Sam's Corner
Fourth Quarter of 2004
Topics
Sylvia’s interesting foray – 7/10/04
Coastal Land Trust – Harpswell – 6/26/04
Beautiful yellow Puccinia rust on ash leaves and petioles – June ‘04
A bonanza foray at Shaker Bog 7/25/04
Sylvia’s interesting foray – 7/10/04
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Sylvia and Betsy invited their neighbors to join us on the foray - 20 neighbors came but only 12 members. We found 50 species. Let me describe some of the fascinating finds.
Gilled - Marasmius rotula, Entoloma murraii, Pluteus flavofuligineus(?), Panellus stipticus, Tricholomopsis platyphylla, Collybia=Oudemansiella=Xerula radicata
Poroid - Polyporus mori=Favolus alveolaris, Oxyporus populinus, Suillus pictus, Trichaptum biforme, Fometopsis pinicola
Jellies - Exidia recisa, Exidia glandulosa
Slime molds - Fuligo septica, Ceratiomyxa admirabilis
Ascomycetes - Phaeocalicium polyporeum, Spathularia flavida
Imperfects - Hormomyces callorioides, Chromelosporium coerulescens
First - Let me address myself to the foray attendance issue. As W. C. Fields said, "It is my money. I can do what I want with it!!" But I feel sorry for Cheryl, Dot, Marie, Michaeline, and Kendra who put in so much time to give you the most for your money - and for Sam for trying to bring you mycological wonderment.
Name changes - Generic names are being changed so frequently I can't keep up with "who is on first base" - viz, Collybia radicata became Oudemansiella, then Xerula.
Marasmius rotula is a fascinating entity with a "parachute" white cap with a "dimple" and the gills are attached to a collar. Examine it!
Panellus stipticus is a deceptive species. Its brown gills produce white spores that are amyloid (i.e., turn blue in Meltzer's) and fresh specimens glow in the dark. If you take a bite of the cap, you will know why it is called stipticus.
Tricholomopsis (=Collybia) platyphyllus is a condominium for a midge that deposits eggs on the cap and the gills offer "lunch" for 8 species of beetles. It is attached to wood and form rhizomorphs - dig one up!
A young, brown-capped Collybia radicata (= Collybia furfuracea = Xerula) "fooled" all of us until we examined the stipe. Someone picked it and broke off the bottom of the stipe. If the picker had dug it up, he/she would see that it had a 6" root. And, if you had a compound scope, you would find interesting decorations on the gills - i.e., two kinds of cystidia.
Of the poroids - I selected Polyporus mori because (a) its generic and species names were changed, (b) it has attractive angular pores. Its host is always beech in spring.
Oxyporus populinus (=Fomes) is always found in the wounds of red maple and is a condominium for algae and moss. It has diagnostic cystidia.
Trichaptum biforme I learned as Polystictus pergamenus. Pergamenus means purple. Seek it when it's young. It is also the host for the remarkable ascomycete, Phaeocalicium (Phaeo=black). It resembles black "spines" on the cap. Its old name was calicium because the taxonomist thought it was a lichen - can you tell me why it is not a lichen?
A 14" X 17" Fometopsis pinicola was the largest specimen I have found in 50 years. Do you know what its favorite host is?
Jellies - Exidia recisa resembles a Peziza. Exidia glandulosa looks like black jelly when moist, and cellophane when dry. I have found alder trees covered for 15 feet with this jelly.
Slime mold - Ceratiomyxa, the white slime mold, resembles beautiful coral fingers. There also is a rhomboid-coral form. Find it and admire its beauty. Five years ago we found a 10-foot log covered by this remarkable "slime" that transforms from an amoeboid form to the coral form in 24 hours.
Ascomycetes - Phaeocalicium is a parasite on the pileus of Trichaptum. (See Sheldon's slide in Bessette's book.)
It resembles black needles. Look for it! It is more common on old specimens of Trichaptum.
Imperfects - Hormomyces resembles an orange jelly. It appears after a rain usually on dead poplar - excellent photograph in Bessette's. The perfect (teleomorph) form has never been found - Seek it and become famous!!
Chromelosporium coerulescens is a remarkable Deuteromycete (=imperfect). It has four interesting stages that Sheldon Cushing photographed 50 years ago - and we have his slides! The species name, coerulescens, refers to its early stage lavender color. The early stage resembles a glistening crystal "Christmas" tree. When the spores mature the specimen is brown. Fascinating drama. Find some on composted soil after a rain. As the poet said, "not all that glistens is gold"…
Coastal Land Trust – Harpswell – 6/26/04
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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??
