BULLETIN OF . THE PUGET SOUND MYCOLOGICAL SOCIETY Number 352 May 1999 FUNGUS MENACES GARLIC CROP Maria A. Gaura, We find these oddities typically on wood chips, mulch, or dead The Spore Print, LA Myco. Soc., Oct. 1998 packed leaf mold, They show themselves usually in clusters of via The Arizona Fun-Gi, Spring 1999 several or many. Before they open and exhibit their eggs, they are simply ''blips" of hard whitish mini-mushrooms with very When tens of thousands of people visit Gilroy' s garlic festival tiny, hard caps. When these caps break open, the little lentils this weekend, there's on~ thing they won't notice while sampling exhibit themselves. cheesecake and 40-clove pizzas-California's garlic the garlic This is only the tip ofthe iceberg regarding these interesting fungi, crop is fighting for its life. however. Actually it is the dispersal of spores that makes them Ah orange-colored fungus, Puccinia porri, never before consid­ truly a wonder. The spores, which reside within the little egg, are ered a serious threat to the pungent bulb, reproduced madly dur­ disseminated in a unique way. The nest that holds these little ing the damp El Nifio spring and cast cowffi.ess spores totfie winds. - e ggs is shaped in a manner (wide at the top diminishing to a smaller base) that a single drop of rain, splashing into the nest, ejects the "You could see it spread like wildfire through the Central Valley, egg with enough force to fire the projectile as far as 3 or 4 feet. from field to field," said I{.ris Van Elswyk, a garlic industry rep­ Whereas this in itself is a unique concept, there is an even more­ resentative based near Fresno. "One day you'd see small spots of surprising ending to the story. As the projectile (egg) is splashed it, and 3 days later it looked like the field was on fire." from the nest, it.releases· an umbilical (funicular) cord which can Known to plant pathologists as "garlic rust disease," the ruddy reach a length of 4 to 6 in. This cord has a "gooey," glue-like invader is a cousin to the disfiguring smut frequently found on stickum on the end that grasps the first thing it comes in contact rosebushes, snapdragons, and peaches. But even though garlic with. Actually, the entire event is much like the throwing of a rust disease was first found in California in the 1930s, it has not Mexican bolo. Ifthe sticky end (the hapteron) slaps into a plant, attacked the crop on a large scale for at lea5t 58 years. for instance, it sticks fast and the lenticle wraps itself around the In 1934, Californians farmed only about 300 acres of garlic, and plant stem in the bolo-style action. The egg, being heavier than the economic damage from the rust was small. Today, garlic is a any part of the overall device, ends up hanging down vertically major crop, covering 37,000 acres and valued at $262 million last so that when it opens the spores may be disseminated much like year. The precise extent of the damage to this year's crop will not those from the gills of an agaric which are oriented so that the be known until after the harvest is completed, as late as October. spores drop downward. But in some areas, it appears that half to two-thirds of the yield If you have these unusual fruitings along your driveway and park has been lost. Because of the rust, much of California's fresh gar­ within range of this fungal cannon, the exposed exterior of the lic supply this year will have to be imported from Mexico and vehicle could become "goo" coated with mycosplotches, so don't Argentina, Christopher said. Only the best of California's crop always blame the flies. will be served at the garlic festival, he pledged. The next time you admire the unique style of the little eggs within The rapidity of the rust's spread and the thoroughness of the in­ their nest, you might realize that this is not necessarily a sweet fection have jolted the garlic industry, which has been enjoying a and innocent view of Mother Nature's artistic work. This fungal comfortable expansion in recent years. This year's crop had been cannon is a weapon, perhaps not of mass destruction, but a good in the ground for 6 months before the rust problem emerged, but missile launcher unique among its more glamorous and larger by May, scientists found it in almost every field they checked. fungi compatriots. A BIRD'S NEST IN THE HAND Dick Grimm Although many of us are familiar with the "Bird Nest Fungi" we .T .. n1c .,.. perhaps don't realize the complexity of this small mushroom. ' . /'~ This interesting little mushroom is considered a Gastromycete because it has its spores encased inside of a pouch much like the familiar and larger puftballs. In effect, the tiny eggs that one sees resting at the bottom of the small nest could be likened to minia­ ........