V 46:4 J ⁄ A 2005 .. Psst . . . Let’s talk smut today by Else C. Vellinga
Smut—1. A fungus disease affecting various plants, esp. cereals, which are spoiled by the grain being wholly or partly converted into a blackish pow- der; also, one or other of the fungi (species of Ustilagineæ) causing the disease. 2. A black mark or stain; a smudge. 3. Bad, soft, earthy coal. 4. Soot or sooty matter. 5. Indecent or obscene language. (Oxford English Dictio- nary, online version) Let’s talk infectious diseases: let’s talk huitlacoche, and blisters of black spores, and sex—sure, sex Nancy Mladenoff: Portrait of a is involved as well. Ah yes, huitlachoche is a smut, Mushroom Artist by some considered a pest, by many others a delicacy; it is also a by Britt Bunyard around her studio reveals that perfect lab “animal,” and its com- mushrooms are a near-obsession for plete genome has been sequenced. You may have first encountered the her: photographs of painted mush- Common Smut, Corn or Boil art of Nancy Mladenoff at the 2005 rooms, photographs of cultivated Smut, huitlacoche and cuitlacoche, NAMA Annual Foray. Nancy was a mushrooms, painted canvases with Continued on page 10 Photo Contest winner for digital abstract images of mushrooms (and entries of artwork. insects), as well as painted uphol- Actually, her art isn’t photogra- stery fabrics. In this issue: phy, but painting, and her canvas Mushrooms have long been a President’s Message ...... 2 is . . . well, the mushroom itself. In subject of art. Throughout history Forays and Announcements ...... 3 case you’re uninitiated, Nancy they have been depicted with bright Mladenoff paints on mushrooms. Of and unnatural colors or shapes, by Letter to the Editor: Poisoning ...... 4 course, she paints on canvas, too— numerous cultures. Of course, most Fungi in the News ...... 5 beautifully, I must add. But her often this has been to reflect the Are You a Mycoholic? ...... 9 painted mushrooms are definitely psychoactive properties utilized by NAMA Foray Registration ...... 13 most striking. various societies, including our Wildacres Registration Form ...... 16 I recently caught up with the own. When I first saw one of artist at her place of work. Nancy Nancy’s painted mushrooms—it was Mushrooming Anxiety ...... 17 Mladenoff is an art professor at the the one with the sort of tie-dyed Book Reviews ...... 18 University of Wisconsin–Madison. cap—I had a hard time figuring out False Witches Cap ...... 19 Besides her obvious passion and what was going on in the image. Mushroom of the Month ...... 20 talent for art, she has a number of other interests. A quick glance Continued on page 11
1T M, July/August 2005 Moving? P R E S I D E N T ’S M E S S A G E Please send your new address, two weeks before you move, to Ann Bornstein NAMA Membership Secretary Well, the morels came. From what I’ve been reading, there was an 336 Lenox Avenue abundance of morels showing up in most areas of the U.S. Finally a spring Oakland, CA 94610-4675 with moisture—and well-timed moisture. Lots of other things are showing
T M, July/August 2005 2 FORAYS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Eagle Hill Field Seminars Mycological Society of Alaska’s Wild Mushrooms Steuben, Maine America/Mycological Society Aug. 26–28 July 10–16, July 17–23, of Japan Joint Meeting This foray will be held at “Across- Aug. 28–Sept. 3 University of Hawaii–Hilo the-Bay Tent and Breakfast,” across For details see the May/June ’05 issue July 30–Aug. 5 Kachemak Bay from Homer and on Kasitsna Bay. Price of foray in- of T M or their Web site For details see the May/June ’05 cludes rustic, cozy accommodations, at www.eaglehill.us or email them at issue of T M or contact delicious meals, a wood-fired
3T M, July/August 2005 Letter to the Editor: Poisoning Forays and Announcements, continued from page 3
The item on page 4 in the March/April 2005 issue of Priest Lake (ID) Foray T M, about the Amanita phalloides fatality Sept. 23–25 in the San Francisco Bay Area, caught my eye. I’m curious about where the figure of “900 cases of mush- The Spokane Mushroom Club’s annual Priest Lake room poisoning reported in California last year” came Foray will take place at Hill’s Resort in beautiful Priest from. I can’t be sure of the source, but I suspect it is Lake, Idaho. The Spokane Mushroom Club recently from the American Association of Poison Control celebrated its 40th birthday and would like to invite all Centers’ TESS 2003 or 2004 report. If so, I’d like to who are interested to help celebrate. For details contact point out that those figures refer to “mushroom Doris Distad at
—Marilyn Shaw It’s not too early to start planning—and saving money— Mycology Consultant to Rocky Mountain Poison for IMC8! Details are forthcoming; in the mean-time, and Drug Center check the Web site for periodic updates: www.sapmea Member, NAMA Toxicology Committee .asn.au/imc8. Chair, CO Mycological Society Toxicology Committee
PS: To Bill Freedman and Mike Wood: I trust you would agree with my suspicion that this “900 poisonings in California” figure does not represent actual poisonings, but rather “exposures.” —Marilyn
T M, July/August 2005 4 F U N G I I N T H E N E W S
“WHY PICKING WILD MUSH- But ants cannot live on sugar Dr. Butterfield’s description of ROOMS MAY BE BAD BEHAVIOR,” alone. They make up for a lack of the fossils, which were found on screams the title of an essay by Nik nitrogen in their diet by acting in Victoria Island in Canada, is in the Money (author of “Mr. Bloomfield’s groups to capture protein-rich flying latest issue of Paleobiology (31[1]: Orchard” and “Carpet Monsters”) in and jumping prey—prey that would 165–82). There are lots of photos of the journal Mycological Research likely be herbivorous toward the tree. these bizarre creatures; but they (109: 131–35). Well, maybe it didn’t The ants, Allomerus decemarti- don’t look like any modern mush- scream, but it sure got my attention. culatus, seem specifically associated rooms you or I would recognize. Not So, fellow mycophages, does with the Amazonian “ant-plant” H. even close. collecting wild mushrooms harm the physophora, and take a novel ap- A large team of scientists led by very population of mushrooms that proach to catching prey. Using fibers Magnus C. Lydolph and Jonas we covet? This is the age-old ques- plucked from the stem of the host Jacobsen describe the diversity of tion. Dr. Money may ruffle a few plant and bound together by pur- fungi from 300,000 to 400,000 years feathers, but he makes some very posely grown fungal mycelia (from a ago in Siberia. Did they bring some interesting points. Consider your sooty mold), they build a spongy primitive organisms back to life by feelings on the once widely accepted platform for trapping much larger some new technology? And are practice of egg collecting by oolo- insects, then lie in wait. dinosaurs next? Nope—they actually gists. Or wild orchid collecting (or The authors note that prey isolated DNA locked in ancient any other wildflower collecting, for ranges from mosquitoes to grasshop- permafrost and sequenced the that matter). Or whaling. pers. And, yes, they actually placed hundreds of samples they found. In I welcome all your thoughts, but insects on the platforms to see how addition to a number of plant and please read Nik’s article first, if you the system works. When prey moves invertebrate sequences detected, can. Now, here’s the latest from the onto the platform, the ants spring numerous fungi turned up. Their printed mycological world.