Spalting, Science, And Fungal Extracts – Retooling An Ancient Art For A Green Planet

Sara C. Robinson little to no attention. North America where artists hunters are likely familiar with and crafters are using them as part of ungi come in a vast array of at least one of these pigment-producing a greater “spalting revival.” The word colors, from pale pinks to bright fungi, Chlorociboria aeruginosa or spalting is relatively new, having only blue-greens to dark blacks. its very similar cousin Chlorociboria been in the general English language FAnd yet, when most people think of aeruginascens (both known as “elf’s since the mid 1970s, and generally fungal colors they think of the fruiting cup”). The blue-green cup fungus refers to color in wood that came from body. Some, especially those in the grows on very decayed wood and a fungus (note the emphasis on in, as field of blue stain control, may think leaves behind the stunningly beautiful color found on wood from mold fungi of fungal mycelium and the melanin pigment called xylindein. Wood colored is not considered spalting). Three types bound within the hyphae that creates of spalting are recognized: the white that blue-grey color in wood. And an rot of hardwoods that leaves the wood even smaller group may think of the with a visibly lighter appearance, the extracellular pigments made by “Fungi zone lines (often black or brown, mold fungi such as Penicillium do not always play nicely but other colors exist) that and Trichoderma, whose with each other… The beautiful colors delineate fungal boundaries pigments can penetrate or are made as a response several centimeters into and boundary shapes produced by some of to changes in climatic and various substrates. these wood-colonizing fungi are a by-product of substrate conditions, But there is an even the means by which to protect their property. One and extracellular finer class of fungal major artifact left behind by white rot fungi is a zone pigments, such as colorants – a strange, line… composed of pigments, primarily melanin… What those discussed above. eclectic collection of ascomycetes that is well proven is that many white rot fungi will erect zone release extracellular lines if they detect the presence of another fungus of pigments deeply into comparable strength.”-Sara C. Robinson, 2014, in “The wood, resulting in a Fine Art of Decay,” American Scientist 102[3]: 206-213. completely penetrating What to learn more about spalting of wood? Check stain of their substrate. In temperate forests these out this article, you can find it at the link: fungi are sporadic at best, http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/ having a low presence on feature/the-fine-art-of-decay/1 both and hardwoods. In the tropics they occur with a higher frequency, yet are still uncommon enough to have attracted

by Chlorociboria has been used for Sara C. Robinson is an Assistant centuries in Europe to add natural color Professor in the anatomy of renewable to wood marquetry and . Brown materials at Oregon State University oak, oak colored a rich brown through in the Department of Wood Science the colonization and pigmentation of and Engineering. She is also an artist Fistulina hepatica (“beefsteak fungus”) and displays her work in juried shows has also been popular for several throughout the world. You can peruse hundred years for furniture making, her work at www.northernspalting.com. especially in England. Address: 119 Richardson Hall, Oregon Both the blue-green wood of State University, Corvallis, OR 97331 Chlorociboria species and the brown Email: [email protected] wood from Fistulina hepatica are still in use today, primarily in Europe and Brown and black zone lines in the Amazon. 20 FUNGI Volume 8:2 Summer 2015 Top Left: pink stain and black zone lines in the Amazon. Middle Left: brown and black zone lines in the Amazon. Bottom Left: wood blocks being tested with extracted fungal pigments. Top Right: purple and green stain on wood in the Amazon. Bottom Right: green stain and green zone lines in the Amazon. FUNGI Volume 8:2 Summer 2015 21 In the United States, zone lines have spalted wood? Can you make it? How been the dominant form of spalting fast can you make it? Is there a way found on objects, to avoid the softness that comes from especially turnings. The prevalence wood decay? is due to the pioneering work of the A quick Google search will turn Lindquists, father and son Mel and up any number of strange recipes Mark, who popularized the zone line for encouraging spalting in wood, in their wood turnings in the 1970s and several US companies have even through 1990s. In Europe, brown oak patented methods for inoculating remains popular, and the green stained veneer with fungal spores in the hopes wood of Chlorociboria species can be of producing zone lines. But all of these found still on English Tunbridgeware methods rely on direct wood inoculation and in jewelry from European artisans. and hope – hope that the fungi will It is noteworthy that interest in spalted colonize, hope that the substrate is wood is growing – not just in countries sterile enough to not kill them, and, in Five-point inoculation of Scytalidium where it was once popular, but also the case of zone lines, hope that the cuboideum on 2% malt agar. in places where it never truly had a fungi will interact enough to make the foothold. South America is currently a desired melanin boundary. Add to all hotbed of spalting development, with of that inoculation takes time to get a Chile and Peru beginning initiatives to decent result. Depending upon fungal find and characterize their own unique and wood species, the incubation time spalting fungi and market native can be a few weeks to a few years – a with the natural coloration. time scale that makes commercial With this growing worldwide interest scale (or even home scale) spalting an in spalting, artists and scientists find unattractive option in comparison to just themselves butting up against the same using an aniline dye. problems that the old intarsia masters As an artist who works in the sciences faced – how do you get access to enough (wood science, to be specific), I have long

