V
OMPHALIN ISSN 1925-1858
Vol. IV, No 2 Newsletter of Mar. 1, 2013
OMPHALINA OMPHALINA is the lackadaisical newsletter of Foray Newfoundland & Labrador. There is no schedule of publications, no promise to appear again. Its primary purpose is to serve as a conduit of information to registrants of the upcoming foray and secondarily as a communications tool with members.
Issues of OMPHALINA are archived in: is an amateur, volunteer-run, community, Library and Archives Canada’s Electronic Collection
OMPHALINA V Vol. IV, No 2 OMPHALIN ISSN 1925-1858 Mar. 1, 2013
CONTENT
Editorial ...... 2 Entoloma pseudoparasiticum International multicentre team ..... 3 Parasite or pseudoparasite? Team multicentre international ..... 7 Chaga latte Maria Voitk ...... 9 Rhizomarasmius epidryas II Dave Malloch ...... 10 Rotter rotters II Jim Ginns ...... 12 Rotter rotters III Andrus Voitk ...... 13 Mushroom site model Muirhead and Brooks ...... 14
The Bishop’s sketchbook ...... 16 Morchella update Andrus Voitk ...... 17 NEMF meeting ...... 20 Mail basket ...... 22 Partners ...... inside back cover Notice of Fogo Foray 2013 ..... back cover
This issue and all previous issues available for download from the Foray Newfoundland & Labrador website
OMPHALINA MMessageessage ffromrom tthehe EEditorditor
We are proud to bring to you lead articles that are a An update on morels: review of two important fi rst for OMPHALINA: an International, Cooperative, publications and what they tell us about our species. Multicentre Investigative Team of authors, just Finally, note the invitation to the Québec Foray, pp as you see in the real journals. Note our team’s 27-28, initiated by Renée Lebeuf. Might be fun to go democratic policy: authors listed in alphabetical and see how others do it. And kind of cool to have a order, fi rst A to Z, then Z to A. What a cool way to do corner of Newfoundlanders in their green chanterelle the serious stuff of science! T-shirts and orange caps. Renée said she’d join us Jim Ginns and Dave Malloch offer commentary and and so will Greg Thorn. If you’d like to make the further information about subjects published earlier. trip, please let Maria Voitk know
NB Special request andrus Please fi ll out the questionnaire on p. 14 and send to April Muirhead. April was one of our databasers at the 2012 foray, and now is pursuing some independent mycological investigation. For the results to be meaningful, a pattern needs to develop, which can only happen if there are a lot of responses. Therefore, please do your best to fi ll out a copy of the form for each of your favourite mushroom patches. If this produces good fi ndings, perhaps we aandnd tthehe WWebmasterebmaster shall read about it in a future issue. Among other things, the Members-only page has Renée Lebeuf and Nils Hallenberg sent in reports been removed. It was used primarily to make of specimens they had taken home to identify. This available to members the journals and newsletters added several species to our already impressive of sister organizations, with whom we had made 2012 list. Total species recorded for 2012 now is 410 arrangements to exchange newsletters. (Some “mushrooms” and 175 lichens, and the cumulative organizations preferred that their journal not be total is 144 for lichenized ascomycetes and 1,291 for e-mailed, and shared it only if they were placed on a other fungi, including 17 slime molds, which really secure members-only web page.) Over the course of are not fungi at all. the year two things happened simultaneously: visits to that page by our members fell to zero and all but one of our sister organizations slowly got out of the habit of sending us new issues. As always, comments and suggestions from users welcome.
