Sam's Corner
First Quarter of 2004
Topics
The Prehistoric Jurassic Park Togetherness
A rare visit by Rick Tibbetts
Mycobonanza at the Annual Meeting - 11/1/03
Coastal Land Trust - Harpswell
Mycological Extravaganza at the Cumberland Post Office
Lacrymating Fomitopsis pinicola, 80 mycorrhizal "grey cats", and a 12 foot Laccaria bicolor fairy ring
South China Foray - 9/28/03
Yellow Jackets and a Plethora of Boletus bicolor
The Prehistoric Jurassic Park Togetherness
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8/23/03 Three of my friends from the Seattle Club joined us in the Elliott’s preserve. We found 80 species. I will list some of the interesting species.
Gilled: Amanita bisporigera-virosa, flavoconia, frostiana, jacksonii, volvata-peckiana, abrupta; Laccaria ochropurpurea, Lepista nuda, Meiorganum curtisii = Paxillus corrugatus, Clitocybe illudens = Omphalotus olearius, Russula compacta, densifolia-dissimulans, Tricholomopsis rutilans, Xerula radicata
Boletes: Boletus frostii, illudens, ornatipes, pallidus, Gyrodon merulioides, Suillus americanus, Tylopilus chromapes, eximius, felleus, rubrobrunneus Puffballs: Lycoperdon gemmatum, marginatum.
Other: Phallus impudicus-ravenelii, Ramaria spp
Let’s examine some interesting features. You should learn the deadly Amanita virosa-bisporigera - macro and micro features. Both of these species should produce a yellow stain on the cap with KOH and the spores are amyloid. (Do spore print on glass so you have a visual example with Melzer’s.) Amanita flavoconia-frostiana can be separated by 1) spore print reaction to Melzer’s -
flavoconia is amyloid 2) striation on cap for frostiana 3) frostiana has ‘ring’ at top of bulb. Then check the shape of spores.
Amanita jacksonii-caesarea is a cyclic species. Eight years ago we found 150 in one small area in Greenwood. It has not reappeared in the same area. This year caesarea was everywhere. Amanita volvata-peckiana -
1) both have saccate volva. 2) volvata lacks veil, bruises brown. 3) both have amyloid spores.
Amanita abrupta has globose base like citrina, very white cap with pointed scales. Laccaria ochropurpurea is a big species with purple gills similar to amethystina, and is found on well-traveled paths after a heavy rain. May have purplish spore print - mistaken for Cortinarius.
Lepista nuda = Clitocybe nuda = Tricholoma personatum. When fresh, all parts are blue. Spore print pinkish. I call it compost Lepista. This year there were 35 on one compost pile. Excellent edible.
Meiorganum curtisii = Paxillus corrugatus is a fascinating stemless entity with yellowish corrugated gills that Sheldon photographed in 1950 and no one could name it. See remarkable photograph in Bessette’s book; named after a famous mycologist, Curtis, from North Carolina.
The jack-o-lantern, known as Clitocybe illudens, has caused more illness than any other species - probably because it is mistaken for a chanterelle. Do you know 3 features that separate illudens from Cantharellus cibarius? Fresh specimens glow in the dark.
Russula compacta, dissimulans, and densifolia belong to a section of Russula called compactae because 1) they have lamellulae whereas 92% of the other Russula species lack short gills, 2) each changes color when handled or bruised. In compacta the entire sporocarp turns brown. In dissimulans the bruised flesh turns red then black.
Xerula radicata = Collybia radicata = Oudemansiella radicata var. furfuracea. All have a long ‘root’ attached to wood - underground!
Boletes - Do you know how to separate Tylopilus, Boletus, Suillus and Gyrodon?
1) Position of stipe - only Gyrodon has eccentric = non-central stipe, 2) only Gyrodon has pores separated by radiating decurrent tissue (veins), 3) spore color olive brown, 4) Gyrodon has sclerotia = blackish ‘buckshot’ at base of stipe which provide for long periods of survival, 5) frequent host is ash, 6) it has an interesting relationship with an aphid - read about it. Do you know how to separate Suillus, Tylopilus, Boletus by spore color? Lastly, Tylopilus rubrobrunneus is found frequently in a deformed state. Do you know the name of the ‘zapper’?