—Britt into action. The ants beneath the findings, published in a recent issue ◆ platform reach through the holes of the journal Applied and Environ- and immobilize the prey before mental Microbiology (71[2]: 1012–17), dividing the spoils among nest- indicate that there was a severe From a Mycologist Who Breaks mates. Although it’s too bad for the plant shift in plant composition in the Mold . . . larger prey insect, the ants do quite northeastern Siberia during this time In a very timely article, the well. And as the host benefits from period, judging from the different latest issue of Wisconsin Trails the ants’ predation (and probably sorts of tree-associated macrofungi magazine features a brief article on from fecal and carcass waste), it they detected. Other fungi found in Tom Volk (this year’s host for the suits the ant-plant just fine. The their study include a large diversity NAMA Foray). Tom extols the authors report this to be the first of cold-adapted yeasts, plant para- virtues of a number of fungi and account of a collective creation of a sites, and lichen symbionts. In other their benefits to mankind. He also trap as a predatory strategy in ants. words, the fungal community then gives tips on where to look for looked much as it does today! morels! . . . to Very Old Mold In the February 2005 Special A flurry of articles has been Edition issue of Scientific American . . . to Ants That Trap with Mold . . . published recently, involving ancient (15:1) is an article entitled “The Here’s one you’ll find hard to fungi. Nicholas J. Butterfield, of the Iceman Reconsidered.” You may believe. A recent study published in University of Cambridge, has found recall that in 1991 the body of a the research journal Nature by Allain fossils of what many believe to be 5,000-plus-year-old Neolithic man Dejean and colleagues of the the oldest fossilized fungi ever was discovered in a melting glacier. Université de Toulouse in France discovered. He believes that, al- In the decade since his discovery a describes how some tropical arboreal though not belonging to any living great deal has been determined ants are attracted to and take up group of fungi, the fossils—1.4 about how Ötzi (named for the Ötzal residence in pouches formed in the billion years old—are of a very Alps where he was found) lived and stems of leaves of a tree known as primitive genus called Tappania, died. Hirtella physophora. Furthermore, which was a benthic aquatic group. Naturally, I wouldn’t be men- the tree keeps the ants happy by The jury’s still out, but many tioning him in these pages if fungi providing them with nectar snacks scientists agree with the findings weren’t involved! A number of fungi that are grown separately from the and think these represent the oldest flowers. known group of fungi. Continued on page 6
5T M, July/August 2005 Fungi in the News, known sexual state have historically The Wrap-up from Across the continued from page 5 been placed in their own group: Pond . . . Fungi Imperfecti or Deuteromycetes. Pleurotus eryngii is a choice were found on and inside the body of Most confusing of all is when you edible mushroom that is gaining in this primitive fellow. Of course, come to the realization that an popularity as a commercially pro- some were most likely molds acting “imperfect” fungus with one name is duced species. This “species” actu- to decay the corpse. I seem to recall synonymous with another, previ- ally exists in nature as a species- Meredith Blackwell’s lab at LSU ously named, teleomorphic species. complex, defined by different hosts determining (using DNA sequenc- Of course, the system of naming and environmental factors (e.g. ing) that much of this was Botrytis asexual fungi has always been nec- altitude). In a recent issue of the cinerea, a common mold found in essary. However, nowadays there British journal Mycological Research many of our refrigerators. Most really is little need to keep anamorph- (109: 71–80) De Gioia et al. set out to noteworthy, though, were pieces of specific names, as the teleomorphic explore the genetics of this species bracket fungi: the tinder fungus, species (or genus, anyway) can be to locate varieties with better com- Fomes fomentarius (also known by determined through DNA sequence mercial traits, including yield. Along other names), no doubt carried to analysis. the way they found a mushroom light fires; and Piptoporus betulinus, species with a high degree of a species long used as a styptic and Scientists Confirm Gut Feeling genetic diversity, and in the article as an antimicrobial to help heal about Yeasts they discuss possible reasons. wounds. It has been noted that this Yeasts are some of the best- You probably knew that Cordy- mushroom was also used as a known and most ubiquitous fungi. ceps species are parasites of insects vermifuge; and Ötzi did, indeed, About 1,000 species are known. and other arthropods. But did you have a bad case of whipworms, as Resulting from a study by Sung-Oui know that some species parasitize determined during the autopsy. For Suh and Meredith Blackwell of LSU, other species of fungi? You also may some terrific photos, I’d recommend that number has just gone up by not have known that the taxonomy going to the library and pulling out 200. The researchers are interested of the genus is a mess. Stensrud et the February 2003 issue of the in the fungal flora of the guts of al. (Mycol. Res. 109: 41–56) are Smithsonian. insects and other arthropods, and aiming to change that with their how these fungi benefit their host study. Shrinking Coprinus? organisms. It seems that cellulose- Another article (this one is a Walter Gams reports on page 18 fermenting yeasts may play a crucial review article) from the same issue of the latest issue of Inoculum (56[3]) role in the insects (including beetles) of Mycological Research that may be that the genus Coprinus is being that consume plant material. The of interest to you is titled, “Basidi- reduced by numerous species. This discovery of so many new species omycete mycelia in forest soils: is based on a number of studies that came while surveying a number of dimensions, dynamics and roles in have been published over the past beetles from the southeastern US nutrient distribution” (109: 7–20) by few years. Numerous species were and Panama. It was published in the John W. G. Cairney of Australia. found to be polyphyletic and several journal Mycological Research (109: A team of researchers, including belonged to two different families. A 261–65). NAMA’s own Jim Trappe, have summary of this nomenclatural shift The authors are confident of named two new genera of desert is forthcoming in the May issue of finding hundreds more new species. truffle from Africa (Ferdman et al. the journal Taxon. In fact, the currently known species Mycol. Res. 109: 237–45). of yeasts may end up being only Volume 19, Part 1 of Mycologist Proposal for a Single Scientific about 1% of all the species out has an interesting discussion of the Name for All Species of Fungi there! Incidentally, the “beetle belly” use of host specific “mycoherbicides” Also in the latest Inoculum yeasts (I’m not making this up, (presumably, concoctions of the (56[3]: 3–6), Amy Rossman and Gary that’s what Dr. Blackwell calls spores of fungal plant pathogens) to Samuels propose that a single them!) comprise species from genera eradicate source plants for illicit species name be used for all fungi. familiar to many of us, including the drugs, including opium poppy and This is a vexing issue to neophytes ascomycete Candida spp., but also coca. and mycology students alike: the include some basidiomycete repre- practice of naming fungi based on sentatives, as well, including From the Pages of Fungal Genetics sexual characters—and what to do Trichosporon spp. and Biology . . . about those fungi for which no For more on insect yeasts and To better understand the genetic sexual state is known. I’m talking other insect-fungus interactions, see mechanisms underpinning the about the teleomorph and anamorph the Book Reviews on page 18. process of mushroom development, states, respectively. Those fungi (and a team of researchers at Tsukuba there are lots of them) that have no Science City in Japan, led by
