Fungi, Forbes, and UBNA

Daily Account: Fungi and Forbes, a lesson:

Location: UBNA (Lat: 47.65381; Long: -122.293989)

Date & Time: Thursday May 24, 2012; 1:30-3:30pm

Temperature: 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit, mostly sunny

Today we went to the Union Bay Natural Area (UBNA) to learn about Fungi and Forbes. While I learned a lot about both, I also got a glimpse of the other plants and animals around the area. The weather was sunny and warm, and we stayed mostly on the path that winds around next to the bay, indenting into the brush in a few spots to get a closer look at things.

First, we talked about mushrooms and fungi. It’s funny how you don’t always notice the things you aren’t looking for. The fungi group pointed out mushrooms in a few places I might have missed. On a wooden fence post near the water, we saw lots of little orange dots spotting mainly the top railing. The fungi stretched a length of about 1ft-1½ft along the railing. This fungus is called Dacrymyces stillatus, and apparently is one of the first fungi to appear when rain comes, and evidently likes moisture as you can pour water on it and see it thrive. According to something I read, it is dry, but upon being soaked in water, it becomes a bit gelatinous in texture. When we saw it, at first it did look dry and kind of crusty, maybe because of the long day in the sun. I wonder why most of it grew on the top railing of the fence; I’ve noticed this with other fungi as well, but never really thought about it. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that the rain finds its way to the top more easily than underneath, or if there is some other reason, or perhaps I just haven’t spent enough time observing fungi. Either way it’s interesting to look at other fungi and how they compare.

Nearby, about 30 feet away, low to the ground, we found Little Japanese Parasols (Parasola plicatilis), a cluster of two or three of them, with ribbed tops unlike most of the mushrooms I’ve seen. According to the leader of the discussion, these mushrooms are ribbed in order to spread spores faster. Their spores are black. They are also very flimsy, and only last about twenty-four hours, a window outside of which the leader said you’d never know they were there. But this is hard for me to believe. Couldn’t you look underneath the soil and get an idea of what was recently there because of all the hyphae? Apparently these start out bright in shading and become dull as the day goes on. What causes this, and what is the purpose for getting dull and then disappearing into the ground? And how to they even disappear anyway? Does something have to eat them, or do they disintegrate?

We also saw a mushroom within feet of the Japanese Parasols with a dark purple-ish brown spore print, called Leratiomyces percevalii, which is quite similar to the Agrocybe praecox we saw on campus. This fungi is yellowish white and loves wood chips, which makes sense, as we found it growing amongst wood chips and short green grass, which interestingly does not grow naturally in this area, and affects the types of mushrooms and fungi that inhabit the area. Also, the wood chips brought into campus come from all over, so we don’t really know what will be popping up and how it will interact with the species we already have. This is something the next leader (Austin) pointed out along with some other interesting parts of the history of fungi.

He began by saying that the soft, degradable tissues of mushrooms make it difficult to know about their history, therefore their background is somewhat “shady.” This is something I hadn’t thought about before, I suppose they don’t have skeletons that have been preserved like the fossils of mammals and other creatures we know so much about. Then how do we learn about their past? How do we know, as Austin said, that they were once as tall as trees? I’m still not sold on this but I’ve heard similar things about butterflies and insects that used to be gigantic, due to higher oxygen levels. Is this pertinent to mushrooms as well? Is it just a hypothesis?

Apparently, mushrooms/fungi began as aquatic dwellers, floating around and gathering hyphae until they became structures. I began to wonder, isn’t this related to algae, since algae is aquatic? Are fungi related to algae because of this? Or is algae considered fungi?

While these are questions I have yet to answer, Austin said they do know that fungi has been here longer than the species homo, longer than humans, and began developing when flowers began developing. (Oh...perhaps this is how they know about fungi, from the fossils of flowers?) This may be when they began evolving, but fungal research didn’t begin until 1588, somewhere around the invention of the first microscope. Today, they have discovered so much they are thinking about using fungi to reduce the amounts of oil, (I think he said from oil spills), and of course people forage many of them for food.

After this we saw a Fiber Head mushroom (genus Inocybe), which was brown spored and small, less than an inch in diameter. Apparently this mushroom is highly poisonous, because it has something in it that can mimic neurotransmitters in our brain, potentially causing blurred vision, and lots of other unpleasant effects. We also saw Laccaria laccata (The Deceiver) off the trail, back under some shrubs, and Artist Conk (Ganoderma Applanatum), which is more common than I once thought.