Puffballs - How do you separate Lycoperdon gemmatum and marginatum by habitat and structure of the peridium?
A rare visit by Rick Tibbetts
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Rick makes a living collecting hundreds of pounds of edibles for the eating places during the spring, summer, and fall. This year he collected between 100-200 pounds of matsutake, Boletus bicolor, Pleurotus ostreatus-sapidus, Panellus serotinus, Armillaria mellea. In the winter he is a chef at the Regency Hotel. Stop by and try some of his menus. He has spent a week in the special workshops given by Stamets on cultivating edible fungi. He and his partners plan to build a large building to grow mushrooms.
P.S. He brought a handful of big, brown, glutinous-capped Hygrophorus called Hygrophorus fuligineus. Very good edible.
Mycobonanza at the Annual Meeting - 11/1/03
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Thirty-eight people came to share the sumptuous repast, see many unusual fungi, look at Laurie Leonard’s remarkable slide show and hear Sam tell the story and show slides of the presumed extinct Bermuda petrel he found on Bermuda in 1945.
Seventy-five specimens were collected. Here are some of the unusual finds.
Gilled - Hygrophorus russula, Conocybe filaris, Tricholoma (Armillaria)caligata, Flammulina (Collybia) velutipes, Mycena epipterygia, Tricholoma orirubens, Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca, Porpoloma umbrosum, Panus strigosus, Lepista nuda = Clitocybe clavipes
Poroids - Polyporus, (Climatocystis) borealis, Onnia (Polyporus) tomentosa, Ganoderma lucidum, Daedaleopsis confragosa, Poronidulus (Polyporus) conchifer, Inonotus (Poria) obliquus
Jelly - Dacrymyces palmatus
Phallaceae - Phallus ravenelii
Other , Hydnochaete olivaceous
What can we learn from some of these species?
Gilled - Hygrophorus russula is an unusual species that is glutinous early and has purple spots on the pileus and gills. I have followed a colony under spruce for 10 years. Good edible. Everyone should know Conocybe filaris. It can be mistaken for a brown cap Mycena, but it has a very large ring. It has a tan spore print. It is very toxic - containing a high titre of amanitin. So, on a dry weight basis, it is as toxic as Amanita virosa.
Flammulina (Collybia) velutipes erupts from dead elm bark on warm days in February. Its species name, velutipes, refers to its velvet stem. Porpoloma umbrosum can be mistaken for a Tricholoma but spores are amyloid. Flesh and gills bruise red, has odor of cucumber, flavor is bitter.
Poroids - Climatocystis borealis can be mistaken for a Tyromyces. It has short thick curved cystidia, stiff agglutinate hair on pileus, and is sometimes numerous on dead conifers. Ganoderma lucidum is mistaken for G. tsugae but it is found on deciduous wood - usually maple. Polyporus conchifer is a remarkable poroid. It starts out as a sterile cup = small shell which produces oidea = vegetative conidia. The fertile fungus grows from the edges of the cup - always on elm. Inonotus (Poria) obliquus, always found on wounds of birch, resembles coal - thus the vernacular name, ‘clinker’. I have one that grew like a 15" tube. Stamets sells the crushed context as a tea. 99% of the time the conk is sterile. Cheryl found a bushel of these clinkers on birch injured by feeding of llamas!!!
Coastal Land Trust - Harpswell
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Gigantic Lepiota rachodes, troll doll fungi and Collybia tuberosa. Twenty-eight large Lepiota in varied stages of growth festooned the huge wood chip pile. The decaying Lepiotas were decorated by a fungus with long, fuzzy mycelium that had yellow spores. Eventually the yellow spores will turn grey. I have named this fungus the troll doll fungus because it resembles the "troll dolls" children play with and comb the long hair. Its full name is Syzigites megalacarpus and it is a zygomycetous fungus.
The tiny Collybia was growing on the old dead Lepiotas. It produces small, black, seed-like gizmos called sclerotia - which are a resistant "wad" of over-wintering hyphae. One of its most common hosts is the black species of Russula. What wonderment a pile of wood chips produced!!. We also found two species of Coprinus on the chips - viz. C. atramentarius and Coprinus??
