Battarrea phalloides

 Dear Chloe, Brynnlee, and Finn,

Hi guys! You won't believe what I saw the other day. Presenting to y'all, the great Battarrea phalloides.

This mushroom is part of the Stalked Puffball family and known by some as the fun Desert Drumstick. It's quite woody and scaly as you can see, but above all else, ROBUST. The first time I ever learned of Stalked Puffballs was at my first meeting as a member of the Los Angeles Mycological Society (go LAMS!) and the photo being shared was of a stalked puffball breaking. through. concrete. to emerge in someone's backyard. Plants and fungi can be surprisingly strong in that way. The fungi that do so tend to also persist for a while, unlike mushrooms that pop up and disappear in a few days. I've seen this specimen for a few weeks now- it's structure and tissue being dry, fibrous, and woolly helps it persist for a longer period than the wet, soft mycelial tissue that makes up most other evanescent mushrooms.

                        

The thing to know about Battarrea is the unbelievable amount of spores it releases, likely in the billions, with ease. It doesn't bother itself with gills or pores- the head itself is a spore sac that pushes it's hat off (an exoperidium, shown on the right) and that's it! The spores are free to take to the wind and boy do they. One of my professors shared a story about a biology class at UC Berkeley, where the undergraduates sampled the air in the room as a lab experiment. Around HALF of the microbes in the air samples were Battarrea spores. Indeed if you bring this mushroom somewhere, there isn't mushroom for anything else. 

                        

Where and when to find it: Battarrea phalloides is typically found in dry, sandy areas (arid, semi-arid) around the world. I found a few reports that Battarrea might associate with some plants, but not limited . Our specimen here might have been associated with the pine tree in the background. In David Aurora's Mushrooms Demystified, the entree for B. phalloides states that in North America is found around the beginning of fall, often after late summer thunderstorms- which is exactly the conditions under which I found this one!

Lastly, as if this great Stalked Puffball needed any help dispersing it's spores, it also has the assistance of its friendly neighborhood pillbugs. This is one of many fascinating interactions between insects and fungi, and I look forward to hearing about these little relationships as dedicated mycologists and entomologists alike continue to uncover them in the future. If you want a real treat, look up the fungal gardens of leaf-cutter ants. Though the winter season draws ever-nearer, don't forget to keep your eye out for the last fungi of the year. 

Happy hunting!

Scutellinia scutella

 This one goes out to my girls Caroline, Shante, and Sara!! Scoot over for Scutellinia scutella! (Rhymes with Nutella)

                                                                                     

 This is my first post about a fungus from the phylum Ascomycota- from the Greek prefix "askos" meaning "sac" or "wineskin". The genus and species name comes from the Latin word scutellata meaning "like a small shield" which is incredibly adorable. Learning about the Ascomycetes is always a fantastic lesson in the stunning diversity of fungi. They have many more shapes and forms than just the gilled little umbrellas that pop out of the ground, or even the shelf mushrooms that grow out of the sides of trees. The Ascomycota all have a pore-producing surface ("hymenium") that tends to be smooth and shaped into a cup or sac like the name suggests. The cup shape is evolutionarily helpful for dispersal because the ascocarps (which form and hold the spores) have open access to disperse the spores into the air and water droplets can splash spores out of the cup.

                                         

These fungi are known as "Eyelash Cups" because if you look closely, you will see tiny hairs around the edge of the cup that resemble eyelashes (I tried to get a side angle to show this, but it might not be clear). You can typically find them on damp, rotting wood so keep an eyelash out for these cute little fungi ;D

Gyromitra esculenta

The mushroom I tripped and fell in love over. I didn't actually trip over it (it's a chonker, I very well could have) but it was the first mushroom of the year I saw sprout up when I lived in the Adirondacks. Once the snow melted, within a week, everything that had been black and white in winter, transformed into breathing browns and greens. Mosses and grasses and wildflowers were bursting out of the ground, accompanied by this curious fellow who got many confused stares. I present to you, Gyromitra esculenta, the Brain Mushroom.

Let's breakdown its name! You know the squiggly ridges in a brain? Each ridge is known as a "gyrus" which comes from the Greek gyros "round". Mitra in Greek means "headband", so we know this name is referring to a mushroom that has rounded bands about its head. The second part of this inedible mushroom's species name esculenta means "edible". What ho?! There's a small scandal here.

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

These both belong to the Morel family of mushrooms. On the left is our guy, G. esculenta, and on his right is the golden child everyone prefers, Morchella esculenta (did you catch that?? They have the same species name!). This Golden Morel is culinarily acclaimed as a delicious mushroom and can often be found in old apple orchards which just adds to its image. Though related, the Brain Mushroom is classified as a "false morel" because it lacks the central cavity that distinguishes true morels.