Jim 2 OMPHALINA ENNTOLOMATOLOMA PPSEUDOPARASITICUMSEUDOPARASITICUM Jon-Otto Aarnaes, Margaret Boyle, Gro Gulden, Greg Thorn, Andrus Voitk
As for its name, that’s not so easy to decide. In 1879 Lucien Quélet described Leptonia Walter Little, Editor of McIlvainea. parasitica (Entoloma parasiticum), a small Subheading added by Editor to a 1985 article about one such mushroom.1 white mushroom growing on Cantharellus cibarius.2 Since then, E. parasiticum has been reported from many substrates, including The mushrooms on our cover some gray, some white (see side earth, wood, rotten bark, living moss, Trametes were collected October 1, panel). However, colour is not versicolor and Coltricia perennis.3 2012, by MB on Ship Island, always as overt or objective a In 1786 August Johann Georg Karl Batsch just off Herring Neck, near character as one might expect. described Agaricus depluens (Entoloma Twillingate, growing on the For example, Quélet described depluens) a small, gray, terrestrial mushroom cap of an overmature but Leptonia parasitica as snow with an eccentric stem.4 In 1915 Harry Morton seemingly healthy Cantharellus white (blanc de neige). 107 Fitzpatrick described a somewhat similar roseocanus. Their cap diameter years later, Spurr and coworkers white species growing on Coltricia perennis.5 was about 4 mm, the slightly describe a mushroom with Because it was smaller than Batsch’s species, which Fitzpatrick erroneously believed to be eccentric stem about the same gray cap, gills and stem, white, and grew on a mushroom, Fitzpatrick length. Gill edges had visible and identify it as Claudopus reported it as a new species, Claudopus minute projections, giving them parasiticus (Figure 4).1 Batsch subdepluens, the species name indicating the a granular appearance. The described Agaricus depluens proximity of this North American species to specimens were immature. as light gray (blassgrau),4 and its European relative. In 1987 Machiel Evert Exhaustive microscopic 129 years later Fitzpatrick Noordeloos synonymized this taxon with examination by JOA, GG, AV names a white mushroom Entoloma parasiticum.3 In 2006 a Cantharellus yielded only three (presumably Claudopus subdepluens to roseocanus fruitbody with similar small mushrooms was forwarded to Yves Lamoureux immature) angular spores: two mark its resemblance to 5 in Montréal. Because it did not fi t with the then fi ve-sided and one six-sided, Batsch’s species . Noordeloos current descriptions of either E. parasiticum or measuring 5.7-7.7x4.1-6.2μm. describes Entoloma parasiticum E. pseudoparasiticum, Lamoureux considered Some clamp connections and a as white, yet on the illustration the possibility that Fitzpatrick’s North American few 4-spored basidia were seen. in his 2004 monograph10 the species may differ from both European species, The hyphae had evenly colored, mushrooms are unmistakably and reported it as Claudopus subdepluens.6 brown walls; cheilocystidia were gray, nowhere close to the blanc Although Noordeloos elected to synonymize not seen. de neige of Quélet (Figure 3). it with E. parasiticum, it would not be the fi rst time that North American and European Angular spores suggest a species The situation is no better counterparts have evolved into divergent of Entoloma, and its small size with microscopic characters. species—as illustrated so dramatically by their and general habitus places it For example, the presence or respective chanterelle hosts. in subgenus Claudopus, section absence of cystidia or clamp In his 1992 monograph on Entoloma, Claudopus. But which Claudopus? connections, both used to Noordeloos described a new pigmented Our experience suggests that separate E. parasiticum and chanterellicolous species, Entoloma pseudoparasiticum, which differed from E. nothing has changed since the E. pseudoparasiticum, create parasiticum by: 1) pigmented fruitbodies (seen comment by Little, which is as diffi culty for the world’s in the microscope as brown hyphal walls) and, apt to-day as it was in 1985. leading expert on the genus 2) smaller and slightly different spores.7 Section Claudopus is small, Entoloma, even when a holotype In 1993 Gerog Wölffel and Walther Winterhoff with around 10 species: three is available: for Entoloma described a new white species in section pseudoparasiticum Noordeloos 8 gray and the rest white.10 Four Claudopus, Entoloma jahnii, and in 2012, reports cheilocystidia absent Andreas Kunze and Joschi Siembida reported it species of this section have in 19873 7 growing on a chanterelle.9 been described on chanterelles, and 1992 , present in 200410, then absent again OMPHALINA 3 1a 1b 2 3 4
A comparison of all the gray or pigmented chanterellicolous Claudopus species we could get together. Seeing them side by side, added to the dozens of pictures reviewed for this article, suggested two differences between pigmented and unpigmented mushrooms: the pigmented ones seem more robust than the fragile white ones (see Figures 5-7), and have a gray mycelium that dries white (accounting for reports of white mycelium). The habitus of all pigmented ones is so similar that one could be forgiven for suspecting them to be conspecifi c, no matter how they were identifi ed. Figure 1: Our Entoloma pseudoparasiticum. The mushroom seems to be subhygrphanous. In situ (1a) our specimen is brownish. After 24 hrs (1b), despite being kept in a small sealed jar to prevent dehydration, it is a paler gray. The same happens with the mycelium. Despite the whitish hairs, it is not a white mushroom, and has unmistakable brown-gray or gray pigmentation. Figure 2: Entoloma pseudoparasiticum from Norway.13 Figure 3: Eric Danell’s picture from Sweden, labelled in Noordeloos’ monograph as Entoloma parasiticum. Could this be inadvertent mislabelling? Perhaps that accounts for the vacillation of some of the microscopic characters. If it is not mislabelled, one must conclude that pigment is not a meaningful differentiating character for these species. Figure 4. Claudopus parasiticus by Joy Spurr.1 The mushrooms are pigmented, and resemble the others on this page. Even some gray mycelium can be seen. They are described as gray, even if given the name of a white species. Note: the gray Entoloma pseudoparasiticum was not described at that time, thus unavailable as a choice for identifi cation.
