Fungus Among Us: an Exploration of Fungi in the Anamalai Hills. Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore
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An exploration of fungi in the Anamalai hills Fungus Among Us RANJINI MURALI P JEGANATHAN T R SHANKAR RAMAN DIVYA MUDAppA An exploration of fungi in the Anamalai hills Fungus Among Us RANJINI MURALI P JEGANATHAN T R SHANKAR RAMAN DIVYA MUDAppA Suggested citation Murali, R., Jeganathan, P., Raman, T. R. S., and Mudappa, D. 2012. Fungus among us: An exploration of fungi in the Anamalai hills. Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore. This text of this document is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0. Copyright for images remain with the respective photographers. Acknowledgements We are grateful to Kalyan Varma and Pavithra Sankaran for helping design this book and for their valuable suggestions. We are extremely grateful to Dr. N. Parthasarathy, Dr. Vadivelu Kumaresan, Dr. Gunasekaran Senthil Arasu, Dr. James Lindsey, Ms. Tanya Balcar, Mr. Robert Stewart, and the members of the mushroom expert forum for help with identification of the various genera. We would especially like to thank Dr. Tom May from Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne for taking the time and trouble to give us detailed comments that helped improve this booklet. We thank Atul Joshi for bringing the bioluminescent fungi to our attention. We also thank all the photographers for their generous contributions. [The authors accept the responsibility for any errors that remain and would appreciate comments, corrections, and suggestions to be sent to: [email protected]] Financial support M. M. Muthiah Research Foundation, Chennai Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore Design Kalyan Varma and Pavithra Sankaran Cover photos (Kalyan Varma) Front: Calocera; Back: Underside of Filoboletus CONTENTS About Fungi 1 Anatomy 2 Universal veil 3 Reproduction 4 Dispersal of spores 5 Interesting facts 6 Field identification 7 Cap and stem fungi 8 Jelly fungi 24 Coral and club fungi 30 Shelf and bracket fungi 34 Other fungi 46 References 55 Index 56 Photo credits 56 ABOUT FUNGI Mushrooms and clubs, yeasts and moulds, morels and truffles–despite their great differences in colour, size, structure, shape, texture, and smells–are all different kinds of fungus. Fungi are distributed all over the world and range from single-celled to multi-celled organisms. They are found everywhere–in the soil, in the oceans, in the food we eat, and even in the air we breathe. Biologists believe that there are at least 100,000 to 250,000 species classified within the King- dom Fungi. In India alone, over 27,000 species of fungi have been reported so far, although many species surely await discovery. Fungi grow well under moist and warm conditions, in the presence of suitable nutrients. Fungi lack chlorophyll (the green pigment that helps plants manufacture their own food) and hence have to depend on external sources for their energy requirements. Most of them are saprotrophic, that is, they obtain their nutrients by growing on dead animal and plant remains. Some fungi are parasitic and depend on other living organisms for their food at the expense of the latter. Many fungi are symbiotic, locked in a mutually-beneficial relationship with other living organisms as in the lichens that are associations of algae and fungi. Bioluminescence, the emission of visible light by living organisms, is also observed in fungi. Excess light energy is released due to an oxygen-dependent reaction causing the fungus to glow. It has been reported in about fifty species of fungi, two thirds of which belong to the genus Mycena. The portion of a fungus usually visible to us, such as a mushroom emerging from the soil or a bracket attached to a tree trunk, is the fruiting body. The fruiting body is designed to spread the single-celled reproductive spores of the fungus. The more obvious larger fungi are usually seen on the forest floor, on dead tree stumps, on living trees, in grasslands, and sometimes even on insects or other organisms. Importance of fungi Fungi break down plant and animal matter and recycle important elements like carbon and ni- trogen back into the natural environment. There are innumerable fungi that are beneficial and many that are harmful to man. They are used in the synthesis of antibiotics like penicillin, in the fermentation of bread, alcohol, and various foodstuffs, and they can be a good source of nutri- tion. At the same time, fungi are also responsible for diseases of various crops, for the spoilage of food, and for various infections in humans and animals. In this booklet The rainforests of the Anamalai hills in the Western Ghats provide ideal conditions for the oc- curence of a wide diversity of remarkable fungi. This booklet presents a brief introduction to the rich diversity of fungi in the Anamalai hills, which we hope will encourage