilities to the tree while the tree provides the fungus with carbohydrates formed from photosynthesis. For many temperate forest trees, these fungi have been shown to be an essential element in order for them to prosper. By consuming fungi and dispersing their spores, these small rodents are inadvertently contributing to the vitality of our forests. (Note: look for the tiny incisor marks of mice in the devoured fungus.)
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Striped Skunks Ferreting Out Fungi
The perfectly round, inch-wide, ½-inch-deep holes in the ground that Striped Skunks leave when they’ve been digging for grubs are a fairly common sight. There are other edibles besides grubs, however, that they dig for: insects, earthworms, rodents, salamanders, frogs, snakes and moles, among others. The list isn’t limited to living creatures, however, as skunks are omnivores. Their diet, which changes with the seasons, also includes fruit, grasses, nuts and fungi. Pictured is a hole excavated by a Striped Skunk and the remains of the fungus that was fruiting there. At this time of year, it is not unusual to find that a meal of mushrooms is the object of their digging desire.
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Woolly Alder Aphids, Honeydew & Black Sooty Mold
Once leaves start to fall, one often observes white, fuzzy patches along the branches of Speckled Alder (Alnus incana). These fuzzy patches consist of colonies of aphids feeding on the sap of the shrub. In order to get enough nitrogen, they must drink volumes of sap, much of which is exuded from their abdomens as a sweet liquid called honeydew. The honeydew accumulates and hardens onto the branches as well as the ground beneath the shrub. Yesterday’s Mystery Photo was the honeydew of Woolly Alder Aphids (Paraprociphilus tessellates) which has been colonized by a fungus known as black sooty mold, a fairly common phenomenon.
Woolly Alder Aphids produce white wax, or “wool,” filaments from their abdominal glands. Clustered together, these aphids look like a white mold. If disturbed, the individual aphids pulse their abdomens in unison – apparently an effective defense mechanism.
Woolly Alder Aphids, also known as Maple Blight Aphids, have two host plants at two different stages of their lives. In the fall they lay their eggs on Silver Maple trees. The eggs hatch in the spring and the aphids feed on the maple leaves. During the summer a winged generation flies from maple leaves to alder shrubs and establishes colonies. In the fall, some of these aphids fly to Silver Maples and lay eggs, while some overwinter in the leaf litter beneath alders.
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