in 200811 and 201212; clamp variability? These are very rare descriptions are unhelpfully laconic. connections present in 19873 and species. Because of their rarity, For example, the description of 19927, absent in 200410, 200811 and nobody has experience with their the current Entoloma parasiticum 201212. intra- and interspecifi c limitations. by Quélet2 would fi t all the white How can we explain such Descriptions are often based on the species of section Claudopus. The only collection encountered. Old holotype (the original collection 4 OMPHALINA 5 6
Figure 5: Entoloma parasiticum from France.14 7 Figure 6: Claudopus subdepluens from Québec.6 Figure 7: Entoloma jahnii from Germany9. Note the similarity of these mushrooms, particularly Figures 5 and 6. Figure 7, a younger specimen, bears some resemblance to the younger specimens in Figure 6. While the white specimens resemble each other, note that they do not resemble the gray specimens (Figures 1-4), which also resemble each other. These pictures and dozens of others we have seen, suggest to us that there are consistent morphological differences between white and pigmented species. All the photographs of gray mushrooms likely represent one species. Whether the white specimens represent a single plastic species or several distinct species, or how they relate to Quélet’s original description is a matter of speculation, inviting further investigation. from which the species was description seem to be added and everybody, with the ability to share described) of Entoloma parasiticum removed at will. rare fi nds instantly. We consulted is lost and no new type designation Important changes in the last few with many colleagues, read many (paratype or lectotype) has been years have improved this situation journals and books, and examined made, so that there is no specimen markedly. Communication is cheap a plethora of photos online. This for verifi cation; the same is true for and immediate. The cost of colour enabled us to get ersatz fi eld many of the other older species in printing has plummeted, making experience with a rare group one the section. Microscopic characters accurate colour pictures available might otherwise see only once in were not part of the original in journals and books. Online a lifetime. We decided to ignore description of the older species. publication is virtually costless. generic macroscopic descriptions Over time the concept of species Digital technology has made and insecure microscopic may change, so that unverifi able quality photography accessible to characters. That left us with colour. characters not in the original We decided to consider only
OMPHALINA 5 the descriptions of colour in the microscopy may reveal that the prima. 167:122. 1786. original description. That gave three visible projections are caused by 5. Fitzpatrick HM: A parasitic species gray species of section Claudopus; structures other than cystidial cells, of Claudopus. Mycologia, 7:34-37. only one has been reported to possibly contributing to vacillation in 1915. grow on chanterelles: Entoloma their description. pseudoparasiticum. Ours fi t. 6. Lamoureux, Y: Les champignons de Québec
6 OMPHALINA ENNTOLOMATOLOMA PPARASITICUMARASITICUM & PPSEUDOPARASITICUMSEUDOPARASITICUM: PPARASITESARASITES OORR PPSEUDOPARASITESSEUDOPARASITES?
AAndrusndrus Voitk,Voitk, GregGreg Thorn,Thorn, GGroro GGulden,ulden, MMargaretargaret BBoyle,oyle, JJon-Ottoon-Otto AAarnaesarnaes
The mushrooms on the title banner appear on normal others in the group. Chanterelles on pictures of other fruit bodies of some Russula species. These then collections also do not look unwell, apart from being begin to die, become soft, and decompose. Almost somewhat overmature. In his report of Claudopus all the Russula fruit bodies in a group seem to be subdepluens growing on Coltrichia perennis, Fitzpatrick involved. Those that appear healthy soon develop a dissected out the visitor’s hyphae and remarked that putrid smell, followed by the appearance of the small there did not seem mushrooms and necrosis. This pattern suggests that to be macroscopic the colonizer is probably present on or in the host’s or microscopic mycelium, coming to the surface through the host’s damage to the fruit bodies. Regardless of the exact mechanism, this host. Claudoputian small colonizing organism is a parasite that kills and hyphae seemed eats its host mushroom in order to sporulate to to traverse those perpetuate its own species. Thus, it is aptly named of the host in Asterophora parasitica. apparent peace, E. pseudoparasiticum and other Entoloma species and, “It is possible found on chaterelles, do not behave this way. Our that they extend chanterelle was fi rm, intact, had a delicious smell and through its stipe to 1 Perhaps did not seem unwell in any way. It was similar to the the soil.” our Claudopes are using fruit bodies of other fungi for reasons other than food. They choose species with less ephemeral fruit bodies: those of Cantharellus and Craterellus species last over a month, and those of Coltrichia and Harry Morton Fitzpatrick; image from Cybertruffl e. OMPHALINA 7 Trametes the season. How likely is it to have several very rare species fruit on chanterelles? In our province the genus Collybia consists of three species that all grow on mushrooms. All three can be distinguished readily by both macro- and microscopic morphology.2 Their morphological differences seem to have evolutionary meaning, as all three morphotypes separate into distinct species clades on DNA analysis. A seemingly signifi cant difference between Collybia and Claudopus is that the Collybia species grow on dead fungal fruit bodies only—pure saprobes with a