I had planned on writing September’s newsletter on the autumnal equinox, then I blinked and it was October. I guess I’ll just have to write two this month! I polled some friends for topics and one response was, “How about the fungus amungus?”
Even though Fungi is a taxonomic kingdom of its own, separate from that of Plantae, it seems only fair that I give it a feature. It may be that I’m paying more attention than in years past, but I feel like this has been a banner year for Maine mushrooms. An astounding array of varieties have been popping up all over the place and foragers are going hog wild. I’ve identified almost 50 different species just in the acre immediately surrounding my home without even looking very hard.
The ancestors of at least some of these fungi were likely green algae, which has been on earth for three billion years or more. While they have rigid cell walls like plants and their growth form is basically filamentous, fungi do not possess chlorophyll and are unable to make their own food. Most are saprobes, meaning they obtain nutrients by secreting enzymes that digest other organic material. Like animals, they eat! The majority of fungi start out as strands called mycelium below the surface of the soil, or in the remains of plants or animals. For many types, the mycelia eventually grow together and produce a dense mass that appears above the surface as a fruiting body. This reproductive part releases spores which disperse and germinate where they land to form new mycelium.
In recent years, research into the symbiotic relationship between mycelium and plant roots has been growing and leading to some pretty mind-blowing discoveries about just how interconnected the forest community is. Fungi help form a vast mycorrhizal network, nicknamed the “wood-wide web” that allows for communication and cooperation between neighboring plants. I could expound on this for pages, but I’ll recommend this article instead.
The three major groups of fungi:
Sac fungi include the causative agents of athlete’s foot and ringworm, but also the yeasts used for baking and brewing, the blue mold that colors and flavors some cheeses, and the source of the antibiotic penicillin. Some edible species, considered by many to be delicacies, are truffles and morels.
The Club fungi group includes what we’ve come to recognize as the stereotypical mushroom or toadstool. The two most common types carry their spores in either gills or pores. Pore fungi include boletes and bracket fungi which grow like little shelves on tree trunks and stumps.
Slime molds, the third group, may not be related to fungi at all and are sometimes included in the Protista kingdom with amoebas and other protozoans. Instead of filaments, they are made up of gelatinous plasmodium. Slime molds flow along surfaces, engulfing and digesting bits of organic matter, and sending up reproductive stalks called sporangia.
Another organism sometimes grouped with fungi, but sometimes with plants, is lichen. Lichens consist of an alga and a fungus living in a mutualistic relationship. The majority of a lichen’s body is made up of fungal strands which absorb moisture and mineral nutrients, and the remaining percentage is a thin algal layer that manufactures food via photosynthesis.
Mushroom Hunting
Fungi have been used for food, medicine, and ritual or recreational drugs throughout human history. I often wonder about the early people who did the dangerous work of testing to determine which mushrooms were edible or toxic. People used to watch which species other animals ate or avoided before sampling for themselves, as is the story with the Fly Agaric. The iconic mushroom from the Mario video games was noted to incapacitate the flies that landed on it and was later found to contain neurotoxins that cause hallucinations in humans. A cousin from the same genus is the Amanita bisporigera, aka the Destroying Angel, which grows plentifully here. If eaten, this mushroom inhibits cellular function, leading to organ failure and death after a few days.
Owing to the fact that many mushrooms need to be harvested or prepared in a very specific way to be considered safe and edible, I have always been wary of foraging for them in the wild. Even in the best field guides, there are caveats like, “This species is harmless and delicious, but a nearly identical variety is lethal…Beware!” For this reason, I limit my hunting to picture taking and buy mushrooms from those who are more experienced.
One such person was my late Opa Fritz from Germany. I’m told he would ride his bike into the Bavarian woods every Saturday and would return home with a bounty of mushrooms. Even my mother, who is a very picky eater, appreciated some of the earthly delights he brought back: yellow trumpets scrambled with eggs, or pickled Steinpilz which she describes as “the best thing you can imagine!” Apparently, my Opa was well acquainted with all of the local species and he knew the secret spots where they grew plentifully. He also harvested conscientiously, taking care not to kill the whole organism so that it could grow back again and again.
I inherited Fritz’s antler-handled mushroom hunting knife, but sadly, none of his fungal familiarity. I often wish we could have spent more time together in Germany and that I had learned to speak his language. I would love to send him photos of each new mushroom I find and ask if there’s something similar growing on his side of the ocean. It may sound macabre to some, but I take comfort in the thought that his body will eventually become part of the living soil. Some of his matter will be broken down and metabolized by mycelium, to cycle onward in new forms like all life does eventually.
Sources:
A Naturalist’s Guide to Forest Plants: An Ecology for Eastern North America by Donal D. Cox from Syracuse University Press, 2003
Do Trees Talk to Each Other? by Richard Grant for Smithsonian Magazine, 2018
Seek app by iNaturalist