Bitter Oyster

Posted on February 4, 2017 by tspuckler

Bitter Oyster is a widely distributed fungus that is also known as Luminescent Panellus, Stiptic Fungus, or Astringent Panus. It is more common in eastern North America than in the west. It frequently grows in groups, residing in dense forests. It is often found on logs, stumps and trunks of deciduous trees such as Birch, Oak and Beech.

This little mushroom has reportedly been used as a styptic (blood thickening) agent. It is a relatively common species that is prevalent Spring through Fall (it can also be found in Winter in warm climates, or during Winter warm spells in temperate areas).

Bitter Oyster is an unassuming fungus by day. It forms waves of soft beige shelves and blends in with its surroundings. The edges of the mushroom cap have small rounded teeth that are curved inward. But at night things change; its gills, under their own power, glow – a characteristic known as bioluminescence.

The luminescent glow of this and other fungi inspired the term “foxfire,” coined by early settlers in eastern and southern North America. Although generally very dim, in some cases foxfire is bright enough to read by. Bitter Oyster is a pretty cool organism that often goes unnoticed in today’s world.

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Crowded Parchment Fungus

Posted on January 7, 2017 by tspuckler

While taking a Winter walk in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, this bright fungus caught my eye.

Its distinguishing features include orange coloration and often being found crowded on the dead twigs, branches and stumps of deciduous trees from July through January.

The fruiting bodies of look like fans, with tiny ripple patterns on the them. They are about three quarters of an inch wide, project sideways from branches, logs, and stumps, and may fuse together, side by side.

This is the most common parchment fungus and unlike mushrooms, it grows without a stalk. The key role of these forest recyclers is to break down dead matter and return nutrients to the soil to become available to plants once again.

The function of fungi in breaking down dead wood is crucial. Wood is so tough that animals cannot digest it. However, certain fungi are able to biodegrade it using enzymes, allowing the vast amounts of dead wood in woodlands to be broken down.

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Lion’s Mane Mushroom

Posted on December 10, 2016 by tspuckler

While hiking in Brecksville Reservation, I caught sight of a grapefriut-sized odd looking fungus that I’ve never seen before. It usually grows alone or in pairs, fruiting from the wounds of living trees (especially oaks) in late Summer and Fall.

Native to North America, Europe and Asia, it can be identified by its icicle-like projections, its appearance on hardwoods and its tendency to grow a single clump of dangling spines.

About a dozen studies have been published on the neuroregenerative properties of Lion’s Mane Mushroom since 1991; tests have confirmed that it stimulates nerve regeneration.

This historical Chinese medicine is developing a following in the world of modern smart drugs. It is also very tasty to eat.

Like all fungi, Lion’s Mane Mushroom is a vital decomposer in the ecosystem, breaking down dead organisms and biological waste and freeing nutrients for use by other organisms.

This mushroom has a variety of common names, including Bearded Tooth, Old Man’s Beard, Satyr’s Beard, Monkey Head, Bear’s Head, Sheep’s Head, Hedgehog Fungus, Tree Hedgehog and Pom Pom.

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Fan-shaped Jelly Fungus

Posted on September 24, 2016 by tspuckler

It has been rather rainy as of late and the ground is soggy, the air is heavy with humidity – these days are good days to look for fungi.

This decaying tree branch had fallen to the forest floor in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The bright yellow-orange coloration on it caught my eye. Fan-shaped Jelly Fungus enjoys a practically worldwide distribution.

It has a rubbery texture and lack of gills and is a specialist for growing out of cracks in dead wood, which it feeds on and breaks down into components that can be recycled back into the earth – without this process, wood and other plant matter would not decompose.

The fruiting bodies are less than 7/8 of an inch tall and grow in clusters or rows along cracks in decaying wood; often the wood has lost its bark. Each fruiting body has a curved fan-like shape, thin in cross-section and widening toward the top. They are translucent and bright in color, and are gelatinous to the touch.

In our modern-day, decomposition and decay are often viewed quite negatively, yet they are the yin to the yang of growth, and together they form two halves of the whole that is the closed-loop cycle of natural ecosystems. In Chinese culture, it is called literally “sweet osmanthus ear,” referring to its similarity in appearance to that flower.

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Lemon Disco Fungus

Posted on February 27, 2016 by tspuckler

I was doing some yardwork this week and I came across this fine fungi. It produces tiny yellow cups about a tenth of an inch in diameter, often without stalks, that fruit in groups or dense clusters on decaying wood that has lost its bark.

Lemon Disco Fungus is fairly common, but is easily overlooked due to its small size. It is also wide-ranging and can be found in North Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and Central and South America.

Fruit bodies begin as spherical, closed globules, before expanding to become shallowly cupped or disc-shaped. The inner surface becomes smooth and bright yellow, while the outer surface is a more pale yellow. Fruit bodies that are dried are wrinkled and have a dull orangish-brown color. Its species Latin name, citrina, is a derivation of the word citrin – which means “lemon-yellow.”

Like other fungi, Lemon Disco Fungus plays an important part of nature’s continuous rebirth by breaking down dead wood into useful nutrients. Fungi digest their food outside their bodies by releasing enzymes into the surrounding environment and converting organic matter into a form they can absorb; nothing else is able to perform the function of reducing these forest byproducts back down into soil.

It was a nice surprise to come across this tiny treasure on an otherwise ordinary day.