defi ned substrate. E. pseudoparasiticum is reported growing on species of Cantherellus and Craterellus only, and E. parasiticum on many other substrates as well, including earth, wood, rotten bark, living moss, Trametes versicolor and Coltrichia perennis.3 It would seem a little unlikely that an organism coevolves to produce appropriate exoenzymes and other biochemical and structural accommodations to allow parasitism of a specifi c living host or set of similar living hosts, and also evolves to produce the structural and biochemical accoutrements needed to thrive on humus, dead bark, live moss and dead wood. Only humans practice a braces-and-belt approach. However, if E. parasiticum and pseudoparasiticum what it is doing on these substrates, no more than were not mycophagous, but along for the ride on we know what it is doing on the chanterelles. Perhaps a chanterelle for other reasons, their presence on these rare mushrooms are not the parasites they have assorted substrates could be more acceptable in been thought to be, and have some very interesting evolutionary terms. After all, being on a chanterelle is physiologic secrets to reveal. not necessarily parasitism in fl agrante delicto, no more If they are not parasites, the choice of species epithet than being in a bank is evidence that one is a bank for our taxon is felicitous. In scientifi c parlance robber. There are reasons other than robbery to visit “pseudo” means “un” or “non”, when referring to a bank or a chanterelle. One alternate explanation another name (as in Bob and Un-Bob). But in current might be to suggest that because fungal mycelia are vernacular use, “pseudo” is used to indicate “fake”. everywhere, on substrates other than mushrooms, Possibly fake parasite is an apt description for Entoloma these fungi parasitize unseen mycelia. The picture of pseudoparasiticum. E. jahnii on ground and on Cantharellus subpruinosus on this page (photo: Joschi Siembidia)4 could be References interpreted in that way, but most of the time this 1. Fitzpatrick HM: A parasitic species of Claudopus. explanation seems a bit of a stretch. Another obvious Mycologia, 7:34-37. 1915. explanation of the described multitude of substrates is 2. Cornish J: Collybia tuberosa. OMPHALINA 3(1):22-23. 2012. that other similar organisms have been misidentifi ed as 3. Noordeloos ME: Entoloma (Agaricales) in Europe. that species. Because of their rarity, it is certainly true Beihefte Nova Hedwigia, 91:98. 1987. that the borders of the Claudopus species have not 4. Kunze A, Siembida J: Mini-Rötling verputzt stattliche been drawn with the same certainty as for Collybia. Pfi fferlinge. Der Tintling, 79(6):7-22; 2012. These rare mushrooms may well be hiding some 5. Noordeloos, ME: Entoloma sl; Vol 5, Fungi Europae. historic misidentifi cations. However, the above photo Libreria editrice Giovanna Biella, Saronno. 1992. suggests that the “real thing” may well be found on a variety of substrates. It does not give a hint about
8 OMPHALINA The empty skillet
CHAGA LATTE Maria Voitk
4
5
Hardware & Software Bodum type coffee press, 2% milk, coffee grinder, Crowsnest
6 7 1
8 2 3
1. Grind coffee beans to fi ne grind. 2. Fill coffe maker with 10 cups water, place fi lter, add 5 heaping scoops ground coffee in fi lter. 3. Add 3 full teaspoons of chaga. Close lid, swing fi lter in, place coffee pot on element. Press ON. (NB!!!) 4. Fill Bodum 1/4-1/3 full with 2% milk. 5. Heat in microwave about 2 minutes. Do not boil over. 6. Hold Bodum lid with one hand and froth milk with other. Rapid, short up-and-down plunges at air-milk level until Bodum is full. 7. Half fi ll cup or mug with frothed milk. Slowly add brewed chaga coffee to fi ll cup. 8. Serve on bamboo cutting board, with rose in vase.
OMPHALINA 9 RhizomarasmiusRhizomarasmius epidryasepidryas follow-upfollow-up
Dave Malloch
I was interested in your discussion of if you fi nd Dryas you will fi nd Rhizomarasmius Rhizomarasmius epidryas in OMPHALINA 3(11):22- epidryas. 23; 2012. In September, 2012, Stephen Clayden Stephen and I envision 3 more trips there next and I visited an odd north-facing gypsum cliff season. Then we shall write up some of the in southeastern New Brunswick which claims records from this odd Dryas locality, which so the only population of Dryas integrifolia in the far only include 6 species of mushrooms. Maritime Provinces. The soft gypsum bedrock (note the chunk of gypsum on the picture) of Ed comment the site shifts constantly, mimicking the thermal shifting of arctic soil, making it diffi cult for larger Congratulations! plants to take root, and supplies the calcium Not always so easy, in our experience. After liked by many arctic plants. This combination six years of looking in our limestone barrens, makes the site a small refugium of arctic pants the cited report—the result of eight pairs of from the last ice age 13,000 years ago—outside eyes peeled for it—was our fi rst fi nd, a single the continuous Dryas distribution range. And, mushroom. Perhaps we’ll have better luck after sure enough, there was Rhizomarasmius rain, when they are expanded? epidryas, three sporocarps, bringing the range of this species to its southernmost point on Acknowledgments the North American east coast. It seems that Map next page by kind permission of Ania Ronikier. 10 OMPHALINA Composite picture of the New Brunswick Rhizomarasmius epidryas. Whole mushrooms, far left. Top: foamy club-like cells of the cap, typical of Marasmius. Middle: hyphal projections, seen with the naked eye as fuzzy stem. Next are the cystidia lining the gills. Bottom bar shows the spores, shaped like a lopsided almond (amygdaliform), pear (pyriform) or gourd (cucurbitoid).
