Carpet Monsters and Killer Spores, my review

After enjoying Mushroom so much, I thought I'd check out another one of Dr. Nicholas Money's offerings, Carpet Monsters and Killer Spores: a Natural History of Toxic Mold (2004, Oxford Univ. Press). This book focuses on the mold Stachybotrys, which has been correlated with some severe health problems.  I wonder if just including the name of this genus will increase my spam-commenting? 

He focuses on Stachybotrys and discusses the strange intersection of the fungus and humanity. Physicians and lawyers delve into mycology.  This part, I must confess, held little pleasure for me.  I was hoping for more of the insightful pop-mycology (if such a thing exists) that I read about in Mushroom.  I was hoping for more about the common molds that surround us in our daily lives, and I enjoyed the last chapter best of all (about dry rot fungi, Serpula and Meruliporia), not only because of the more interesting (to me) biology of these fungi, but also because of the smirk-inducing humor.

I've gotten to see a fair amount of buzz around Mushroom, as Dr. Money presses the flesh in support of it.  Some of my Facebook friends posted about the interview, which resonated mostly around the finding of a sporocarp of Schizophyllum commune in the back of a patient's throat.  Yes, that is disgusting, but unlikely to happen to those in decent health and good hygiene.

In summary, I don't have much to say about Carpet Monsters.  I would hazard most of the audience for this book is comprised of people with a vested interest in sick-buildings and Stachybotrys (Here I expect a bump in spam commenting) rather than a fellow mycologist like myself.  And for those who pick it up with that purpose, you will find the book to be well-researched, and not overly technical (though a basic understanding of biology is always helpful).  If you are interested in getting your beak wet with fungi in general,  I would start with Mushroom.  Though again, I haven't read Mr. Bloomfield's Orchard or Triumph of the Fungi yet.  One of those will probably be next.

The Fastest Living Thing in the World

Once again, fungi are collecting superlatives. I had to check to make sure it's still considered a zygomycete (it is) but Pilobolus (not to be confused with the dance company) is reported to be the fastest living thing in the world. 

Organism of the Day: Armillaria mellea

Yesterday I presented the Organism of the Day to my Biology class, and selected one of my favorites, Armillaria mellea. First, the complete classification.

Armillaria mellea (Vahl.:Fr.) Kummer (common names include: oak root fungus, honey mushroom)

Armillaria

Physalacriaceae (it was Tricholomataceae when I first learned it, but we all knew Tricholomataceae was a dumping ground for white-spored mushrooms)

Agaricales

Agaricomycetes

Basidiomycota

Fungi

Eukarya

Why should you care about A. mellea? Well, first it's an important plant pathogen, infecting hundreds of plant species, though mostly noticeable on woody species. Even though it's called oak root fungus, this is clearly a misnomer. It can also survive on dead plant material, as a saprobe.

It does produce mushrooms, being an agaric, but these are analogous to the apples on the tree, they are just a way of getting around. The mushrooms are fairly typical, with a pileus, a stipe, and a partial veil. Like most common mushrooms, the fertile part or hymenium takes the form of gills, or lamellae. The spores produced rain down and you can see deposits of them on the caps of some of the other mushrooms. Notice that it’s white, the color is an important diagnostic feature as well.It also produces structures called mycelial fans, under the bark of trees that it’s infecting, which is an important structure for feeding the organism.

But another interesting feature is the bioluminescence. This is present in many species of mushrooms (at least 70 species) and other organisms, many animals. The glow of Armillaria mellea has been observed since ancient times, and has the common name foxfire. There’s a town called Foxfire in North Carolina, and Mark Twain in mentions the boys using it in Huckleberry Finn. In some fungi, the mushrooms glow, but in Armillaria, it’s the mycelium and rhizomorphs.

Perhaps the neatest thing about Armillaria is this item. In 1992 it was reported that a single clone of Armillaria gallica was estimated to cover an area of 15 hectares (or about 37 acres), weigh over 10,000 kg (about as much as a blue whale), and be over 1500 years old. And you would have never known it, because it was underground and under bark, and much of it was made up of microscopic threads.

