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fungi

Winter Mushrooms

January 28, 2022 by Guest Contributor 2 Comments

Tinder fungus courtesy Wikimedia user George Chernilevsky Winter is far a far cry from being prime mushroom hunting season. Most fungi stop producing mushrooms, or fruiting bodies, in early autumn, and their hyphae (filamentous structures that are the main part of the fungal body) are out of sight, inside wood or in the ground. However, you can still find some specimens in winter. Spotting them is simply a matter of knowing where to look. [Read more…] about Winter Mushrooms

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: fungi, nature, Wildlife

Moose, Winter Ticks and Fungi

January 15, 2022 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

winter tick courtesy Emily S. Chenery Legend says a stake through the heart will kill a vampire. But it’s a bit more complicated if you’re plagued – as moose can be – by tens of thousands of tiny blood-suckers. In the case of moose, the vampires are winter ticks (Dermacentor albipictus), and finding a way to stake them has been tricky. However, recent research has found a potential – and microscopic – vampire hunter. [Read more…] about Moose, Winter Ticks and Fungi

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature Tagged With: Adirondacks, fungi, insects, moose, nature, ticks, Wildlife

Mycelium Brick & Fungal Homes: Much Room, No Mushrooms

November 26, 2021 by Paul Hetzler 1 Comment

mycelium brick construction at MOMA in 2014For some reason, mushrooms have spawned more than their fair share of puns. As a kid I learned that they’re all fun-guys, and that the only rooms you can’t enter in a house are mushrooms. The last one might not work these days, as entire buildings are now being made of fungus.

Given that mold inside our homes can make us ill, you wouldn’t think that being surrounded by the stuff would be a great idea. But just like so many other things in life, “it depends.” As a building material, fungus is cheap, ubiquitous, and a renewable resource. But that’s not the best part. By dry weight, walls made of fungus are stronger than concrete and have better insulation value than polyurethane foam.

They are weather-proof, practically non-combustible, and oddly enough, resist getting moldy.  [Read more…] about Mycelium Brick & Fungal Homes: Much Room, No Mushrooms

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: Architecture, fungi

Lips and Walls: Digging into Tree Decay

November 23, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Callus tissue around a tree wound courtesy Jardin botanique de Montréal (Robert Mineau photo)When clients call about decay in large older trees, every so often it’s necessary to respond that I’m not interested in hearing any lip from them. I do this respectfully of course.

It’s a frequent misconception that the roll of callus tissue or “lip” that trees produce at the margins of a wound will cause, or at least accelerate, trunk rot by catching and holding a small amount of rainwater.

It makes perfect sense to us that if an open tree wound is allowed to stay wet for longer, it will decay faster. We all know that a stack of wood exposed to the elements will turn punky in a few years, whereas if it’s kept in a dry shed it can last indefinitely. [Read more…] about Lips and Walls: Digging into Tree Decay

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: Forestry, fungi, gardening, Science, trees

Woodland Jumping Mice are Truffle Specialists

November 19, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

“Shhh,” I tell my 5-year-old son, “there are animals sleeping, right under our feet.” He presses his ear against the frozen ground, hoping to hear the slow, sleepy breath of a snoozing mammal.

I tell him that if he could pull back the earth like a blanket and peek in, he might see a small, mousey ball of white, black, and yellowy-orange fur curled tightly inside a nest of dried grasses and dead leaves.

A long, sparsely-furred tail would be coiled like a thin ribbon around this little package: a woodland jumping mouse, whose pre-hibernation diet consists largely of truffles. [Read more…] about Woodland Jumping Mice are Truffle Specialists

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: fungi, Science, small mammals, Wildlife

Wood Rot Fungi: White or Brown?

November 6, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

Chicken of the Woods courtesy Wikimedia user Jean-Pol GRANDMONTAs we stroll down a forest trail, we pass trees of all types and sizes, with red and orange and brown leaves strewn below, a riot of ferns fading to yellow, and intermittent moss-covered rocks.

Among this profusion of forest growth are stumps and fallen logs: what will become new soil for a future forest. I’ve always wondered at the varying hues of this woody debris; decaying wood can range in color from orangey-brown to nearly white, from black to bright teal. [Read more…] about Wood Rot Fungi: White or Brown?

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: fungi, nature, Wildlife

The Science of Fairy Rings, Free and Tethered

October 25, 2021 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

fairy ring courtesy Wikimedia user Mrs skippyMy German mother was a highly superstitious soul, especially when it came to the natural world. Case in point, one day a “fairy ring” of mushrooms appeared in our yard. My mother became agitated and told me not to disturb the ring, for it was a “hexenringe” – a place, she believed, where witches gathered and dire consequences would befall anyone entering or tampering with it.

Fairy rings have a rich history in European folklore and myth. Austrians claimed the rings were created where dragons rested, while the Dutch saw them as a place where the devil churned his milk. [Read more…] about The Science of Fairy Rings, Free and Tethered

Filed Under: Nature Tagged With: Folklore, fungi, nature, Science, Wildlife

Hair Ice and Frost Flowers

December 26, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

TOS_FrostFlowersIf you are out walking on an early winter morning, you might be lucky enough to see some of nature’s most beautiful and ephemeral sights: hair ice and frost flowers, both snow-white and delicate against the dull forest floor. [Read more…] about Hair Ice and Frost Flowers

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: fungi, Native Plants, nature, Wildlife, winter

Forest Fungi: Native Mushrooms and Forest Health

October 31, 2020 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

TOS_Fungi_AmanitaVernaA walk in the woods during fall is likely to reveal an array of forest fungi. Ranging from delicate, tan mini-umbrellas to fleshy, white softballs to foot-long, orange-yellow shelves growing out of rotten logs, they come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. Fungi are critical to the health of the forest, decomposing woody debris and helping trees obtain required nutrients. [Read more…] about Forest Fungi: Native Mushrooms and Forest Health

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Food, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Food, fungi, nature, wild food, Wildlife

In Pursuit of Giant Puffballs

September 7, 2020 by Richard Gast Leave a Comment

puffball mushrooms courtesy University of Wisconsin Green BayPuffball is the generic name for a large group of mushrooms with similar characteristics. They come in many sizes and are usually spherical or globular in shape.

Puffballs are distinguished from other mushroom groups by the fact that they lack many of the features or characteristics that other common mushrooms possess. A puffball has no stem. It has no cap. And no external gills. All of the spores are produced inside of the fruiting body. The most common way in which they release their spores is through impact; the external force of rain or falling debris landing upon them or of animals stepping on or brushing against them, thereby compressing and/or breaking the peridium; the protective layer that encloses the spore mass inside the fungus. When that happens, as the name puffball implies, the spores are ejected in a large puff. [Read more…] about In Pursuit of Giant Puffballs

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Food, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Food, fungi, nature, wild food, Wildlife

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