NB fi nd in Albert County, just below the 46th parallel, is the southernmost coastal report of Rhizomarasmius epidryas in North America.
NL fi nd, on Burnt Cape, at 51°31’0” becomes the penultimate southerly report on the Atlantic coast of North America
OMPHALINA 11 Fungi on polypores
Who rots the rotters? Jim Ginns
LeifLeLeifif RRyvardenyvarardeden wrwwroteotte ofof 1111 spspeciespeeciei s ofof ppolyporesollypy orores AlthoughAlA thhoughgh variable,vara iablblee,, thetheh smallsmam llll sizesiizze (~(~ 2 cmcm acacross)cror ssss) anandnd (wood((wood rorotters)tters)) wwhosehose ffruitingruiting bobodiesdies ffrequentlyrequently or typicallytypically yellowyellow cap cap are thetheh principalprincipal fi eldeld ccharactershharacters always grow in association with other, unrelated of the fungus. Photo: Brenda Callan, Victoria, BC. species of polypores.1 Leif asked us a number of thought provoking questions about the nature of the association between the rotters and the rotters that grow on rotters. For example, are some polypores getting nutrition (feeding on) other polypores? Is one polypore parasitic (feeding on live tissue) on the other? Two polypores not mentioned by Ryvarden are pictured below. Both are Newfoundland polypores and have distinctive fruiting bodies that should make identifi cation fairly easy. One purpose of this note is to encourage collecting and saving in herbaria of these uncommon polypores and help determine whether they are associated with one or several other polypores. Pycnoporellus fulgens Orange fruiting bodies adjacent to one of Fomitopsis pinicola. Kroeger et al., working on Haida Gwaii observed that P. fulgens seemed to occur as a late succession wood decay species and may be parasitic on Fomitopsis pinicola.3 The orange, medium-sized, relatively soft (not woody hard) fruiting bodies are distinctive. Photo: Bryce Kendrick, Sidney-by-the-sea, BC.
References
1. Ryvarden L: Fungi on polypores. OMPHALINA 3(9):10-11. 2012. 2. Gilbertson RL, Ryvarden L: North American Polypores. Vol. 2. Fungifl ora, Oslo. 433 p. 1986. Antrodiella semisupina 3. Kroeger P, Kendrick B, Ceska O, Roberts C: The outer spores: mushrooms of Haida Gwaii. Fruiting bodies are often next to or growing over Mycologue Publications, Sidney-by-the-sea, those of species of Fomes, Fomitopsis and Trichaptum.2 BC. 189 p. 2012.
12 OMPHALINA Who rots the rotter rotters? Andrus Voitk
A recent interest in pyrenomycetes brought to light three instances of an unidentifi ed polypore/corticoid fungus growing on Annulohypoxylon multiforme. In all three instances, the Annulohypoxylon grew on birch, and each time the polypore/corticoid was green, presumably from algae. Unfortunately the it was a bit long in the tooth in each fi nd, and beyond my ability to identify it. Once you begin to look at pyrenomycetes, you will note very many fungi seeming to fruit on them. The usual explanation is that growing on another fungus is but one way for fungi to fi nd increased Nitrogen, needed for amino acids, protein synthesis, enzymes, and many other bits of vital infrastructure. The pursuit of Nitrogen is a fascinating subject: a universal need that is solved very many interesting ways by different species. For fungi that eat fungi to solve this need, pyrenomycetes are a common source, giving them a very central role in their niche. Like everybody else, pyrenomycetes also have Nitrogen needs. Who supplies them? Here is a case that seems to operate on the laughs best who laughs last principle. The upper picture shows the unknown polypore/corticoid growing on Annulohypoxylon multiforme, which, in its turn, was growing on felled birch. Turnabout is fair play, and the bottom picture shows the same log one year later, a bit worse for wear by its rotters. The lushest remaining colony of A. multiforme is on and around what was formerly an unidentifi ed polypore/ corticoid. What goes around, comes around. A. multiforme came back to collect all the previously donated Nitrogen—clearly a loan, not a gift. Given for a good time, not a long time. Photos: Maria Voitk
OMPHALINA 13 A predictive model of suitable sites for select edible mushrooms in western Newfoundland April Muirhead, Darin Brooks After exposure to the 2012 foray, I a guide for mushroom pickers to Here is how your data will be used: chose this for my major project in locate suitable sites where these 1. GIS layers will be created for the GIS (geographic information mushrooms are likely to grow. each site indicator and ranked system) post-diploma program at Time limits me to analyze the West by importance. the College of the North Atlantic. Coast, where I live and study, but My supervisor is Darin Brooks, and the project can easily be expanded 2. GIS analysis will combine and I am required to complete it in May to cover the entire province. intersect layers to indicate and June. the potential sites where the For meaningful results, we need mushrooms might be found. The two main objectives of our many sets of data. The information project are: can come from anywhere, because 3. A secondary analysis based on it is specifi c to the mushroom, not environmental and ecological 1. To locate suitable areas in the region. We ask for the help of data will change some of Western Newfoundland where all NL mushroom pickers. the site indicators to predict select edible mushroom are potential sites in the future. likely to be found. Please use the form on the next page