The researchs who discovered the humongous fungus baited for the fungus using poplar sticks, buried under ground, and tested for somatic incompatibility. Basically, if the fungal isolates were genetically distinct, they would repel each other. If they fused, the isolates recognized each other part of the same whole. Comparison of genes further demonstrated that it’s all one big thing. The folks in Michigan are proud of their humongous fungus and celebrate it every year.

But the story doesn’t end there. Later that year, another humungous fungus was claimed near Glenwood, Washington, that was supposed to be 600 hectares, 40 times bigger than the one in the upper peninsula. Though the evidence wasn’t as strong, the question arose. How big can these things get?

In 2003, a paper was published demonstrating an even larger Armillaria clone, in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon. This one was found to be even bigger than the purported thallus of Glenwood, 965 hectares, or 2385 acres. Though the estimates of the age are variable, it's thought that the Oregon Armillaria clone (actually A. ostoyae) could be as old as 8650 years. Can you imagine? An individual organism that might predate the Egyptian pyramids?

Does this seem like deja vu? I just realized that I blogged about this before, and not too long ago. But not as a prestigious Organism of the Day. That part is new. I still think it's one of the coolest stories in mycology. I also think Tom Volk tells the story better, but there it is.

Phyllotopsis nidulans

Just got out in the woods yesterday. Probably my last time at this site over near Tuscaloosa. I came upon these lovely orange babies on a snag.
They look superficially like oysters, but on pine? No, these are the orange mock oyster, Phyllotopsis nidulans. Astipitate (without a stipe or stalk), on wood, these ones didn't smell fetid to me though they are reported to be nasty smelling. The pileus is fluffy in appearance on the top.


I just recently discovered another mycoblog, Mycorant. They have a link to my blog (thanks!) and do have some of the same material (i.e. fungal news), but a lot more of it. Did they get the inspiration for the name from looking upon my blog? Maybe. I'd like to think that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I recommend checking it out.

Some fungi out there

It's been a wet spring, for sure. And wet weather brings fungi as sure as it brings the wildflowers.
I just found some interesting little harbingers of spring out there recently. Urnula craterium, (Ascomycota, Pezizales, Sarcostromataceae) which was growing just like they said it might. It looked like it might have been growing out of the wood, but it actually grows out of the ground.
Here's a look inside the apothecium, you can see that the cup extends down pretty far in there.

I think I also figured out another one of my mystery fungi, one that I'd seen several months ago. I'd taken photos but didn't quite have a handle on the name. I was thinking Pezizales, or maybe something with some type of Hypocrealean mycoparasitism, but not sure what. I'm thinking this other guy is Humaria hemisphaerica, at least from looking at the picture from Phillips' Mushrooms of North America. That's my best guess thus far, anyway.

On portobellos, crimini, and button mushrooms

In an item that recently came into my inbox, the author states that the crimini is the 'little brother' of the portobello. Actually, the relationship is not filial, it's identical. Crimini, portobello, and common button mushrooms as well (the most commonly consumed kind in the US) are all Agaricus bisporus (J.E. Lange) Imbach. Crimini are small portobellos, buttons are immature crimini, and portobellos are the larger, more mature version of buttons and crimini. The difference is in the size.

These saprobic mushrooms do grow in the wilds of Europe and North America, commonly in grassy areas, and while button mushrooms may have gills that appear pinkish or white, they actually have a dark brown spore print at maturity. There are several species of Agaricus that share this niche, and some are edible, even choice (no surprise there), while others are 'poisonous to some individuals', or just plain poisonous. Some have interesting aromas, like anise, almond, phenol, bleach, or 'fungal', and the staining reaction (color changes when cut or bruised) and skirt (partial veil) characteristics are also important for identification. As always, don't eat anything if you're not SURE you know what it is.

The species epithet 'bisporus' comes from the two-spored basidia. Four is the most common number of spores/basidium in the holobasidiomycetes including most mushrooms.