T M, July/August 2005 6 Yasumasa Miyazaki, developed a a role in the extinction of poikilo- Speaking of Mushroom Drugs, technique to isolate developmental thermic (“cold-blooded”) dinosaurs What’s New with Psilocybin, Dude? regulation genes in the Shiitake and led to the flourishing of endo- Back in the early sixties Harvard mushroom, or Lentinula edodes. In therms (“warm-blooded”), such as psychologist Timothy Leary snuck their paper (42[6]: 493–505), the birds and mammals? That is the lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) (out researchers describe how they question posed by Arturo Casadevall of campus laboratories and into the isolated more than 100 genes from of the Albert Einstein College of mainstream. Soon, tie-dyed hell two stages of the fungus, the Medicine in New York (42[2]: 98– broke loose in popular culture, and “vegetatively growing” hyphae and 106). Dr. Casadevall notes that psychedelic drugs were quickly the developing fruitbodies. By evidence of deforestation and a banned. By the decade’s end, they comparing the sequences of those proliferation of fungal spores can be had all but vanished from the genes to sequences previously found found in the cretaceous-tertiary psychological research scene. in two other basidiomycete fungi boundary soil layers (the same A report in the journal Psychol- (Phanerochaete sp. and Coprinopsis layers where the dinosaur fossils ogy Today [March/April 2005] states sp.), they were able to locate a stop) and that this suggests a link. that now, for the first time in some number of genes unique to Shiitake, Of terrestrial animals, the birds and 30 years, human studies of such and of those they selected the ones mammals (all endotherms) have few contraband substances are on the only functioning during mushroom fungal pathogens, while ectotherms upswing. Many researchers say it formation. Of course it doesn’t mean like insects are plagued by numer- should have happened sooner. “The that any of these genes are respon- ous species of lethal of fungi (for banning of psychedelics has been an sible for mushroom development, example, Cordyceps sp. and Ento- absolute disaster for consciousness but at the very least these scientists mophthora sp.). and medical research,” says Rick are on the right track! “Why did the Fleming strain fail Doblin, head of the Multidisciplinary Many of us are familiar with the in penicillin industry?” is the title of Association for Psychedelic Studies, human pathogenic yeast fungus a paper (42[5]: 464–70) by Marta a nonprofit pharmaceutical company Candida albicans. This fungus is a Rodríguesz-Sáiz and others at funding much of this new work. ubiquitous member of the human Antibióticos, a pharmaceutical Many researchers say hallucino- flora; it’s thought that we all have company in León, Spain. Penicillin, gens were kept out of research labs this species, plus hundreds of discovered 77 years ago by Alexan- because of fear generated by drugs bacterial species, living in relative der Fleming, is a naturally produced like methamphetamines and heroin harmony on and in our bodies. compound excreted by the mold and the “war on drugs.” In fact, Many species of microbes are Penicillium notatum. While Fleming there’s little evidence that psyche- known to suppress the growth of eventually shared a Nobel prize for delics are either addictive or more others, thus preventing disease. But his discovery, the above fungus dangerous than, say, alcohol or if something upsets that balance proved to be of little use in making marijuana, researchers report. (including high doses of antibiotics this miracle antibiotic. It was the Doblin argues that in the interven- which can kill off much of our scientists Chain and Florey who ing decades, advances in everything beneficial bacterial flora), this later found in 1943 that another from disease treatment to conscious- fungus can cause a severe invasive species, P. chrysogenum, makes the ness studies to basic psychological disease known as candidiasis, or a same compound—and 1,000 times research have suffered. “These new “yeast infection.” Well, it seems that the amount of the original species. studies are just the first steps on a humanity has suffered with this Turns out that a single genetic long road to recovery,” he says. pathogen for a long time. A very long mutation is responsible for the The turnaround started in the time. Timothy Lott and colleagues superlative production. Penicillin early 1990s, when the Food and (42[5]: 444–51) have determined production begins with the produc- Drug Administration ran out of that, based on DNA sequence tion of a precursor acid that can be reasons, political and otherwise, to information, this species has been converted to either penicillin or quash contraband drug research, around for somewhere between another compound, 2-hydroxy-PA. Doblin says. Scientists hope halluci- three and 16 million years. This The researchers found that the latter nogens can make inroads with suggests that this organism has been species has a gene defect that tough-to-treat conditions, says around since the beginnings of early prevents it from producing much of Charles Grob, chief of adolescent hominid evolution. the 2-hydroxy-PA. The result is that and teen psychiatry at the University Of course there are fungal it gets stuck in its penicillin-making of California at Los Angeles. Grob is pathogens of animals that have been mode. Lucky for Fleming—and all of picking up where another re- around even longer than Candida humanity—as the number of deaths searcher, Eric Kast, left off in the albicans. The dinosaurs no doubt and suffering this drug has staved 1960s. Kast had promising results were afflicted with fungal diseases. off is nearly enumerable. using LSDto relieve anxiety in But could pathogenic fungi have had Continued on page 8
7T M, July/August 2005 Fungi in the News, Black Mold . . . or Black Gold? . . . In the May 11, 2005, issue of Forbes continued from page 7 or Much Ado about Nothing? magazine Daniel Fisher wrote an What ever happened to the article titled “Dr. Mold” that de- terminally ill cancer patients. Of fungus Stachybotrys chartarum? You scribes how a number of scientists course, LSD, or similar naturally may recall seeing this fungal name have played significant roles in occurring chemicals are derived in the news frequently over the past some major insurance claims cases; from the Ascomycete fungus several years. It seems that wher- three billion dollars in insurance Claviceps purpurea which is also ever people looked around their claims were paid out in 2002 alone. known as “ergot.” To follow up on homes, they were finding this black The author exposes the credentials those results, Grob is currently mold growing just about anywhere of many of these characters as investigating psilocybin—the magic that was damp and dark. Back in the exaggerated, at best, and outright in “magic mushrooms”—as a treat- mid 1990s in Cleveland, Ohio, this fraudulent at worst. And just how ment for anxiety in late-stage cancer fungus was believed linked to nine rich are these “experts” getting? One patients. infants’ deaths from mysterious former physician charges $9,800 up Researchers hope this is only the brain hemorrhages. The infants front, plus $975 per hour. beginning of a hallucinogenic data became sick not long after their As stated above, it’s well known mine. Grob also points out, “People homes were damaged by flooding. that fungi can cause health