Five-point inoculation of Chlorociboria sp. on 2% malt agar.

Five-point inoculation of Scytalidium Chlorociboria fruiting bodies. ganodermophthorum on 2% malt agar. Solubilized pigment from Scytalidium Solubilized pigment from Solubilized pigment from Scytalidium ganodermophthorum in DCM. Chlorociboria sp. in DCM. cuboideum in DCM.

Multifiber test strip dyed with pigments from Scytalidium cuboideum.

Wallpaper (made from 100% recycled paper), dyed with the fungal pigments used spalted wood in my wood turnings. low-toxicity solvent like acetone, the Unlike many woodturners, however, I pigments from spalting fungi are meant have a research lab at my disposal and a to be “sticky,” in that they have to persist number of undergraduate and graduate in their environment through all sorts of students eager to experiment with fungi. conditions. These fungi are also specific Over the past several years my lab has to woody substrates – meaning that worked on developing the pigment side simply growing them on malt agar in the of spalting so that it can compete on a lab isn’t going to yield a lot of pigment. global market with aniline dyes. We got around the growth issue The process hasn’t been as easy as we by simply including ground up bits had hoped. Unlike pigments produced of already spalted wood (sterilized, from mold fungi or lichens that can be of course) into the malt extract agar. extracted easily with water or a relatively With this new growth medium even Multifiber test strip dyed with xylindein. FUNGI Volume 8:2 Summer 2015 23 Boxelder bowl with a pigment wash from Scytalidium cuboideum to help maintain the native pink color. Chlorociboria, a very slow growing The fungi were grown on the amended fungus, would create a large volume wood malt agar plates, then extracted of pigment in a short time frame (two and filtered to yield a brightly colored weeks – which is pretty fast for a extract that could be reapplied to pigment-type spalting fungus). After wood directly and yielded the same max growth the plates were dried to color as if the fungus itself were get rid of the water, then the pigment colonizing the wood. was extracted using dichloromethane Having the pigments in a solution (DCM). Extractions were also done separate from the fungus opened new directly from found spalted wood – a doors to our research. Suddenly spalting nice time saving step if big enough pieces wasn’t completely about wood anymore. could be found. Because of the “sticky” nature of the Our early work focused mostly on pigments, applications like textile dyeing the two North American Chlorociboria (no mordants needed!), paint, glass dyes, bowl with white rot and zone species, as well as Scytalidium wallpaper colorants – a huge range of lines, and light pink staining through cuboideum (red/pink) and Scytalidium dye opportunities presented themselves. a wash of extracted pigments from ganodermophthorum (yellow/purple). With the increase in application came Scytalidium cuboideum. 24 FUNGI Volume 8:2 Summer 2015 Knobcone pine with pigments from Chlorociboria sp. (blue-green), Scytalidium cuboideum (red), and Scytalidium ganodermophthorum (yellow).

Bigleaf maple bowl with white rot, zone lines, xylindein (blue-green pigment) from Chlorociboria sp. and yellow pigments from Scytalidium ganodermophthorum.