Next, we talked to the Forbes group about a few of the flowers growing in the area. Many of these plants I knew of, but I learned some interesting things about the uses of certain plants. The first one we talked about was White Clover (Trifolium repens), a bee-loving plant we see all over the place, but which I have often taken for granted. Apparently, this plant is native to Europe, but not North America, and is often found in disturbed areas. It is a creeping species, and is sometimes used as a crop since it can grow in a wide variety of temperatures, and can be harvested as hay. It is also a nitrogen fixing crop, and is edible. On the other hand, you don’t want to eat the older flowers, as they can be poisonous. The white clover can be used in stir fry, as combined with rice it makes a full protein, and when put near a hive of bees, a result is clover honey. It is also used to make tea and was once purified and used to heal wounds after battle. This is similar to the Red Clover (Trifolium pratense) we saw growing behind and around it, one I’ve always called honeysuckle, though I think this name is true to something else. I used to pull the tips of the flower out and get the sweet nectar from it. I tried this again lately and it didn’t seem as sweet as it used to be. I wonder whether my perception has changed, or the plant has changed or varies by location. The latter is probably most likely. I wonder what makes the purple clover different from the white, and if they have different pollinators at all because of the color of their flowers. From what I’ve seen, and saw today, honeybees and bumblebees seem to like both, though I’d like to look more closely at this. It sounds like they both came from Europe and have the same tri-leaf characteristic.

Next, we took a closer look at Tall Buttercup (Ranunculus acris), another non-native species from Europe, and a very weedy plant although its flowers are a pretty bright yellow. These plants spread by seeds, which makes them easily invasive and on King County’s list of noxious weeds. Buttercup is toxic to grazing animals, but most avoid it because of its bitter taste if there is something else available. We also talked about the Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), another common invasive plant. Apparently, these are part of the sunflower family, and their name means tooth of the lion. They are self pollinating and reproduce asexually, so they don’t really need bees to pollinate them, however, this brought up an interesting question. If they don’t need pollinators, why do they still have bright yellow flowers? I learned that there are a couple potential reasons for this. One is their evolutionary history. Since they are related to other plants that require pollination, they still produce these flowers and are not yet on the same page throughout (? Not sure how to put this, but I think this is what they meant). Another hypothesis is that pollination is still helpful to allowing them to spread their genes, and perhaps flower production and pollinator attraction is still necessary for their survival. This plant has a number of uses, including the leaves with which you can make salads and teas, and the flowers with which you can make wine. The white milky juice in the stem was also used to remove freckles, warts, etc. (although I don’t know about the freckles part). They were also used to cure kidney problems. All this makes me wonder how they figured this out. I suppose through a lot of trial and error, and probably some of it was believed and not necessarily truly effective.

Another plant we talked about was Skunk Cabbage (Lysichiton americanum), a plant with a more interesting account than I thought. According to the leader, Skunk Cabbage generates its own body heat in order to survive the cold forest winters and melt through the snow and frost. Its leaves are waxy, and natives used them to preserve fish and other things. Its roots interestingly look at work like earthworms. They dig into the ground and contract, bringing the plant closer to the ground. Flies and beetles pollinate this plant, and the calcium oxalate in the leaves and flowers can cause skin irritation like that of stinging nettle. It’s interesting that Skunk Cabbage developed this trait, as it seems like a really good strategy to keep herbivores away. We also saw Common Vetch (Vicia sativa), a plant in the pea family that has been cultivated since roman times. I wonder how much it has changed since then. It has purple flowers and leaflets opposite each other, and I’ve seen it growing all over the Burke Gilman trail and along the edges of the path at UBNA.

A few other interesting observations today include: Hairy Cat’s Ear (Hypochaeris radicata) and the realization that although this looks exactly like dandelion, its fuzzy leaves and other characteristics make it a distinct plant, one I’ve also seen at Seward Park. Also growing along the edges of the path was an abundant amount of Dovefoot Geranium/Cransebill (Geranium molle), with pink/purple flowers and five lobed leaves. I also noticed a bit of Morning Glory (Genus convolvulaceae), also growing on the paths edge near the Tall Buttercup. I also noticed some weird waxy red/sacks on the leaves of a willow tree. They were small, a tiny bit smaller than the size of a pencil tip eraser, and a bright red color, that reminded us of pimples on the leaves. There was usually only one per leaf, and it grew in a bulge on both sides of the leaf. I talked to Josh who said they might be Gall wasp larvae, which I confirmed (at least they are a type of fly) later on. We broke one open to find a tiny worm/larvae inside, and apparently these will grow larger and somehow break out of the dense shell, and become flies/gall wasps. I’m wondering if this has any impact on the trees, or whether it is a symbiotic relationship. I first thought it was a fungus on the tree, and didn’t realize something might be living inside. The red sacks are called galls, so I’m not sure if it’s actually a wasp that lives/grows inside, from what I’ve read it’s just a type of fly. We also saw a few ducklings swimming in the pond adjacent to the area we made the other observations.

Species List:

Dacrymyces stillatus
Little Japanese Parasols (Parasola plicatilis)
Leratiomyces percevalii
Agrocybe praecox
Fiber Head mushroom (genus Inocybe)
Laccaria laccata (The Deceiver)
Artist Conk (Ganoderma Applanatum)
White Clover (Trifolium repens),
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)
Tall Buttercup (Ranunculus acris)
Skunk Cabbage (Lysichiton americanum
Common Vetch (Vicia sativa)
Hairy Cat’s Ear (Hypochaeris radicata)
Dovefoot Geranium/Cransebill (Geranium molle)
Morning Glory (Genus convolvulaceae)
Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

Posted on May 27, 2012 09:26 PM by aclay232