prob- forget, but psychedelics were the In all cases, a black mold identified lems, including allergies and cutting edge of science in this coun- as S. chartarum was found. asthma. There’s no question that try for 50 years.” In fact, in the 1940s So begins the infamous history ingested mycotoxins (typically in and ’50s, so much money flowed in of this otherwise unremarkable contaminated foods) can have this direction that quite a few top mold. Since that time, numerous devastating effects on humans, researchers got their start in this disorders have been blamed on this livestock, and pets. But what about field. Many feel modern psychiatry mold. It almost has become common inhaled mycotoxins? This has been owes its origins to the study of knowledge that this fungus (or some one of the claims some have made hallucinogens. After all, it was the sort of fungal compound, such as a regarding the S. chartarum story. discovery of the neurotransmitter mycotoxin) can cause health prob- This seems pretty unlikely as well, serotonin—thanks to LSD—that lems including cancers, respiratory according to a feature review article jump-started the brain chemistry problems, immune system disorders, published recently by Bruce J. revolution. and memory loss. Or can it? Kelman and colleagues in the Flashback in the lab: Six psyche- Well, it is certainly well estab- International Journal of Toxicology delic drug studies are underway, all lished that mycotoxins can cause all (23:3–10). In an extensive study the aimed at some of medicine’s more sorts of ill effects, including cancer authors calculated the maximum intractable problems. The Medical and death. But Stachybotrys? A possible dose of mycotoxins coming University of South Carolina has a number of researchers are begin- from inhaled spores from a number study, directed by Michael Mithoe- ning to stand up and say firmly, mycotoxigenic fungi including S. fer, on “DMA (ecstasy) in conjunc- “No.” Two California doctors, Mohan chartarum, Aspergillus flavus (the tion with cognitive behavior therapy Nair and Ashok Jain, wrote an source of aflatoxin), and Aspergillus for the treatment of post-traumatic article in the journal New Scientist fumigatus. They concluded that the stress disorder triggered by sexual (185[2490]: 17–21) entitled, “Worst maximum possible dose an indi- abuse.” A University of Arizona effects of toxic mould ‘are all in the vidual could inhale in a 24-hour study, under the head of Francisco mind.’” The gist of the article is that period would be nowhere near great Moreno, is looking into “Obsessive- these doctors (one, a psychiatrist, enough to pose any sort of a health compulsive disorder treatment with and the other, a toxicologist) have risk. Additionally, the authors review psilocybin.” As mentioned above, a found that the majority of people a number of other recent studies study at UCLA, led by Charles Grob, report ailments that are impossible showing no link between indoor is examining “Late-stage cancer- to confirm, and that between 70 and molds and nonallergic health related anxiety treated with psilocy- 80 percent of lawsuits involving effects. bin and therapy.” Harvard Univer- indoor molds have no medical basis. For more information on prob- sity, the research home of Timothy And lately there has been a great lems with indoor molds, I recom- Leary, has two ongoing studies. The deal of mounting evidence casting mend “Black Mold: Your Health and first, led by John Halpern, is looking doubt on S. chartarum as a cause of Your Home” by Richard F. Progovitz. into “Late-stage cancer-related any health effects. This book, published in 2003 (ISBN anxiety treated with MDMA and But that doesn’t seem to bother a 0-974394-39-4), is small and concise, therapy.” A second study, directed by number of scientists who are and written in easy-to-read English. Andrew Sewell, is examining making their careers pay in a big There are good descriptions of “Treatment of cluster headaches way by serving as “expert witnesses” with LSD and psilocybin.” in lawsuits involving indoor molds. Continued on page 9
T M, July/August 2005 8 Are You a Mycoholic? Take This Test to Find Out Most of our members are “social shroomers.” They ❑ Do you pray for rain? come to several forays each year to pick edibles and ❑ Does your heart beat faster when you see a stump? increase their knowledge, but mainly just to get out ❑ Do you salivate upon hearing “morel”? into the woods on summer and fall days and socialize. ❑ But there are some among us to whom mushrooms Do you abandon guests, family, or business, just to are no longer just a casual interest or an enjoyable go on a foray? warm-weather hobby, but rather a compulsion, an ❑ Do you get evasive and try to change the subject obsession. Such people will be out picking on swelter- when someone mentions your favorite spot for Boletus ing August days and in freezing December weather. edulis or Morchella esculenta? During peak season, they will be shrooming not just on ❑ Is your temporal framework modified? scheduled forays, but two, three, or more times a ❑ Do you no longer think of the seasons as spring and week. These people are mycoholics! fall but as “morel” and “honey”? Mycoholism is a serious problem that is spreading ❑ its mycelia throughout our society. It isn’t a problem Do you find yourself used to eating or even expect- confined to the poor and underprivileged or to recent ing to eat such items as dirt, non-amyloid spores, and immigrants from Eastern Europe. Mycoholics come dipteran larvae? from all walks of life: lawyers, production managers, ❑ Do you get irritated at little things that keep you doctors, antique dealers, garden-clubbers, physiologists, from foraying? Things like work, home life, police chemists, students, farmers, housewives—anyone can speed traps, and No Trespassing signs? become a mycoholic. ❑ When you see a beginner with a choice edible, do There are a few clues that differentiate a mycoholic you say, “Gee, that’s an interesting one. Do you mind if from a casual collector. For example, in their cars they I take it home to study?” have a six-month supply of waxed paper begs in the ❑ Is your idea or eroticism a Phallus ravenelii back seat and dried up Tricholomas in the ash tray. They (Stinkhorn)? wear little or no jewelry except a hand lens around the neck. While these traits do not automatically condemn Here’s an interpretation of your scores: someone as a mycoholic, they are among the warning signs to watch for. 0–4 You may be normal. Pray! Are you a mycoholic? Not sure? Then you’d better 5–8 You may be a mycoholic but you need to have a review some of the following warning signs. (Score 1 spore print taken to be sure. point for each “yes” answer.) 