naturalists to observe this fascinating group in the field. The fungi are identified only to the Genus level and are grouped according to their macroscopic features with each group having a different colour code. In this booklet, we deal only with macrofungi (large fungi with visible fruiting bodies. ) Facing page: Bioluminescence as observed in Mycena (Photograph from Kodagu, Western Ghats) 1 ANATOMY A typical macrofungus is made up of the fungal body and the fruiting body. The fungal body is present year-round in the substrate (such as soil or wood) and produces fruiting bodies when conditions are favourable for their growth. The fungal body The fruiting body This is called the thallus and is either single This fruiting body (or sporocarp) is made celled or forms thread-like structures. The up of hyphal tissue. It supports the spore- thread-like structures are called hyphae producing tissue, the hymenium. A fruiting and are present in the substrate. They come body typically has a stipe (stalk) and a pileus together to form mycelia that produce (cap). The hymenium is usually confined to fruiting bodies on the surface of the the underside of the cap. It may be in the substrate. form of lamellae (gills), pores, spines, or even enclosed in the fruiting body. Sometimes the fruiting body is directly attached to the substrate without a stem. Top: Anatomy of a fungus fruiting body Bottom: Close-up of the hymenium bearing spores 2 UNIVERSAL VEILS Veils are cobweb-like or membranous protective tissues that cover different parts of the fruiting bodies of many fungi (particularly mushrooms) early in their development. The universal veil covers the whole fruiting body. With maturity, the universal veil ruptures, leaving patches or warts on the cap and a cup-like structure at the base of the stem, called the volva. The partial veil covers the developing gills, joining the stipe to the edge of the cap. When the partial veil ruptures at maturity, it leaves an annulus (or ring) on the stem. Top left: The partial veil left on the stem as a ring; Top right and bottom: Warts left on the cap from rupture on universal veil 3 REproDUCTION Fungi reproduce both asexually and sexually. Asexual reproduction may occur by the frag- mentation of hyphae, budding of vegetative cells or by formation of various kinds of asexual spores. Some of these spores are thick-walled and enable the fungus to tide over unfavourable conditions, forming hyphae only when the environmental conditions favour the survival of the fungus. Sexual reprodution introduces the possibility of variation into the population. It takes place after the fusion of two compatible hyphae of different mating type (e.g. + and -). These form a dikaryon which eventually produces a new fruiting body. Sexual spores are produced by the fruiting body. Fruiting body releases spores from gills Spores of + and – mating type Hyphae from compatible spores fuse to form dikaryon, with fruiting body primordium Spores germinate to form hyphae Diagram depicting sexual reproduction with spore formation in basidiomycete fungi 4 DISPERSAL OF SporES The main function of the fruiting body is to disperse the spores and this is done in a variety of ways using nature's elements to their advantage. Most of the spores are spread with the help of the wind. The gills of the ink caps (Coprinus sp.) slowly dissolve projecting their spores into the air. Other fungi such as the bird's nest fungus (Cyathus sp.) use water. As the name suggests, the fruiting body of this fungus looks remarkably like a bird's nest. It is made up of a small cup inside which nestles a few egg-like peridioles. These egg-like peridioles are actually small capsules with spring-like threads attaching them to the cup. If a raindrop falls into the cup, the droplets are deflected such that the capsule is detached from the cap and projected up to two metres in the air. With the help of their threads, the capsules attach themselves to a leaf or a twig and release the spores when the conditions are right. Puffballs produce a powdery mass of spores inside a ball-shaped structure. At first the interior is solid but at maturity it is filled with the powdery spore mass. When raindrops fall on the puffball, the pressure on the surface pushes spores through the stoma (a small apical opening). Insects are also used by some fungi for dispersal of spores. The fungi produce an odour that attracts various insects, thus effectively using them to disperse their spores, in a manner similar to flowers that use insects for carrying pollen. Top right: Bracket fungi release spores that are dispersed by wind currents; Middle right: Bird's nest fungus; Bottom right: Flies, probably spore dispersers, on a fungus 5 INTERESTING FACTS Interactions with other organisms Almost all organisms on earth interact with fungi in one way or another. Some are beneficial only to the fungus, some benefit both the organisms, and some are detrimental to the fungus.