Now, G. esculenta is a popular delicacy in Scandanavia, Eastern Europe, and around the Great Lakes in America. But across the world, countries have reported it causes indigestion, liver failure, and possibly death. How could the same mushroom have such divergent outcomes? Mushrooms can have different toxicity depending on where they grow! For example, there is some evidence that G. esculenta that grows at higher altitudes, or west of the Rockies, have smaller concentrations of its poison gyromitrin [1]. Those that prepare it as a dish are sure to dry and boil the mushroom to remove its toxins, as is customary for many species of edible and hallucinogenic mushrooms. 

By Giacomo Bresadola

My first encounter with these bad boys

Well there you have it folks! The Brain Mushroom. I'll leave you with one last story: I used to point out this mushroom to folks that came to the trail I was posted up at, and they'd squint and go, "Is that bear shit?" Nope, just some Gyromitra esculenta :D 

[1]    Benjamin, Denis R. (1995). Mushrooms: poisons and panaceas—a handbook for naturalists, mycologists and physicians. New York: WH Freeman.

Amanita muscaria

The Mario mushroom, the mushroom of fairy tales, the most famous mushroom, a gateway mushroom, really, as it was likely the first depiction of fungi you ever saw. From worlds of 8-bit, fantasy, tribes, and pine forests, let us welcome the infamous... Amanita muscaria.

Credit Stu's Images CC BY-SA 3.0

Amanita muscaria is a species complex, meaning that this name refers to a closely related group of subspecies and varieties. You will see versions of this mushroom from different continents and that range from bright yellow to the stereotypical red, but still bearing the A. muscaria name.

They are mycorrhizal with many tree species- commonly with pines, but also birch, Southern Beech (in Australia and neighboring regions), and even eucalypts in Portugal! In my photos below, they are featured cuddling up to White Pines, and later they will be seen with Paper Birch.

Here's a little evolution thought experiment for you: A 2006 molecular phylogenetic study (comparing DNA sequences to trace lineage) of multiple regional populations of A. muscaria found that they essentially fell into 3 distinct clades (genetic groups)- Eurasian (essentially, Russia), Eurasian subalpine (adapted to a certain zone of elevation), and North American. Using your geography skills, where do you think they found all three? The common starting point it evolved outwards from? You'll find out soon enough ;)

The whimsical tale of Amanita muscaria, like all great stories, involves a trip through the gastrointestinal tract. This mushroom has plausibly been used as an entheogen by Siberians, Hindus, and others over time. People would drink the urine of a mushroom-stuffed deer or a shaman because they believed the liver would filter out poisonous parts. As it turns out, heat (and not urination) is the best way to make this Amanita safer for consumption. Another legend holds that around winter solstice, shamans would dress in a suit of red and white in likeness of the mushroom, take a big bag to go collect them, and then hang them over the fireplace to dry. Perhaps he'd then distribute them via chimney to people he believed to be open-hearted to receiving such magic. Add a hallucinogenic component into that story and it sounds like a hit cultural phenomenon to me.

Chemistry has the most fun when it flirts with danger; the neurotoxic compound ibotenic acid is the very precursor to the benevolently psychoactive compound muscimol.

If you're wondering "man.. how does it even do all that in your brain?!" it's really just because they are structurally similar to the neurotransmitters we already use, GABA and Glutamic Acid. You call in a wave of these stunt doubles and your neurons get excited, it's pretty neat.

If you've got a gold or beige-colored A. muscaria on your hands, it's likely Amanita muscaria var. guessowii. If it's more yellow, you might have found the lovely Yellow Patches, Amanita flavonica. 
I love Fly Agarics and their shameless grandeur. They're head-turners that's for sure, so I rejoice for every person that finds their way into the world of mushrooms either by playing Super Mario or drinking a reindeer's urine or looking at a tree and the bright little buddy next to it.

P.S. It's Alaska! A place between Eurasia and N. America. So it's hypothesized that it originated there, and radiated east, down the Americas and west throughout Eurasia. How it got to Australia? One can only imagine the wild ways anything gets to Australia.

Leccinum snelli

Time to give some love to the Boletes! Trade out your gills for pores and give it up for Leccinum snelli OR Leccinum variicolor!

Collection Data: Northeastern North America, mixed forest including birch species, hemlock, beech, pines. Close to riverfront, wet, acidic soil. Late summer. Growing singly, terrestrially.

It is characteristic of boletes to have specific mycorrhizal tree partners which can inform you on where to find them. In summer, I quickly discovered that birch and aspen in the forests around me sported bolete friends from the Boletus and Leccinum genera. This bolete, like some others, bruises blue; but as you can see, I was startled to find that a few minutes after I had broken the young specimen's stem, it looked as though it were bleeding. This two-color bruising was highly unusual for what I knew of Bolete color changing at the time. I have since returned and edited this post because I had previously identified this as Leccinum scabrum- but after I had a more seasoned ID expert from NAMA (North American Mycological Association) give it a closer look, I was informed this is L. snelli. After my own digging, I found out that this species is almost indistinguishable from another species that also exists in the Northeast, Leccinum variicolor- microscopic inspection of the cap surface (the pileipellis) is needed to tell them apart. Both these species bruise pink/red higher up on the stem and bruise blue/green lower down. The colorful molecule in question, variegatic acid, is capable of being converted to forms that account for both the red and blue I observed. A great thanks to Tom Volk for elucidating this information for me!