9–14 You are a confirmed mycoholic. Seek help. 15+ You are probably beyond help. Fungi in the News, continued from page 8 Just what are the dangers of mycoholism? Besides the obvious deleterious effects on the social, home and symptoms attributed to Stachybotrys along with other business life, this disease has very real consequences mycotoxigenic fungi. There are even tales of famous as well. Mycologists, in addition to their tendency to people afflicted with moldy homes, including Ed have a sore head from walking into things because they McMahon, of “Late Night” fame, and Erin Brockovitch, always look down instead of head-up, frequently suffer environmental activist turned mold activist. It seems from a number of physical infirmities that are a direct that the million dollars she won from Pacific Gas & result of their habit of stooping, bending, kneeling, Electric for groundwater contamination was spent on a tugging, lugging, and picking. These include Entoloma mansion—which turned out to be moldy. She spent the elbow, Dentinum disk, Naematoloma neck, Trich knee, rest of her fortune and more on remediation! and with some a Gymnopilus glaze in the eyes. There are some mycoholics whose all-too-frequent Update on the “almond mushroom,” Agaricus blazei Bolete binges have reduced them to physical You may recall the “new” cultivated mushroom that wrecks. These people keep coming to forays, often burst onto the scene a few years ago. Known as the dragging pillows on which they can ease their aching “almond mushroom,” “almond scented mushroom,” and frames after a frantic fungal frolic. “almond Agaricus,” this mushroom has been heavily So, what can be done for a mycoholic? For a start, touted by Paul Stamets (among others) as the replace- you should rid your home of all fungi and mycological ment for most varieties of commercial mushrooms. paraphernalia. Begin by sending all your dried morels Besides its reported delectability (with a scent of and Boletes to me. After that, you’re on you own. almonds), this mushroom has generated a great deal of interest in its purported medicinal properties. Recently —Scott Stoleson Continued on page 12 Reprinted with permission from The Kansas Mycolog
9T M, July/August 2005 prone to smut infections, and the same is true for ferns. Further- more, the huge family of orchids is completely free of smut. However, where smut is at home is among sedges and grasses (corn, barley, wheat, and a whole array of non- cereals). We see it next to side- walks in Berkeley, California, looking like dark powdery flower stalks in the Bermuda grass (see the photo on the left). There is the usual variation in host specificity: the corn smut occurs only on corn (Zea mays), while others can be found on a wide array of plants. Ustilago
Ustilago cynodontis on Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon)
Smut! Continued from page 1 counties in Texas, within a day over 25 countries had banned the import and Ustilago maydis in Latin— of grains from the infected areas, different names for the same thing, with an estimated loss of $27 a fungus that grows on corn. In- million. This disease has such fected corn ears develop huge galls, potential to cause economic damage part fungus, part plant, that eventu- that it is mentioned as a possible ally burst open and release the dark bioterror agent. dusty spores. Less conspicuous is But what exactly is a smut; how the presence of fungus on other does it grow; what are its closest parts of the plant, but it certainly is relatives? Let us zoom in on the corn not restricted to the cobs. smut and see how it lives. Corn is not the only smut- We’ll start with the spores that infested plant valued by gourmets; are formed in the gall. These are tender, young shoots of wild rice called teliospores, and their appear- with the smut Yenia (Ustilago) ance in huge amounts on the plant esculenta are a much prized delicacy is in many cases the first and only
hordei, for instance, infects not only barley as the name indicates, but a slew of other grasses. Water plants, like arrowleaf and water lily, have their own special fungal communi- ties. Here it is the environment that shapes the species composition, rather than the identity of the host plants. There is even one species of smut or smut-like thing, Malassezia furfur, that is a human pathogen, in China. However, there is little causing a skin rash. signal that the plant is diseased. The good (from a human perspective) Smuts can cause havoc in dark, thick spore wall indicates that about most of the 1,450-some agricultural crops, especially on these spores, which are carried by species of smut that parasitize cereals like wheat, with losses in the wind, are adapted for dispersal around 4,100 species of plants. Only yield and in money. Karnal bunt is and survival under adverse circum- a few tree and shrub species are an example: in 2002, when this Asian disease turned up in some Continued on page 15
T M, July/August 2005 10 Painted Mushrooms, continued from page 1 Before I get a ton of letters in protest over the artist’s use of potentially harmful pigments and dyes in I knew something about the mushroom wasn’t quite nature, I must point out that Nancy is ecologically very right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I think the reverential. She told me that, immediately after paint- painted mushrooms are so interesting because they ing and photographing her subjects, she wipes them look quite real; after seeing so many stylized pictures of clean, leaving no trace. (That’s fortunate; with their mushrooms, I think my mind’s eye sometimes expects them to have fluorescent colors. Continued on page 17
Illinois Three
Canada Three
Wisconsin Four Canada One
11 T M, July/August 2005 Two Bolete limericks by Charmoon Richardson
I once heard that boletes can giggle If given just the right jiggle It’s a tickle that comes when All the maggots in the stem Cause the whole thing to wiggle
I once met a bolete that talked Other magazines urge you to subscribe, but It had a mouth at the top of the stalk we invite you to join friends on what we call The funny thing was “printed forays”! It couldn’t say much because The whole thing was starting to rot For 20 years, Mushroom the Journal has provided informa- tion of value to those who like to hunt, name, cook, study Limericks reprinted with permission from SOMA News and photograph wild mushrooms. We’ve answered — (Sonoma County Mycological Association) and the author. • How do professionals find “pillowcasefuls” of morels? For more mushroomy limericks and other fun things, write to Charmoon Richardson, The Wild about Mushrooms Co., • In the future, will you have to pay to pick on public land P.O. Box # 1088, Forestville, CA 95436, or check out his and still have to contend with bag limits? Web site at www.wildaboutmushrooms.net. • If you discover a new species, can you name it anything you want? Fungi in the News, continued from page 9 • Should you worry about violence from commercial pickers? “discovered” and named Agaricus blazei (as well as A. brasiliensis), this edible species was found in the deep • Can you do more with choice edibles than toss them in a dark recesses of the Brazilian rainforest. Or was it? sauté pan with butter? According to Dr. Richard Kerrigan of Sylvan Re- • Can you grow your own truffles? Train your own truffle search (the world’s largest commercial producer of hound? Agaricus spawn; spawn is the “seed” mushroom grow- ers use to inoculate compost for a mushroom crop), it • Can you subscribe to the world’s best mushroom maga- zine and have your satisfaction guaranteed? (You certainly ain’t so. In a paper published in the latest issue of the can guess that answer—and yes, you can also train the journal Mycologia (97: 12–24) A. blazei is shown to be dog.) nothing more than A. subrufescens, a commercially important species from days gone by. We’re proud of the job we do of reviewing books of interest Agaricus subrufescens was first described in 1893 by to the amateur mycologist. Before you buy, you’ll know C. H. Peck. The species was widely cultivated and whether you should. Think we’re kidding about “joining” rather than “subscribing”? Our Letters column lets you speak eaten in the Atlantic states from the late 1800s until the out, or contact others to seek that special book or sell that early 1900s. It was then replaced by the “button mush- historic mushroom basket. room,” A. bisporus, which became the commercially preferred member of the genus until today. According to So join—come aboard and check us out! Dr. Kerrigan, Agaricus subrufescens still can be found www.mushroomthejournal.com growing in the wilds of northeastern North America, as well as in the West. Yes! Send me ❏❏❏ the next year (4 issues) for $19 or Dr. Kerrigan, a world authority on the genus ❏❏❏ three years (12 issues) for $49 (Save $8) Agaricus, previously has raised doubts over the identity Send your check made out to Mushroom the Journal to of A. blazei / A. brasiliensis. In this latest paper, he Leon Shernoff, 1511 E. 54th St., Chicago, IL 60615. relied on DNA sequence analysis, along with conven- tional morphological features, to state with absolute Name certainty the true identity of the almond mushroom. Address Also from the pages of Mycologia— City, State, Zip Stephen Rehner and Ellen Buckley of the USDA Email address have made efforts (97: 84–98) to resolve the taxonomy P.S. How did you hear about Mushroom the Journal? of the entomopathogenic (a big word that means “a pathogen of insects”) fungus Beauveria. It seems that this group is most closely related to the highly prized (for its medicinal properties) genus Cordyceps. In fact,