Beautiful yellow Puccinia rust on ash leaves and petioles – June ‘04
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This is a rust that spends its yearly cycle on two hosts. The spring-summer host grows on the leaves and petioles of American ash, Fraxinus americanus. The spores are rust-colored. On the stems the rust produces a gall or large callus. When the spores mature they are wind dispersed to the salt marsh grass, Spartina alterniflora, where it forms black lesions on the leaves.
The stage on the ash is call the aecial stage. Under the scope these tiny structures resemble beautiful tiny flowers.
The stage on the Spartina is call the telial stage. Its binomial name is Puccinia sparganoides. The species name refers to its presence on burreed, Sparganium, where it was discovered.
I am fascinated by the two host relationships. - especially since one is herbaceous species while the other is a woody species. But Mother Nature "created" other diseases with an alternating woody and herbaceous host. Wheat rust, for example, has barberry as the alternate host!!
"Not all that seems to be is ….." Find an ash tree and study the rust with a hand lens, dissecting scope and compound scope if you have one.
A bonanza foray at Shaker Bog 7/25/04
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We put names on 80 species, but 25-30 entities went without names. Let me tell you a story of the following:
Boletes:
Boletus edulis - has about 10 forms. The one we had did not have a swollen base and only had reticulations at the apex of the stipe. Look at the other variants in Bessette's book on boletes.
Gyrodon merulioides - is the only bolete with an off-center stipe. It has black sclerotia resembling buckshot. It is associated with an aphid. Its only common host is white ash. I have seen two strange growths of this bolete : 1) in a 10 story building associated with this white ash were over 150 specimens! 2) In Crowley's woods we find hundreds every year zapped by Hypomyces chrysospermus.
Tylopilus eximius - caused about 12 poisonings several years ago.
Gilled:
Amanita flavoconia and Amanita frostiana are look-alikes. Spores of flavoconia are amyloid in Melzers and the lamellulae are rounded or attenuate. Pick some and observe.
Clitopilus prunulus - has pink spores, decurrent gills and a diagnostic odor!
Phylloporus rhodoxanthus - is a gorgeous red cap entity with decurrent gills that is a 3rd cousin to a bolete. Some variants have large pores and have been given species rank, i.e. boletinoides. I found one several years ago. Do you know the color and shape of the spore?
Panus strigosus - Cheryl brought a large whitish specimen with yellowish, decurrent gills and a strigose stipe. Host was maple. I found a large 12" specimen 15 feet up in the wound of a maple. Also known as Pleurotus levis.
Marasmius rotula - is a fascinating small, white species that resembles a parachute. Gills are attached to a collar instead of the stipe. Found on sticks and leaves. In Ed Grant's woods I found over 200! Seek it! Marvel at the design!
We found 2 species of Russulas belonging to a section called compactae - which means these species have short gills (=lamellulae) alternating with long gills. 95% of all other Russula species have only long gills. The gray species, dissimulans, stains red then black when cut. The other species, Russula brevipes, is white with decurrent gills. One rare variant has a bluish ring at the apex of the stipe. It is the species most frequently zapped by the ascomycete, Hypomyces lactifluorum, that is named the lobster because of its orange color and sells for $12/lb.
Poroids:
Hapalopilus (Polyporus) nidulans is called the tender nesting polypore. Tell me why? If you put a drop of KOH on the flesh it give a blue reaction. It produces a rich blue dye. One of 8 dyes in my fancy sweater is colored blue by this poroid. Dyers sell it for $20/lb.
Find a beech twig and see the beautiful design of the pores in Favolus alveolaris (= Polyporus mori). It is found with the peppercorn asco, Hypoxylon fragiforme, and the gorgeous orange Mycena leaiana.
Grifola (=Polyporus) umbellata is a rare edible that has an abundance of sclerotia. Dig it, but leave the sclerotia.
Find Daedalea quercina and learn why the species name is quercina.
Ascomycetes:
We found a rare fairy ring of the flat fan velvet foot asco, Spathularia velutipes --velut = velvety, pes = foot. Its hyphae are orange and its spores are needle shaped that become segmented. We also found Amanita rubescens zapped by Hypomyces hyalinus.
Slime mold:
Hal Bonner brought a magnificent brown slime mold, Stemonitis splendens, called chocolate tube. Most species of Stemonitis start life as a white amoeboid "jelly". A thin black stipe develops; the plasmodium oozes up elongating on the outside of the stipe; color of plasmodium changes from white to black; then as the water is released the spores begin to form a brown color. All this magic takes it from an amoeboid form to a "fungus" in 24 hours. It is the only family of slime molds where the plasmodium moves on the outside of the stipe and columella. Extraordinary!!
Gastromycetes:
We found the edible lawn puffball, Calvatia cyathiformis. Do you know the color of the spores? Frances and Sylvia brought 12 "eggs" of the phallic puffball Mutinus caninus. They resembled elliptical turtle eggs. When I placed these in a wet paper towel they had an "erection" in 24 hours.