Magnolia bowl with a light wash of the yellow pigments from Scytalidium ganodermophthorum, done to help soften the silver sheen of the wood. FUNGI Volume 8:2 Summer 2015 25 Classes with spalting components: Are You Wearing Mold? (UEngage course – ALS 199; whole class is about spalting) Are You Wearing Mold?- Love ‘em or hate ‘em, fungi come in a dazzling array of colors that add splashes of red, green and every color in between to a variety of everyday products. From stunning spalted wood floors to vibrant wools, fungi-based dyes help bridge the gap between nature and design. In this class we’ll explore the long history of humans hunting, extracting, and using these pigments for dyes and also learn about recent developments that are producing the stickiest, brightest and most useful dyes yet. We’ll also get our DIY fix on by participating in the process. Plan to Participants in the 2014 “fungus of the year” contest, where voting is done collect your own native fungi, extract through hair coloring. pigments, and dye your choice of materials. Equal parts science, art, design an increased need for the pigments and market is anybody’s guess. Their wide and hands-on activities, you’ll never look once again, a better way to produce them. potential applications and eco-friendly at mold the same way again. We needed large amounts of pigments appeal should make them very attractive Renewable Materials in the Modern quickly, and so again began to experiment to industry trying to cash in on the green Age (WSE 415 / DHE 415 / ART 415; with culture growing conditions. Large market. But before anything can happen, unit on spalting) volumes of fungus and pigment were people have to get excited – a certain finally produced through shake culture – buzz has to be generated. An interdisciplinary anatomy class for opening up more applications as the shake Would you wear a red t-shirt dyed all backgrounds (art, science, engineering, culture pigments were carried in water (as by a fungus? Would you paint with the whatever) that teaches anatomy through long as the culture was kept moving – the xylindein of Chlorociboria? Would you hands-on building and experiences. Get pigment would begin to bind the moment wallpaper your kid’s room with spalted up close and personal with fungi, design the movement stopped) and could be paper stock? new wood joints, break some really loud applied to applications that would have How ready do you think the world is textiles, all while working on your mixed been melted by the DCM carrier. for a new type of green movement, where group final project that combines the This new growth and use model, with the “green” is actually green (or maybe background of every student involved or without DCM, made extractable more of a Chlorociboria blue-green)? to address a current issue in renewable spalting pigments a potentially materials today. commercially viable operation. Other Tropical Woods and the Fungi That countries, especially Peru, began to look Spalting Love Them (Study Abroad – spalting into what fungal resources they had that in Peru!) could fit within this model. My lab was A short, two week, six credit course on invited to field stations in the Amazon Education wood anatomy and fungal pigmentation to hunt for potential spalting fungi, and he menagerie of potential specific to Peru. Learn the basics of we began collaborations with Chile and applications for spalting pigments tropical wood identification in Lima Peru to help develop this otherwise continues to grow and with it, before heading to the Amazon rainforest, completely overlooked resource. Tinterest from students grows as well. where you will be armed with machetes Today, at this very moment, spalting In response, the Department of Wood and sent out to look for elusive spalting fungi are straddling several fields. In Science & Engineering at Oregon State fungi. Bring back your daily collections my lab, new uses are experimented University runs several courses where for culturing, microscopy, identification, with and refined every day. In South spalting is either the primary focus or a and sequencing. Contribute directly America new colors are being discovered component of the class. A new option to spalting research by helping us find (orange zone lines!). Information and in the Renewable Materials minor has new fungal species, and help advance anticipation continue to build across even been formed for those interest in Peru’s emergence into the spalting Europe and North America. Where the the design end of wood science, and world. A special note – this class runs first big “break” for these pigments will gives students the potential for engaging a simultaneous art component with a happen is unknown – whether it will be in spalting research and design for their science component. Students may select in the wood, textile, or general colorants entire undergraduate experience! daily assignments from either side. Those 26 FUNGI Volume 8:2 Summer 2015 interested in mycology, wood science, field photography, field illustration, or The Mushroom – Wendy Videlock who just like fungi are welcome. Or hey, why not just pick a major where you can spalt ALL THE TIME! The mushroom is Renewable Materials major with an Art & Design option a reaper, This option prepares students to a healer engage with renewable materials (hey, fungi are renewable materials, too!) on and a sage; an aesthetic level, whether as interior designers, fine artists, or entrepreneurs. as such, In this option of the RM major, students gain not only an in-depth it labors knowledge of renewable materials, but also how these materials can function ever close to earth, visually within the human space. In addition to the aesthetic aspect, flourishes students will gain an understanding of green building materials and green in poverty, architecture. Students in the A&D option automatically earn a minor and rarely is taken in Fine Arts through the required coursework, and have opportunities to seriously. study abroad within their field during the yearly fungi hunting expedition to the Peruvian Amazon. Wendy Videlock is a finalist for the 2014 Colorado Poet Laureate.

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