Continued on page 15
T M, July/August 2005 12 The North American Mycological Association NAMA ’05 University of Wisconsin at La Crosse Thursday, July 21st, through Sunday, July 24th, 2005
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T M, July/August 2005 14 Smut! Continued from page 10 are plants with exclusively female the use of molecular characters for flowers and plants with male identifying major groups. It then stances. There are other smuts, the flowers. The anther smut occurs was realized that anther smuts are anther smuts, in which the spores only on the male flowers and more closely related to rusts, an- are transported from plant to plant subverts the flowers to produce dark other big group of basidiomycete by flower-visiting insects, but corn purple spores instead of pollen. This plant pathogens, and that other smut spores overwinter in the soil. strategy should mean only a 50% groups of plant infesting fungi are When the teliospore starts to germi- infection rate (only half of the plants nested within the “proper” smuts: nate, it acts like a basidium, the are male), but the smut has found a Exobasidiums, for instance, the fungi structure in which nuclei (the cell way to do better. It attacks plants which cause galls and misshapen regulators) fuse. In this case, the with female flowers by first per- leaves in Rhododendrons, Vacciniums binucleate teliospores produce forming a sex-change operation! and Manzanitas. In other words, basidiospores with a single nucleus. It took mankind quite a while to different groups of fungi have come Mushrooms, from boletes to chant- understand the real nature of the up with the same idea of forming erelles, from conks to crusts, need smuts. The classical Greek Theo- powdery spores in great masses on special fruiting structures to produce phrastus wrote, “Bunt or stinking plants. When we look at family spores. Smuts do it with a single smut of wheat is caused by the relationships with molecular tech- cell. These basidiospores have a action of the burning rays of the sun niques, we find that rusts and some saprotrophic lifestyle and can grow falling on the heads that had been smuts haven’t changed much since outside the plants; they are single penetrated by abundant rain.” It was the common ancestor of all fungi cells which bud and behave like only in the mid 1700s that this with basidia. The other smuts had a yeasts. This phase has been studied theory was proven wrong by a somewhat more recent ancestor but extensively in the lab, as you can Frenchman, Matthieu Tillet, who also haven’t changed much. The grown these cells on agar plates. did a bunch of nice experiments. branch that underwent extensive The spores are also the primary First, he planted a wheat plant in a evolutionary change is the one that infection agents. When two basid- pot which he kept really wet. The led to the familiar gilled mushrooms iospores mate, they fuse to form a plant stayed infection free, contrary and boletes. new mycelium, and the smut to the prevailing opinion that The question “what exactly is a embarks on its parasitic phase. abundant rain caused the infection. smut?” is harder than ever to an- Infection takes place in different Second, he planted grains with smut swer. Right now, the best definition parts of the plant. It can happen via spores in some plots and non- is “basidiomycete plant parasites the silk of the cob, interfering with infected seeds in others and re- which produce teliospores.” Not a pollination, which sets off a race corded carefully the number of very satisfactory definition, but one between pollen grain and smut diseased plants in each plot. The that works! spore. As the mycelium grows infected seeds produced infected within and between the plant cells, plants, and most plants of the blanks Dr. Vellinga works on the systematics it causes these cells to divide like stayed disease-free. This method did and phylogenetics of Lepiota species in crazy and at the same time grow not work for corn smut, as the Tom Bruns’s Lab in the Plant and bigger: a gall is born. The teliospores infection does not happen via the Microbial Biology Department of the are then formed as modified parts of seeds, so there he concluded that it University of California at Berkeley. hyphae. The plant epidermis breaks was a characteristic of the plant and Except where indicated, all photos in open, the spores appear, and the the circumstances under which it this article are by Gerald Pataky of the circle is complete. was grown. Even when it was University of Illinois, Champaign. Of course, other smuts do parts known that the smuts were not part of this cycle in different ways; but of the plants, it still took consider- for most species, the life cycle is not able time to realize that they were Fungi in the News, known in such detail as it is for the fungi. Researchers did not see any continued from page 12 economically important corn smut. hyphae among the spore masses. Some species infect seeds, some And as recently as 1967, new Silene the two groups are pretty much grow throughout the plant and species were described based on the synonymous, with Cordyceps produc- persist in it for the whole lifetime of dark colour of the “pollen grains.” ing some anamorphic Beauveria the plant. As one example, take We know now that this was merely isolates. That is, cultures can be Microbotryum violaceum, which is a due to an anther smut. made in the lab from wild Cordyceps very interesting anther smut, Fungi with so few apparent tissues, and these can produce specializing on carnation-like plants characters, mainly spores and asexual mycelium of Beauveria. in the family Caryophyllaceae. hidden hyphae, are difficult to Species in this family are often classify. The big breakthrough came dioecious, which means that there with electron microscopy and with Continued on page 16
15 T M, July/August 2005 NAMA WILDACRES REGIONAL FORAY September 29–Oct. 2, 2005 Wildacres , North Carolina
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Fungi in the News, continued from page 15
Is Beauveria the “cure” for malaria? fungi is a long shot, at best, the findings made a big And speaking of Beauveria, two research papers in splash in the news, with The New York Times (among the latest issue of the journal Science (308[5728]: 1638– other newspapers) and the British journal Nature 41; and 308[5728]: 1641–42) lend hope that the spread reporting it. of malaria can be contained in the future—using fungi! It seems that two entomopathogenic fungi, Beau- Speaking of Books . . . veria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae, were found to You may recall that in the March/April 2005 issue of be highly successful in killing mosquitoes (the insect T M I suggested five books, all fiction, and vector of the disease malaria), and harmless to humans all with stories centered around mushrooms (or fungi, and other mammals. These two fungal groups are well at any rate). There aren’t too many such works of known the world over as bug killers. In fact, probably fiction (that I can think of, anyway); so how ironic it every group of insects has a corresponding strain of was when, just as that issue was going to press, pathogen from one or both genera. another such work fell right in my lap. Published in Although many researchers are playing down the discovery, saying that commercialization of the two Continued on page 17
