Because of this unusually rainy year, there have been many new mushrooms popping up in our Nature Center and Garden. Of course, I grew up knowing never to eat any of the ones we used to find in our lawns, and as an organic gardener was aware of the benefits of mycorrhizae - a symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular host plant. However, with the rain, many mushrooms were growing that I had never seen. So, what's a Nature Specialist to do?! Why, research of course!
In January, I attended the 43rd Annual Santa Cruz Fungus Festival. I went to seminars, viewed more mushrooms than you can imagine, and tasted mushroom dishes, including mushroom ice cream - there is one that tastes like maple syrup, I kid you not! As a result, I am growing Lion's Mane mushrooms in a box in my office, and am attempting to grow a few different varieties outside. The Big Experiment is trying to grow the California Golden Chanterelle by our oaks. Notoriously difficult to introduce into a garden, it seemed like a fine challenge. So, I took a few precious ($20 a pound!) chanterelles, blended them with water, and poured them by the roots of various oaks in the Nature Center. It takes 2-3 years for them to form a mycellial mass, and then fruit. So, here's hoping for some rainy years! Science does not yet know exactly what trees, or circumstances lead them to grow in the wild...
In case you are also fascinated by the world of fungus, here are a few fun facts for you:
- Armillaria solidipes is a honey fungus measuring 2.4 miles (3.8 km) across in the Blue Mountains in Oregon and thought to be the largest living organism on Earth. It is parasitic.
- Many plants are in a symbiotic relationship with fungus. It is estimated that as many as 90% of all plants depend on mycorrhizae to survive, and mycorrhizae probably enabled plants to colonize land around 450 million years ago.
- Fungus creates a "plant internet" through mycorrhizal mycelial networks helping young plants, warning others about danger, and helping to feed their hosts. (in case you are skeptical: www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141111-plants-have-a-hidden-internet
- About 20% of mushrooms are poisonous, 1% are deadly, 1% are psychoactive and 78% are nontoxic.
- You wouldn't know if you ate a poisonous mushroom by taste - some are delicious. www.planetdeadly.com/nature/poisonous-mushrooms
- The world of fungus is sadly understudied. No one knows how many types of fleshy fungi exist in nature. There are about 10,000 described species known from North America ALONE, but everyone agrees that there are undiscovered species. Depending on who you believe, the known species are a third to a fifth of what's really out there.
- Besides being important decomposers of dead wood, fungus are also being studied in mycoremediation, for instance, in one of the world's largest oil disasters www.motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-plan-to-mop-up-the-worlds-largest-oil-spill-with-fungus.
- Mycoremediation, a form of bioremediation, is the process of using fungi to degrade or sequester contaminants in the environment. Stimulating microbial and enzyme activity, mycelium reduces toxins in-situ. Some fungi are hyperaccumulators, capable of absorbing and concentrating heavy metals in the mushroom fruit bodies. fungiforthepeople.org/mushroom-info/myco-remediation/
- Medicinal mushrooms have been proposed as a novel therapy that may improve cancer treatment and patients’ survival. They have been used medicinally since at least 3000 bce. Mushrooms are reported to have antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, cardiovascular-protective, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, and anticancer properties. It is well-established that mushrooms are adept at immune modulation and affect hematopoietic stem cells, lymphocytes, macrophages, T cells, dendritic cells (DCs), and natural killer (NK) cells.1 Extensive research over the last 40 years has demonstrated that mushrooms have potent antineoplastic properties that slow growth of tumors, regulate tumor genes, decrease tumoral angioneogenesis, and increase malignant-cell phagocytosis. Additionally, evidence suggests that medicinal mushrooms may safely boost chemotherapeutic efficacy and simultaneously protect against bone marrow suppression..www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4684115/
- The best way to cook mushrooms is to dry saute them first - mushrooms are 90% water.
- Button mushrooms contain Niacin, Riboflavin, Folate, Phosphorus, Iron, Panthothenic Acid, Zinc, Potassium, Copper, Magnesium, Vitamin C, D, B6, Selenium, Thiamin, Choline, Betaine, Pantothenic Acid, Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Protein, Fiber, Carbohydrates, Fat, Sugars, while containing a mere 15 calories per cup.
We take this important part of our universe so lightly! Be thankful for the fungus among us - besides being delicious, they are important in so many ways - and yet-to-be-discovered ways.
The photos below are from the Fungus Fair, the unlabeled mushrooms, except for the box and two specimens, are all from our Nature Center and Garden.