to describe the site Example: Mushroom A prefers to 2. To predict future mushroom conditions where you fi nd your grow under 30% canopy of 80-100 sites, given expected mushrooms. NOT the coordinates year old white spruce, with very environmental and ecological or geographical locations of the low understory. These areas are changes over time. sites—your mushroom patch plotted and then combined to show The study is limited to six edibles: remains safe with you! places where all three indicator • Newfoundland Chanterelle requirements of Mushroom A are Print the form on the next page (Cantharellus roseocanus) expected to coincide (left picture). (specify only one page, or you’ll • Winter Chanterelle (Craterellus These (the red areas) are the most print the whole issue!). Alternately, tubaeformis) likely regions where Mushroom A go to the FNL website
Tree T Tree Species S Species
Understory U Understory
MPHALINA 14 O Please fi ll out one form for each mushroom patch and E-mail:
Species Mushroom A Year 2012 Leading Tree Species Picea glauca (white spruce) and Acer spicatum (mountain maple)
Age of stand 50-70 years % Composition of leading tree 50% P. glauca, 40% A. species spicatum, 10% A. balsamea
Canopy Cover 40% Understory: Amount & Height Poor, very little; low Indicator plant species Mattuccia struthiopteris (osterich fern), Cornus canandensis (crackerberry or bunchberry)
Moss around mushrooms: Low to none Deep, Low, None Soil (disturbed, gravel, sandy, loam, rich, with duff rich, poor; with/without duff) Moisture (dry, earth moist, saturated saturated, wet, water covered) Seasonal Climate Information Spring wet; Summer warm & wet, Spring, Summer, Fall Fall dry & sunny Elevation ~20 m ASL Slope 60% Found near the bottom Aspect South facing Growing Season Last week of August – Mid October Pre-commercial Thinning Yes, around 1995 (Forestry practice where select trees are removed to improve the growth or “health” of the other trees. This is an indicator of the amount of wood fibre on the ground and its age or degree of decomposition.) Other prominent mushroom species Amanita flavoconia
OMPHALINA 15 The Bishop’s Sketchbook
16 OOMPHALINAMPHALINA MÊÙ½ çÖã Andrus Voitk
Some years back I wrote a small in approach and cannot be com- sequencing. As we have learned book about mushrooms I had pared. Clowez’s monograph, the from the pages of OMPHALINA, this encountered and photographed fruit of much study and thought generates a tree-like diagram, in Newfoundland and Labrador. about the genus, is a total reclas- where each species hangs like a I named each one. Some of them sifi cation of the genus Morchella leaf from the ends of a branching incorrectly, but they all got a name. based on ecological relationships. network, the leaves of the same All, except morels. At the time, the In this day, when almost every species clustering on the same best I could do was say if a morel mushroom article presents some terminal branch. 20 North Ameri- was black or yellow, no fancy Latin sequencing data, even if of ques- can species are described, most for names. And in Newfoundland and tionable pertinence to the content, the fi rst time. Once identifi ed in Labrador I had not encountered it may seem a bit anachronistic to this way, Kuo and colleagues went any yellow morels, so all were read a major global study, where back and compared these genetic black. Unable to come any closer sequencing results seem peripheral species to each other in appearance than “black morel” was the only curiosities. However, perhaps in a (macroscopic and microscopic), genus I was obliged to abandon hundred years our obsession with ecology, distribution, or any other unnamed in the Cimmerian desert. the present way of sequencing will factor that might help us to differ- This bothered me, and I have paid seem risible, while ecological stud- entiate the species from each other. morels particular attention since. ies will still retain meaning, who In many cases they were success- Now I am certain that we have knows? ful, at least to some degree, but it at least two distinct species, but Unfortunately, Clowez’s small seems that some species can only thus far have not been able to fi nd book is extremely diffi cult to be separated by sequencing. This any description or name for our obtain. Even locating it on the web study is readily available to all commonest species, and nothing is a chore and I was not able to readers with access to the internet; convincing for the other. order it online. Finally, I was able Kuo’s website gives a link to the No more! In 2012 two important to borrow a copy. It is published document as well as a more non- works about morels have been in the Bulletin of the Mycologi- technical presentation of the results 3 published, enabling our under- cal Society of France, which has on his morel pages. standing of them to take giant steps an annoying, dare I say unforgiv- This may surprise those of you forward. The fi rst, by a few days, able, two-year lag: the date on the who have followed the writings is a monograph of world morels publication is 2010, and only in of Kuo over the years. If there is by the French mycologist, Philippe small print on the last page do you one overriding idea in his writ- Clowez,1 and the second a multi- read that it was printed in April, ings at all, it surely is his repeated author North American study led 2012! To make up for this frustra- exhortation to collect mushrooms by Michael Kuo.2 Both describe tion, it has superb photos, some and note their ecology, for in that several new species. As an aside, by our own René Lebeuf. Good relationship must lie the deepest because the Clowez monograph for Renée—soon I cannot imagine secrets to speciation. Yet, it is not appeared fi rst, any species that are any mushroom book appearing Kuo, but his French colleague, who the same in both, but differently anywhere these days without her carried out the ecological study— named, should end up with the beautiful pictures. and Kuo could not wish for a more Clowez name after the dust settles. Kuo and coworkers present a phy- dedicated follower of his preach- The studies are entirely different logenetic study, based on genetic ings than Philippe Clowez.