T M, July/August 2005 16 Mushrooming Anxiety Painted Mushrooms, continued from page 11 new hues, I’m sure I would be duped into believing I’d Restaurateurs, foragers worry about more just stumbled upon a new species!) Nancy says she regulation; one East Village chef innocently tried a number of different kinds of paints over the years before she hit upon a pearlescent (and environ- picks wild toxic “destroying angel.” mentally benign) liquid acrylic paint that shows up well on the often dimly lit forest floor—and in the digital by Kate Pickert prints. The artist certainly has a passion for mushrooms. Wild-mushroom fans are in an excitable frame of mind: She is a member of NAMA and the Wisconsin Myco- morel season—the most bountiful time of the year—has logical Society. Besides studying and painting mush- just started. But there’s also a dark cloud hanging over rooms, she is an avid collector of things with mush- New York’s fungi community, ever since California room motifs. She showed me the mushroom handker- health officials shut down several mushroom vendors chiefs that she’s started collecting. We talked at length at farmers’ markets this year, pledging to regulate what about her extensive collection of mushroom salt and has long been a self-policed industry of foragers, pepper shakers, which has been on display at the restaurateurs, and gourmands. The officials’ fear? That Wendy Cooper Gallery in Madison. Nancy says the lack of oversight is paving the way for poisonings. Internet makes finding and purchasing such items very At least fifteen North American mushrooms are easy. A little too easy, she adds: one’s hobbies can very toxic enough to kill. New York has about 60 poisonings quickly impinge upon another’s space around the home a year, according to the Health Department (the (she is married to another faculty member of UW– majority are small children “grazing” and people trying Madison, and has two cats). to get high). Besides painting mushrooms (and mastering the art At the moment, New York State agriculture laws of making digital images of her work), Mladenoff also say mushrooms picked in the wild can be sold if they’re combines brightly colored sculpting clay and mush- inspected by “an approved mushroom identification rooms (and plants) found in nature. She also manages expert” but don’t specify what constitutes expertise. to find time to tend to her students; she teaches paint- It isn’t always easy to tell if mushrooms are safe, ing to both undergraduate and graduate students and even if you’re ’shroom-savvy. Colin Alevras, chef at the serves as advisor to 10 graduate students in the Art Tasting Room in the East Village, picked a bagful last Department. year that he found in the yard of his father’s house Not long ago she had an exhibit at the Wendy upstate. He took it to Michael Hoffmann, a wild- Cooper Gallery that was titled “Hush, you mushrooms.” mushroom vendor at the Union Square farmers’ In addition to recent shows in the Chicago and Madison market. “Michael took one look and said, ‘Throw the areas, Mladenoff has shown extensively all over the whole bag out and wash your hands. Keep them away U.S., as well as London and Germany. She is looking from my mushrooms.’ I had picked a destroying angel,” forward to a sabbatical in Norway in the near future, says Alevras, referring to one of the most beautiful but where she’ll no doubt find plenty of subject material. toxic local varieties. “It made me really nervous.” Following her stay in Norway, she has another sabbati- City health codes ban chefs from serving mush- cal and show scheduled in Tabor, in the Czech rooms picked in the wild. Most “wild mushrooms” on Republic. menus are in fact cultivated specialty varieties like shiitakes. As Laura Phelps, president of the American Fungi in the News, continued from page 16 Mushroom Institute, notes, “Any dish under $20 is not going to have wild mushrooms.” 2004, Jack in the Pulpit, by Cynthia Riggs, is the fourth Some chefs use the real thing, though, and predict in a series of mysteries featuring the character Victoria increased regulation is just a matter of time. Blue Hill Trumbull, a wise and sprightly nonagenarian. The story chef Dan Barber says, “I would hope this stays on the is set in a peaceful nook of Martha’s Vineyard where back burner.” “I fear they’re going to regulate every- the sudden death of four people in one month, all thing,” adds Alevras. “It would be a drag and push parishioners at the same church, has upset the island’s people out of the business. We’d have to have secret tranquility. I don’t want to spoil the story for you, but underground mushroom clubs.” mushrooms are definitely involved. Although a little predictable at the end, the book is a good read and, as it [Originally published in New York Magazine May 9, is only 200 pages, could be knocked out during your 2005; Vol. 38[16]: 16–17. Reprinted with permission. By flight to and from the Annual Foray. the way, you may remember Ike mentioning the perceived If anyone else has any mycophilic works of fiction need for “approved mushroom identification experts” in the to recommend, please bring them to my attention. last issue of T M . —Britt] Happy reading!—Britt
17 T M, July/August 2005 B O O K R E V I E W S
Mycorrhizas: Anatomy and Cell years now, the interactions between Biology, by R. Larry Peterson, mushrooms and mushroom-eating Hugues B. Massicotte, and Lewis H. flies—those nasty maggots that Melville. Ottawa, Ont.: National always seem to spoil your basket of Research Council of Canada, 2004. boletes or chanterelles! 173 pages. ISBN 0-660-19087-7. This brand-new book summa- rizes what is known in the field and It seems as if just about everywhere provides good overviews from in the plant world that researchers several experts. Although there is no look, symbiotic associations are section on mushroom-arthropod found involving a partner fungus. In coevolution, all the well-studied fact, the current thinking is that the areas are covered. Probably of most vast majority of plants—if not all of interest to the mycophiles (and likely them—are involved with mycorrhizal best understood) are the sections on fungi. fungus-farming termites and ants. If you’re pretty much a novice The chapter covering the latter is (like me) when it comes to an entitled “A Comparison of Agriculture understanding of the mycorrhizal in Humans and in Fungus-growing fungi, and if you’re looking for a Ants.” Other chapters elucidate the book that’s not too long, is easy to when learning about a new topic. ecology of mycophagous bark beetles read, is well organized, and has Furthermore, the Appendices pro- and their fungal partners (morel incredible color and black-and-white vides step-by-step details on how to season just ended; think Dutch elm photos, then look no further. I can’t stain plant root tissues to observe disease here), how plants benefit say enough about how informative mycorrhizae under the microscope. from chemical defenses produced by and downright beautiful this book is. Although this book would make their fungal endophytes, and several The text is divided into chapters a superior text for college-level chapters on fungi