~ . l-- ture puffballs. I personally like to refer to them as lentils or eggs. .. ... There are two generally encountered genera--Crucibu/um and Middle peece Cyathus. Crucibu/um has a shallow ''nest" which contains white Sheath eggs. Cyathus, on the other hand, has a longer and deeper nest that could be likened to an inverted bell or perhaps a vase. The "eggs" in Cyathus are black or at. least not white. They vary in deeper colors, cream, gray, black, etc. page 1 MEMBERSHIP MEETING Spore Prints Tuesday, May 11, at 7 :30 PM at the Center for Urban Horticulture, is published monthly, September through June by the 3501NE41st Street, Seattle PUGET SOUND MYCOLOGICAL SOCIETY It's May, and the height of morel season-and we are going to Center for Urban Horticulture, Box 3 54115 learn all about matsutake. Our featured speaker this month is mat­ University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 sutake expert, Professor and Chair of Biological Sciences at Cen­ (206) 522-6031 http://www.psms.org tral Washington University, Dr. David R. Hosford. His topic will be "Matsutake." . OFFICERS: Doug Ward, President Joanne Young, Vice President Dr. Hosford studied and received his Ph.D. in 1972, under the Lynn Phllips, Treasurer supervision of Daniel E. Stuntz at the University of Washington. Mary Beth Tyrholm, Secretary The period of 1965-69 was the highlight of his student years be­ cause of Dr. Stuntz (an unequaled scholar, teacher, and friend). TRUSTEES: Steven Bell, Patrice Benson Before coming to the U.W. Hosford worked under the supervi­ D.V. Corey, Lynn Elwell, sion of Dr. James M. Trappe, studying mycorrhizae at the re­ John Floberg, Fran Ikeda gional forest science lab. in Portland. It was then that he began to Brandon Matheny, Ron Pyeatt, appreciate fungi, and it was Dr. Trappe who put him in touch Dan Tanabe, Jerry Wire . with Dr. Stuntz for graduate work. Since 1~69 his first love has Marshall Palmer (Immed. Past Pres.) been teaching, e.g., mushrooms, general mycology, plant pathol­ AL TERNATES : Jim Berlstein, Golin Meyer ogy, algology, and a variety-ofbetanyand biology courses;--c c SCI. ADVISOR: Dr. Joseph F. Ammirati His research has centered on the systematics and ecology of Gas­ EDITOR: Agnes A. Sieger, 15555 14th Ave. N.E., teromycetes and Hymenomycetes. His Ph.D. thesis was a taxo­ Shoreline, WA 98155 nomic study of Rhizopogon. He has conducted field studies in Central Mexico, participated in a research expedition to the Ama­ Annual dues $20; full-time students $15 zonian rain forest, and conducted research in Japan on matsutake and false truffles. A 1997 publication, "Ecology and Management of the Commer­ CALENDAR cially Harvested American Matsutake Mushroom," is a culmina­ tion of these studies in Japan and in Central Washington State. May8 Swauk Creek field trip Would persons with last names beginning with the letters A-E Mayll Membership meeting, 7:30 PM, CUH please bring refreshments for the social hour? May 15 Crystal Springs field trip When colors come to be taught in the schools as they should be, May 17 Board meeting, 7:30 PM, CUH Board Room both the prism or the rainbow and these fungi should be used by May 21-23 Spring Foray, Meany Lodge way ofillustration and ifthe pupil does not learn colors, he may at least learn mushrooms, which is perhaps better. June5 Bridge Creek field trip Henry David Thoreau June 12 Fungi Perfecti field trip ROCKPORT FIELD TRIP Joanne Young BOARD NEWS Agnes Sieger The field trip to Steelhead Park in Rockport on April 17 was noted Income.and expenses for the March Survivors' Banquet are ex­ for the beautiful weather and the lack of mushrooms. At 9:00 AM, hosts Lynne Elwell and another couple arrived at shelter A2. Iden­ pected to be about even. Judy Roger will present a microscopy tifier Sara Clark showed up in the afternoon, after she and Dick class some weekend in July. The classes will be held for 4 hours Sieger missed the signs and waited at another shelter. Six or eight each day. The date is as yet undetermined. Fall workshops are people signed in. There was one mushroom, a Discina sp. Sara's planned on topics other than the general ID classes. Education husband, Jeff, spent an enjoyable time fishing. Chair Lisa Bellefond would appreciate some suggestions regard­ ing possible areas of interest. We are still in need of someone to chair the annual exhibit. Identifiers and co-hosts are still needed for a few of the field trips.