Mycological Extravaganza at the Cumberland Post Office
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I have visited the Cumberland Post Office for 15 years - but I never witnessed the plethora of fungi on the front and side lawns. The most spectacular growth was Amanita muscaria. There were 15 specimens under the yew and 36 around the linden tree, which I guessed was 50 years old. There was a semi-fairy ring of a small Hebeloma and many small Cortinarius.
These were dark purple-black - a species I had never seen before. The lawn on the side of the building had many Pholiotas I did not know, and Marasmius oreades.
Question: Where were these species for 15 years; and were these mycorrhizal with linden or yew?? What do you think? Under spruce in the back lawn were Suillus americana and Lactarius deliciosus.
P.S. The lawn next door had no fungi. Question ? are all of these species mycorrhizal with linden, yew, spruce?
Lacrymating Fomitopsis pinicola, 80 mycorrhizal "grey cats", and a 12 foot Laccaria bicolor fairy ring
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The red-rim poroid was "weeping" from its guttation pores. This species and Ischnoderma are classic examples of "weeping" poroids - a photographer’s dream.
I presume most poroids have "glands" that squeeze out water so the spores will dry.
Catathelasma ventricosa = the grey cat which has a long swollen elongated stipe that is associated with the roots of trees. I have found some weighing 3 lbs! The cap is dark grey; it has a double veil; spores are amyloid. These 8 stalks were packed closely under hemlock!! The flesh is firm, white and slightly bitter. Simmering in broth eliminates the bitterness.
The Laccaria were large - viz., 3" caps and 6" stem. There were about 40 in the semicircle.
The most common host for F. pinicola, the red-rim poroid, is hemlock; but we find it on birch and poplar, also.
And there were bushels of young Armillaria - many with 25-30 per cluster.
Remember the log that "attracted" the giant wasp, megarhyssa? These logs were covered by the "attracting" fungus, Cerrena (Daedalea) unicolor. Another beech log was covered by one of the bleeding stereums - S. gausapatum. When you bruise the hymenium it produces a tan juice.
I took several Hypholoma sublateritium and two beautiful violet corts, Cortinarius alboviolaceus , for spore printing.
In a long wound of red maple I found 8 moss covered Oxyporus populinus = Fomes connatus. It has interesting cystidia in the hymenial tissue.
South China Foray - 9/28/03
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Let’s look at some of the wonderment in the following gilled species.
Russula albonigra belongs to a section of genus called compactae which translate to a) the species have lamellulae = short gills, b) they undergo color changes with age or when bruised. Russula albonigra, as its name denotes, changes with age from white to black. It also changes to black when bruised. In R. dissimulans the bruised area turns red then to black. Baeospora myosura is found on white pine cones. Tricholomopsis decora is associated with coniferous wood. In Lepiota naucina the gills turn pink (like Agaricus campestris) and the spore print may turn from white to yellow. The stipe turns dark when handled.
Marasmius scorodonius has a strong garlic odor. Pholiota squarrosoides can be mistaken for its look-alike, P. squarrosa, which will give you the "Serbian trots".
Yellow Jackets and a Plethora of Boletus bicolor
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There were Boletus bicolor to our right, to our left and everywhere!! Some places had clusters of 10. My friends, Igor, Donna and Frank were having more fun than children in an Easter egg hunt.
Suddenly Igor was yelling and waving his arms. "Yellow jackets! Yellow jackets!" he cried as the vicious hymenoptera streamed out of the ground nest he had stepped on. He ran to the path but was already bitten 7 times. I was "hit"twice on the hand. Igor is very allergic to "hymenoptera venom", so he carried a syringe. Donna helped him inject the "anti-venom" serum into his hip.
We took him to the emergency room at Maine Medical Center where they treated him and held him for 6 hours. He developed swollen lips and tongue but has recovered.
Last year Bob Timberlake disturbed a bald-faced hornets nest on the Falmouth foray and went into shock. Fortunately two nurses in the group were able to revive him before the ambulance arrived.