* * This should not be misinterpreted to mean that Clowez was a student of Kuo! The North American team is on record as having been totally unaware of the simultaneous activity of their French colleague.4 That two major investigations of the same high- profi le genus were so blithely ignorant of each other as to pass like ships in the night is regrettable. In to-day’s information age, such innocent unworldliness almost beggars belief. OMPHALINA 17 Different fi ndings in two such the studies been combined into one profusion in gardens. Here it is differing approaches should not be major robust work; nevertheless, not encountered often, but when surprising. What is surprising, is overall the two approaches confi rm seen, produces a copious harvest. how well they actually match each each others’ fi ndings well. Its appearance is akin to the fi re other. In the broad sense, where What do these studies tell us about morel, it erupts once only, the the two studies describe the same the morels of our province? You year after mulching or building a mycota, the overlap is amazing— may have observed that our morels, garden or fl ower bed with wood much better than the overlap of in addition to being uncommon, are chips or wood based manure, then members of the same species in very small. Indeed, our commonest is not seen again. Kuo describes most phylograms! This is high morel, one none too common at it as primarily a western species, praise, indeed, for Kuo’s tenet: that, fi ts the description of Kuo’s, mentioning that Tom Volk has seen clearly an ecological approach Morchella septentrionalis (photo it as far east as Wisconsin. My does hold the clues to speciation. title banner and p. 19). This is guess is that the species is probably And because the ecological study a morel species with a northern transcontinental. I have seen such was done by an independent distribution, in appearance like the fl ushes in Ontario. Renée Lebeuf investigator, objectivity is classical black morel: dark ridges says that in Québec it is known as impeccable. and lighter pits. Kuo describes it as “morille des paillis” (mulch morel), 5 Sure, a few things were not “dis- 40-75 mm high; ours seem to begin published on her Flickr site. In our covered” by the ecological ap- below 20 mm, and very rarely province I have heard two reports proach. For example, Kuo identi- reach above 60. 2011 was a banner of it in St. John’s, and have seen it fi ed more morel species that appear morel year: we collected about four times on the Newfoundland after a fi re in conifer woods than 80 specimens for the season, over west coast, where we live. Clowez. However, two of Kuo’s twice what we would fi nd most Possibly it extends even beyond species are indistinguishable from years. However, they were strung this continent. Kuo had pictures each other by any identifi able char- out over several months, so that and samples of a similar morel acters, apart from genetic analysis, fi nding over three at a time only sent to him from Belgium, which so the lumping is understandable happened in the peak of the season. proved to be the same species and the distinction not of practical Two morels 35 mm high do not go on DNA analysis. Perusal of value for the amateur mycophile. far on their own. The only way to European species led him to Similarly, on the basis of clear ge- get a meal to share with friends, is suspect that it may be the same as netic differences Kuo distinguishes to collect and dry them from the the European Morchella costata. two peaked black morels of North beginning of the season, to have Clowez also identifi ed Renée’s America, Morchella angusticeps enough at the end for one festive mulch morels from Québec as and M. septentrionalis. Clowez de- meal. European M. costata.5 In his scribes only M. angusticeps (seem- The other species that we have monograph he has subsequently ingly, with some reservation), collected here resembles Kuo’s synonymized M. costata with M. presumably lumping the other with Morchella importuna (photo elata. Breitenbach and Kränzlin it. These, and a few other lacunae below), so named because of its describe the European M. elata could have been eliminated, had importune habit of appearing in as having its cap fl ow gradually