In the presence of oxygen, variegatic acid undergoes an oxidation reaction that produces the quinone methide, responsible for the blueing. Another closely related form, apparently also a result of oxidation, is variegatorubin, responsible for the red color. 

The boletes are an incredible lesson in using bruising as an identification aid, and it was definitely a bucket list item of mine. Happy hunting!

Panellus stypticus

This was one of the best moments of my life- seeing bioluminescence for the first time with mine own eyes. Please welcome my next guest, Panellus stypticus.

Found in Sept/Oct on a fallen beech log in mixed forest, Adirondacks, NY. They tend to persist once fruited so you'll have a good chance of hunting this one down. This mushroom gets its name from being reportedly used as a styptic, an aid that stems bleeding, I learned. Ethnobotanical practices are such a fascinating aspect of having land ethic. Learning natural history feels like being let in on secret power-ups in the game (cue Mario colliding with his infamous red Amanita muscaria). It is imperative for us to remember we are still part of an ecological web whose biodiversity must be protected, regardless of the invention of bandaids.

How did I find this? I had the pleasure of going on a little foray with Susan Hopkins, who actually came to find me at the museum I worked at because she heard a mushroom fanatic had sprouted. When I brought her to the fallen log bearing this treasure (I didn't know it was bioluminescent), she told me that I should come back and see them at night. That's experience for ya. In a short time, fans of fungi quickly learn to cut a mushroom to check for oxidation or a milky latex. Foster the curiosity with years of adventure, and soon enough you're much more than just an enthusiast. As a person just entering the world of mycology a year after getting my degree, there are some incredible folks that have decades of loving mushrooms on me. My greatest respect to all the mentors and experienced mycologists I've met and learned from. This is also a compelling example of why it's best to look through mushroom guides/species lists of local areas to know what to keep an eye out for! Having a bucket list sure does make for a burning quest...(I'm looking at you Mycena interrupta)...

Schizophyllum commune

This stemless wonder, Schizophyllum commune, is one of my most recent identifications. I used Michael Kuo's key on his website www.MushroomExpert.com. I first learned how to use dichotomous keys for species identification in a botany class. Using a key is a quest to get to the identity of the mysterious organism you behold! But if you find yourself increasingly identifying yourself as an amateur mycologist (yours truly), then it is the next tool you can use to pin down the elusive identity of macrofungi. No doubt, you will still rely on rapidly comparing your specimen to any other photos of remotely similar mushrooms- this post is to show you how to use a key along with handy dandy power of observation. You are welcome to following along in the "Key To Major Groups" page of Mr. Kuo's website.

You're out walking your happy dog after a few beautiful days of rain when you come across this! Start with the key to the major groups:

1. Mushroom growing on other mushrooms or the decayed remains of other mushrooms

1. Mushroom not growing on other mushrooms  --> 2   

      

It was growing off a branch of a neighborhood woody shrub, so the latter.

2. Mushroom with gills on its underside  --> 3

2. Gills absent

This one could be tricky. These are not traditional gills and you can see it right away. It turns out they are gills they just dry out and fold creating this fan-like pattern. But they look much more like gills than not, so we'll go with that.

3. Growing shelflike on wood; mushroom very tough and leathery, corky, or woody; gills tough and hard, sometimes maze-like; cap frequently with concentric zones of color

2. Not completely as above  --> 4

Here is where it is vital to READ THE WHOLE LINE! This specimen does grow shelflike on wood! However none of the other characteristics match, and therefore it fits the latter of the couplet.

4. Gills running down the stem, not easily separable from the cap and stem; usually not growing on wood.
4. Gills not as above; growing on wood or elsewhere   --> Gilled Mushrooms

Nope, the gills are doing no such thing since there is no stem. The latter takes us to the key for Gilled Mushrooms

1. (Description for Macrocystidia cucumis)
1. Not completely as above  --> 2

As the keys narrow in scope, you will notice outlier species will be described first. We still have more couplets to wade through to get to ours.

2. Spore print pink, flesh-colored, or salmon  --> Gilled, Pink-spored
2. Spore print otherwise colored  -->  3

Now here is where I used a bit of instinct. I was attempting to identify this, before I even made a spore print, which I didn't end up making at all. But my intuition told me that based on the general color of the gills and the undersurface, it probably was going to be pinkish.

1. With a volva at the base
1. Without a volva  --> 2

2. Growing on wood  --> 3
2. Growing terrestrially

3. Without a stem  --> Oysters
3. With a central to off-centered stem

Finally we reach the Pleurotoid mushrooms which grow on wood, have gills, and typically form kidney shapes. There is no further key to follow, just a species list. I clicked on every species until I found mine (I don't mind this method since I learn more along the way and often stumble upon other mushrooms I'm trying to identify), which was, almost fatefully, the very last one.