"QUANTUM SHOT" #652
Link
- article by M. Christian and
A. Abrams
Mushrooms: A Rainbow of Oddness
Ladies and gentlemen: the wonderful, and let's not forget weird,
World of Fungi.
The following illustrations are from Johan Theodor Holmskjold's
'Beata Ruris Otia Fungis Danicis Impensa', or
Happy Resting Periods in the Country Studying Danish Fungi. More
can be found at the Harvard University Herbaria:
The Life and Works of Theodor Holmskjold:
(art by Johan Theodor Holmskjold, images
the Harvard University Herbaria,
via)
Let's play a game: animal, mineral, or vegetable? The answer? Two out of
three: scientists consider fungi to be part of a separate and unique
kingdom, in that they aren't plants and they're not animals:
(images courtesy
Faculty of Life Sciences Library, Copenhagen University,
via)
It's this 'not one and not the other' that make fungi so wonderful – and
somewhat disturbing – to study. At their most identifiable they are a
fundamental part of our diet: buttons, portobellos, shitakes, oysters,
morels, chanterelles, and more – including the expensive yet ubiquitous
truffle. But fungi are also essential to make many of our foods ... well,
food: without them we wouldn't have cheese, beer, wine, bread and too many
others to name. If that isn't impressive enough, our odd
not-quite-an-animal, not-quite-a-plant, is also indispensable to medicine:
penicillin, the cornerstone of antibiotics, was mold found in a Petri
dish, after all. In fact some experts claim that if anything were to
happen to our fungal friends humanity would be, at worst, extinct, or at
best, pretty miserable.
(image credit:
Marcus Pearlman)
There's a stranger side to the fungal world – in fact a rainbow of
oddness. Mushrooms, you may think, are brown or white, right? But fungi
can also be spectacularly colorful: the Parrot Waxcap is as green
as grass, the Crimson Waxy Cap is sunset crimson, and the
Slimy Spike-cap is even bright purple:
(images via 1,
2,
3)
(image credit:
Ann Elliott)
Even when fungi are brown and dull appearances can be deceiving: the aptly
named stinkhorn, for example, produces the aroma of rotting meat to
attract flies, which help the mushroom spread its spores. Speaking of
spore-spreading, the puffball mushroom and its various relations do it in
a very dramatic fashion, quite literally shooting their spawn into the air
when touched:
(Giant puffball, more
info; images
via)
(Spaltblattlinge (Schizophyllum), image
via)
(Chicken Mushroom & Sulphur Shelf (Laetiporus sulphureus),
images via)
(Cookeina & Latticed Stinkhorn (Clathrus rubber), images via
1,
2)
(Wood Blewit (Clitocybe nuda) & Lepista Nuda, images via
1,
2)
(Clathrus Archeri, images credit:
Josef Hlasek)
There are even varieties of mushroom that aren't just colorful but
actually glow in the dark: Omphalotus olearius, the
Jack o' Lantern, for example, is a celebrated bioluminescent
fungus, as is the Australian ghost fungus. The ones shown below are
Mycena chlorophos found in Japanese and Brazilian forests (more
info):
(images via 1,
2)
Fear & Loathing of Fungi
However, for all their color and their clever tricks, fungi have an even
odder side...Sure, fungi have given us much but they can also take it
away, and not just for people who mistake an amanita phalloides for an
amanita caesarea: Cryptococcus gattii, though rare, is alarmingly fatal
and is airborne. How fatal? Well, it's considered to be one of – if not
the – most lethal fungal infections you can get. There are other deadly
fungi, and as most of them are extremely opportunistic and durable, they
can spread wildly and are all but impossible to kill. Just think athlete's
foot mixed with a rattlesnake.
(Pom-pom or Noodle Shape: Hericium erinaceus, image
via)
Radiation-feasting Mushrooms
It's fungi's ability to grow just about anywhere that makes it so amazing.
If you name a hostile environment there's more than likely some form of
mushroom or yeast that will not only grow there but prefer it over
anywhere else. An extreme version of this is when researchers stuck their
instruments into one of the most poisonous places on earth and found not
only a species of mushroom growing there but one that actually appears to
be feeding on the toxicity. How nasty is this place? Well, all you need to
say is one word to shudder at the thought: Chernobyl.
But strangeness and fungi don't end with radiation-feasting mushrooms, for
there are quite a number of them that feast on other things -- including
animals. Nematophagous fungi, for instance, grow miniscule rings that, if
a nematode happens to squirm into one, rapidly contract, trapping the
unfortunate lunch ... I mean 'worm.' If this makes you a bit nervous take
a bit of consolation in that the popular oyster mushroom is also a
nematode killer – and it's also tasty, so while it eats them we also eat
it.
(Fistulina Hepatica (Tongue Shape: Beefsteak Polypore), image
via)
Eating isn't the only dark thing fungi do
One particular species has an extremely disturbing lifecycle – and a
terrifying one ... if you happen to be an ant. Ophiocordyceps
unilateralis, if it gets half a chance, will infect an ant and (ahem) eat
parts of its brain, causing the poor little insect to basically become the
walking dead. The fungus finishes it off only after it clamps itself to
the underside of a leaf, just where the fungus wants it to die – a
location that works really well for the fungi, but definitely not the ant.
(Dog Stinkhorn (Mutinus caninus), image
via)
(Anemone Stinkhorn (Aseroe rubra), image
via)
The Fungus among Us
In conclusion, here is an interesting fact: while the jury is out on the
subject, many experts point to a certain forest in Oregon (more
info). What's special about this hunk of land, that particular stand of
trees? Well, the honey mushroom that lives there, and occupies over 2,200
acres of that forest, may very well be the largest organism on the earth.
(Honey Mushroom System at least 2,400 years old - most of it
hidden underground as a huge mass)
So we had better treat them well -- all those wondrous fungi (here is
another
big one) -- just in case that they, or just that single huge mushroom, should
wake up and remind us of all they've done for us ... or could do to us.
(bottom image
via)
CONTINUE TO "FUNGUS, LICHEN & MOSS"! ->
Check Out the Rest of Our "NATURE" Category ->
|
4 Comments:
You didn't mention Mycorrhiza.
For the real fungi fan I recommend the german site www.pilzepilze.de.
A real sh*tload of nice pictures!
My favorite (okay it's not a fungus):
"dog vomit slime mold"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCOQ0VU24xw
This is an amazing short clip about the Cordyceps fungus, which is the one you mentioned that eats ants' brains - there is actually a strain of the fungus for virtually all arthropods - including spiders.
Also - did you know the fungus kingdom is more closely related to animals than plants? You actually have more in common with a mushroom than a tree. I always thought that was crazy!
Post a Comment
<< Home