18 OMPHALINA into the stem,6 whereas Clowez to carry from describes a furrow* (inturned cap burns high edge around the cap-stem junction) in the Rocky present, if not always obvious. This Mountains. suggests that at least superfi cially Different morel the concept of M. elata in Europe behaviour? might still be somewhat unsettled. No, different Our mulch morels have an obvious morel species. furrow. Because the matter does According not appear to be clear yet, for to Kuo, four the moment I have elected to use morel species Kuo’s North American name, but appear in huge am prepared to change in response quantities the to additional evidence, which I year after a eagerly await. forest fi re, and These two species are the most all four are Morchella. Bulletin trimestriel de commonly encountered here, but reported to be western species. Apparently at least la société mycologique de France, no doubt we have more. In the 126:199-384. 2012. unusually productive morel year some of these species also extend eastward across the continent, even 2. Kuo M, Dewsbury DR, O’Donnell 2011 “larger black morels” were K, Carter MC, Rehner SA, Moore reported in the wild, and I have if not to this Island: Renée tells JD, Moncalvo J-M, Canfi eld SA, heard similar morels described me that they have fi re morels in Stephenson SL, Methven AS, Volk from Labrador. Without seeing Québec, identifi ed as Morchella TJ: Taxonomic revision of true morels them, I am unable to speculate capitata, one of the four fi re (Morchella) in Canada and the United whether they represent additional morels reported by Kuo et al. States. Mycologia, 104:1159-1177. 2012. species in the province. In addition, At present, efforts are being we may have very rare examples made to reconcile these two big 3. Kuo M: The Morchellaceae: True morels and verpas. MushroomExpert. of some “yellow morel” species, studies; it will be fun to watch the Com Web site
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OMPHALINA 21 the mail bag or why the passenger pigeons assigned to serve the lavish Corporate and Editorial offices of OMPHALINA get hernias
… about the Pyrenomycetes, I’ve never heard of article on Craterellus tubaeformis, and one on our them, can’t pronounce their names and will never very common Xanthoria species. Every article may remember them, won’t eat them, and am unlikely to not be not for every reader, but every issue tries to look at them. Nice pictures, though. Why not teach have something for every reader. me to identify some common mushrooms instead? As for “knowing them”, we are both in the same HL boat. Although I wrote the 12-species article, I don’t remember the names. I looked at some on a Ed comment: birch branch yesterday and when my wife asked me what they were, I could not remember (although I Dear HL, did remember to cut them tangentially to see if they The earlier Gymnosporangium articles prompted a were green inside—they were). At home I looked similar comment. Since this may become a repeat in OMPHALINA and identifi ed them as Diatrypella annoyance for a few readers, this time it deserves a betulina for her. public answer. *** Before Dave Malloch submitted his Biscogniauxia Below are two different opinions on the same article, I vaguely knew the term pyrenomycete, articles. Both are from professional mycologists, but that was it. I got curious, went and collected so perhaps HL has a point. OMPHALINA serves many a lot, tried to read about them and identify them, kinds of readers, and should remain approachable. had them identifi ed by two experts, read again Are we straying too much toward the esoteric? and compared the appearance to descriptions. Opinions like HL’s are valuable checks. What do Eventually, I worked out a few patterns for a very other readers think? After all, I have yet to get a small number that could be identifi ed by their letter asking me not to waste time with articles appearance alone with reasonable accuracy—at on Craterellus tubaeformis, and do a feature on least in this province. Realizing how few resources Pyrenomycetes or Gymnosporangia! there are for amateurs to get to know this group, I wrote the 12 species article as an introduction. Another splendid issue. I especially enjoyed read- The purpose of the article was not to show off ing about the Pyrenomycetes, since these fungi are my knowledge—I was not aware of them a year often overlooked in favor of their more fl ashy, fl eshy ago—but to share with those readers who might be relatives. The article about Biscogniauxia repanda is curious about these things some of the results of terrifi c, and inclusion of the historical background of my discoveries. The idea was not to imprint them the name adds a fascinating element. The overview on the mind of the rare person with a photographic of some NL Pyrenomycetes adds a valuable basis for memory. Rather, they were meant to be a reference identifying some of these fungi in the fi eld. resource for the interested. Any reader who comes across a pyrenomycete and wants to identify it, Suzanne Visser now has a place to turn for a beginning. There are University of Calgary not too many places for a curious non-professional to turn to for help with identifying these very common fungi. Most authoritative and comprehensive brief non- Common? As a group, pyrenomycetes are probably technical discussion of pyrenomycetes that I have more common than any other group of macrofungi read. Well done! I can think of. However, I know what you mean: we don’t usually look at them. OMPHALINA tries to Kadri Pärtel balance such articles with articles on “common” University of Tartu, Estonia mushrooms and lichens. The same issue had an Friend of Biscogniauxia and other pyrenomycetes. 22 OMPHALINA OOURUR PPARTNERARTNER OORGANIZATIONSRGANIZATIONS
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