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Bird’s Nest Fungus

Posted on November 14, 2015 by tspuckler

While I was doing a little yard work this week, I came across something tiny, yet awesome. They look like tiny cups filled with a few dark seeds or, as their name implies, tiny bird’s nests.

There are several different species of this Bird’s Nest Fungi in northeast Ohio, but they all belong to the same family, Nidulariaceae. The scientific name is derived from the Latin word “nidus,” meaning nest.

Bird’s Nest Fungi feeds on decomposing organic matter and is often seen growing on decaying wood and in soil enriched with wood chips or bark mulch. These were living where a tree had been cut down almost a year ago and only its ground up stump remained. Like so many fungi, most of the organism is hidden from view. The fungus spends most of its life as a series of nearly invisible threads among strands of decaying wood. The threads secrete enzymes which have the ability to digest wood.

The cuplike nests which are visible are fruiting bodies which contain spore-filled eggs. The nests act as “splash-cups.” When a raindrop hits one at the right angle, the walls are shaped so the eggs are expelled to as much as a yard away from the cup. This unique little fungus is an evolutionary masterpiece and it was very cool to see it for the first time ever in my backyard.

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Puffballs

Posted on July 25, 2015 by tspuckler

A Puffball is a type of mushroom that looks like a ball when it matures. Once mature, it splits open, or a perforation develops on surface of the ball, through which the spores escape. Some sort of disturbance is needed to cause the spores to eject, like raindrops landing on the Puffball, wind, or an animal brushing up against it.

These mushrooms differ widely in size and texture, from tiny species that grow in clusters on wood, to large, terrestrial species growing in fairy rings in meadows. Earthstar Puffballs have layer of fruit body tissue that splits open in a star-like manner.

Puffballs follow the same life cycle but look different than the typical mushroom with which you might be familiar. When sliced open, puffballs contain only flesh or, if they have matured, spore dust.

Some types of these mushrooms have tradtionally been used for medicine as well as food. Not to mention that they perform the important feat of breaking down once-living matter to release carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and other matter back into the soil and atmosphere.

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Little Nest Polypore

Posted on March 14, 2015 by tspuckler

As Winter comes to a close and I walk through the woods, I occasionally encounter Little Nest Polypores, which blend in with the snow. The cap of this mushroom is about 1-2 inches wide and is thin, fan-shaped and white.

This common fungus grows “splash cups,” which are round hollow areas that contain spores. The spores are splashed out by falling rain to distribute them in other places and start new polypores.

Its habitat is woodland forests and rather than growing on trees, it is usually found on small sticks. Polypores are also called bracket fungi, and their woody fruiting bodies (the only part of that organism one typically sees) are called conks.

Polypores are among the most efficient decomposers of the main components of wood. Through decomposing tree trunks, they recycle a major part of nutrients in forests. Because of this, the nutrient cycle continues, and the forest remains alive and diverse.

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Tinder Conk Mushroom

Posted on February 1, 2015 by tspuckler

The species of fungus produces very large fruit bodies which are shaped like a horse’s hoof and vary in color from a silvery grey to almost black, though they are normally brown.

It contains a spongy material used primarily as tinder, but also used to make clothing and other items. The 5,000-year-old Ötzi the Iceman (a well-preserved natural mummy) carried four pieces of this fungus, thought to be used for tinder.

It’s scientific name is Fomes fomentarius. The Latin word fomes means “tinder” or “touchwood” and the Latin word fomentarius means “material to feed a fire” – both the generic and species names emphasize the use of this fungus for fires.

It also has a long history of being used for a variety of medical purposes. Hippocrates in the fifth century BC described it as a “cauterization substance for wounds.” The fungus is credited with helping to stop bleeding. Due to this fact, surgeons at the time found use for it.

This species of fungus dwells on bark of trees. If not picked, it does not fall off the bark. It remains attached to the tree until it is dead; then it starts to initiate rotting of the tree bark. This often provides the beginning of a hole that birds which nest in tree cavities eventually use.

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Turkey Tail

Posted on November 25, 2014 by tspuckler

Turkey Tail is a bracket fungus which grows on the sides of logs or trees. It’s easy to see how it gets its common name. The fan-shaped fruiting bodies have the same kind of concentric banding and roughly the same palette of colors as an actual Wild Turkey’s tail.

Fungi are recyclers. By digesting dead organic matter, they release carbon bound in plant cells. To do this they secrete digestive enzymes to chemically break down food into a form that they can absorb. Eventually, due to this process, nutrients are returned to the soil to be used again.

Turkey Tail is spoon-shaped, up to four inches wide, and can be very colorful. Its colors can range from brown, white, tan, orange, red, or purple – or all of these colors at once. They often overlap each other and feel leathery to the touch.

Like other fungi, Turkey Tail is the name for the part that you see. Most of the fungus is inside the bark of the log. The “tail” that you see is like the “flower” of the fungus.

Turkey Tails are among the most common and most beautiful fungi in the woods and on a dreary November day, finding and photographing them can make for an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.

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Category Archives: Fungi

Bitter Oyster

Crowded Parchment Fungus

Lion’s Mane Mushroom

Fan-shaped Jelly Fungus

Lemon Disco Fungus

Bird’s Nest Fungus

Puffballs

Little Nest Polypore

Tinder Conk Mushroom

Turkey Tail