that are parasites discussing the different groups of students, it’s written with the clarity of insects and other arthropods. As mycorrhizal fungi, with each chapter to be suitable for all mycophiles; but alluded to elsewhere in this issue, divided into descriptive sections. The keep a copy of Ainsworth and Bisby’s you can’t hear the name Meredith first section is always the Introduc- Dictionary of Fungi handy, just in Blackwell without thinking about the tion which is further divided into case, as there are quite a few yeast symbionts of arthropods and three subsections: Definition, Plant technical descriptions. this topic gets ample discussion in Species Involved, and Fungal Species two chapters. Involved. Other sections within each For anyone wishing to find out chapter can vary but usually feature Insect-Fungal Associations: Ecology more on how insects and fungi get descriptions of structures and and Evolution, ed. by Fernando E. along (and sometimes don’t get physiology. “Functions” of struc- Vega and Meredith Blackwell. New along) in the environment, this book tures—Hartig net, different types of York: Oxford University Press, 2005. is a great place to start. Although spores, “hairy roots,” arbuscules, ISBN 0-19-516652-3. aimed at the research community, how orchid mycorrhizae play a role this book is in seed germination, etc.—are The majority of named species on certainly described with great clarity and the planet are insects (750,000 of readable by plenty of illustrations and fantastic about 1.5 million total, in all phyla). anyone with electron micrographs. Chapters are Fungi are pretty well known from a little titled “Ectomycorrhizas,” “Ectendo- just about every biome on the planet background mycorrhizas,” “Arbuscular mycorrhi- and have a knack for intertwining knowledge zas,” “Ericoid mycorrhizas,” “Arbutoid themselves (no pun intended) into of modern mycorrhizas,” “Monotropoid mycor- the lives of countless other species. fungal rhizas,” “Orchid mycorrhizas,” and Despite these two facts, the interac- research. “Dark septate fungal endophytes.” tions between insects and fungi have Besides, the There is a complete list of references not been very well researched. I stories are at the end, which I find very helpful know from experience as the area truly fasci- has been of interest to me for many nating! —Britt
T M, July/August 2005 18 least one place to find it regularly; list of excluded species of Collybia False Witches Cap he lived in Ann Arbor, too), but they (although Lincoff already used the curiously omit the fact that the name in 1981). Halling deserves by Steve Nelson spores are amyloid, which put me special praise for putting his Collybia off its trail for a while; also, they do monograph on the web Caulorhiza (Collybia) hygrophoroides not show a drawing. Lincoff (1981) (www.nybg.org/bsci/res/col), making (Peck) Halling is uncommon enough mentions that it grows in the spring this technical and difficult-to-find that it is hard to find a lot of informa- but does not describe it. Thus this material available free, presumably tion on it, distinctive enough to be species has essentially disappeared seriously cutting into sales of hard definitely recognizable, and well from popular mushroom books after copies. worth knowing about. It has a deep the advent of color photography Our experience agrees with the brick-red smooth (initially) conic cap made it an unattractive choice to “rare and local but rather common in that is weakly hygrophanous, rather carry many species (especially those a single locality” comment of broad off-white gills, and a reddish- that do not occur on the East and Kauffman. We discovered C. hygro- tinged, longitudinally striate, twisted, West coasts). phoroides in the Hemlock-Hardwoods solid, and tough stem that is strongly Scientific Area near the top of Mount rooting. The spores are elliptical and Pisgah, the highest hill in Wildcat amyloid, turning dark blue in Mountain State Park in Vernon Meltzer’s solution. Peck noted that County, Wisconsin, on May 15, 1999. young specimens look rather like It was an especially dry year, and we Hygrophorus (Hygrocybe) conicus and were trying to find morels (of course). named and illustrated it accordingly in Including then, we have found it his Annual Report 32 (for 1878) from during May in five of the seven years, material found at Knowersville, between May 15th and 26th, some- Albany County, New York, which was times but not always in what we repeated exactly in Annual Report 37 believe to be exactly the same place (for 1883, which was N.Y. State (on the dogleg immediately uphill Museum Bulletin, Vol. 1 No. 2). Peck from the rock covered with walking- noted that it is exceptionally rare, and fern, so it is easily identifiable). All in his 49th annual report (for 1895), but one time it has been found he notes that it had not been reported appearing to arise from bare earth, again in the 17 years since the initial although it doubtless occurs on buried find. wood, explaining its appearance in Kauffman (1918) provides a good dry years. We have never found more description but only a very poor Caulorhiza hygrophoroides than six caps at once, but it is surpris- photograph of two aged specimens Photographed by Steve Nelson at May 21, ingly reliable in this limited area, viewed from below the cap so only 2005, Wildcat Mountain State Park much more so than the elusive the striate stem may be seen well. morels, which have been found there He only had found it near Ann The cap margin being straight on about half the time. The only other Arbor, Michigan (where he lived), the stem when young (instead of time we have found C. hygrophoroides and mentions that it is rare and local curled under the rest of the cap) and was during another very dry period on but “rather common in a single its amyloid spores exclude it from May 30, 1992, at Haskell-Noyes locality.” He extends the period that modern Collybia (and Halling’s segre- Woods. This is another Scientific Area it occurs from May to July and says gates, Gymnopus and Rhodocollybia). that also is claimed to have never that Peck saw and verified the Its closest relative is C. umbonata Peck been logged, which probably explains identification of his specimens. (described in 1904), a similar but more the rarity of this species. Having Graham (1944) copies Kauffman’s common species that grows under found it several times, I feel justified description and adds Illinois to the Coastal Redwoods in the Pacific in producing a “common name” for list of states in which it had been Northwest and was transferred to this most uncommon species. found (without locality). He also genus Caulorhiza by Lennox in 1979. shows a line drawing, obviously Singer synonomized Caulorhiza with Steve Nelsen is a Professor of copied from Kauffman’s photograph his genus Hydropus, although Collybia Biochemisty at the University of with the addition of a suitably hygrophoroides Peck was neither Wisconsin–Madison and a member of conical button. transferred to it nor otherwise men- the Wisconsin Mycological Society. Smith, Smith, and Weber (1979) tioned in the 1986 edition of his give a more modern description of it, world-wide compendium of mush- promote it to “infrequent” (which rooms. Halling transferred hygro- suggests to me that Smith knew at phoroides to Caulohriza in 1983 in a
19 T M, July/August 2005 North American Mycological Association 336 Lenox Avenue NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE Oakland, CA 94610-4675 PAID PERMIT NO. 1260 Address Service Requested CHAS. WV 25301
Mushrooms of the Month
This is a painting by Nancy Mladenoff entitled “Wisconsin 4.” See inside this issue for more paintings and the story (page 1).
T M, July/August 2005 20