The Lichen Light Show of Mt. Rogers
Tracing the line of interdependence from lichens, to trees that host them, to the squirrels that planted them, and beyond, the entire ecosystem sprawls out through the window of just one tiny, slimy superorganism that clings to the harshest and most unforgiving environments.
A Cold, Dreary Paradise
On a cold, February morning, there’s often a layer of snow or rime ice coating everything above ground at the foot of Whitetop Mountain. Unlike the liveliness of a vivid, birdsong-inundated forest of spring, summer, or fall, a cloudy February morning is dreary, cold, and almost every living creature is hidden. But as soon as snow turns to rain, a beautiful phenomenon strikes the sleeping forest.
Lipstick Powderhorn (Cladonia macilenta), a colorful lichen often found at the base of trees or growing on bare soil. Photo by Cade Campbell
Tree trunks begin to “glow.” They don’t produce actual light, but every color of the rainbow emerges suddenly in the stark mid-winter. Instead, millions of feeding organisms start to respirate. Lichens.
The best survivors take a keen eye to notice. Lichens have an almost undefeated mastery of surviving harsh conditions for visible life. This unique branch of fungi occurs in every habitat worldwide. Certain lichens thrive in Antarctic deserts on exposed rocks, and some relish hot, humid tropical rainforests. Some endure hurricanes and saltwater storm surges, while others flourish growing on toxic waste and plastic protruding from landfills. A few lichens have even survived growing outside the International Space Situation, far from the blue planet where they originated. Even where mature lichens are unable to grow, their spores often try. Lichens cover the ground, the trees, our homes, and even float through the air we breathe. They are everywhere, and the greater Mt. Rogers ecosystem provides the perfect conditions for lichens.
The Mt. Rogers area is cloaked in a temperate rainforest, and at lower elevations, Appalachian rich cove forest habitats are perpetually protected and filled with atmospheric moisture. Lichen diversity abounds, and winter allows them to thrive. In freezing temperatures, lichens undergo dormancy. They become completely inactive, merging with the dead, gray appearance of winter woods. They survive ice, snow, and blistering winds. Trees are felled, and rocks erode, but lichens dance across the chaos of a changing landscape from spore to adulthood, over and over again.
Tree Lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria), a giant lichen from Whitetop Mountain known for the dinner-plate-sized rosettes it forms. Lungwort requires clean, humid air to survive, and will often struggle or die if transported to areas with heavy air pollution. Photo by Cade Campbell
But lichens can’t stay dormant forever. In the summer, a dense canopy of deciduous leaves and competition from mosses, predation by invertebrates, and the constant threat of decomposing requires a healthy organism. If lichens were only a fungus, survival in the summer would be easy. Most species have photosynthetic symbionts; some kind of algae, cyanobacteria, or a relative that is encased inside, capturing supplemental energy. Simply put, long before lichens, “a fungus and an algae took a ‘lichen’ to each other” and the rest was history. Photosynthesis needs sunlight, and a summer canopy can keep most of it blocked high above the tree trunks, rocks, and soil below. The best chance for these happy couples to gather a maximum quantity of sunlight, with the moisture to process it, is on an overcast, wet, and cool winter day.
In a collective show, thousands of shades of greenish-blue from a dull, dusty blue-gray to bright turquoise, accompanied by dark viridian greens, golden-yellows, and even scarlet reds, adorn tree trunks and branches. Once you train your eye to this change, it’s easy to notice on any overcast day if lichens are metabolizing.
Most importantly, lichens have no vascular tissue like most familiar plants; no tricky veins, leaves, or stems to make things complicated. Wildflowers, ferns, and trees are not photosynthesizing in winter, and even if they were, the process happens at a much larger and complex scale. Lichens only have single-celled cyanobacteria or algae on many occasions, which can produce oxygen a lot more efficiently. Together, unrelated mosses and lichens have been found to produce more oxygen, and sequester more carbon dioxide, than the trees they grow on!
Poplar Sunburst Lichen (Xanthomendoza hasseana), a very small and inconspicuous lichen, but enormous compared to many almost-microscopic relatives. Photo by Cade Campbell
As the days to centuries wear on, old trees accumulate sheets of colorful lichen. Around 600 species of lichens occur in the state of Virginia, and many rely on tree bark to provide a perch and accumulated food. Although they thrive on dead or dying trees, lichens are not parasitic, and may grow equally well on a perfectly healthy forest tree. Lichens do not exist independently from trees, even though they are independent survivors (independent, as they work together). Tracing the line of interdependence from lichens, to trees that host them, to the squirrels that planted them, and beyond, the entire ecosystem sprawls out through the window of just one tiny, slimy superorganism that clings to the harshest and most unforgiving environments.
These are just a few of the reasons lichens (and their cohabitants, mosses) are special to Mt. Rogers, the surrounding highlands, and the world beyond.
Blue Ridge Discovery Center’s Fall Mushroom Walk
Twelve curious hikers joined Ken Crouse for his second annual BRDC mushroom walk on Saturday, September 19th. We met at Cox’s Chapel Low Water Bridge at 10am for a brief introductory show-and- tell prior to carpooling to a location across the river and into the woods.
Twelve curious hikers joined Ken Crouse for his second annual BRDC mushroom walk on Saturday, September 19th. We met at Cox’s Chapel Low Water Bridge at 10am for a brief introductory show-and- tell prior to carpooling to a location across the river and into the woods.
It was a ‘beautiful’ morning, crisp and clear, but also very dry following a week of bright, sunny days and low humidity...not the best of conditions for a mushroom foray. However, cool nights and mornings also trigger the fruiting of many fungi, so we had at least one thing in our favor.
Ken took us into damp areas, which proved to be productive enough to keep us busy identifying and comparing a wide variety of mushroom species. It is the purpose of most mushroom hunters to harvest for the kitchen table. Ken focused on offering descriptions of what to look for in great detail, how to sort through similar looking species from safe to deadly. The general morphology of a mushroom is an indicator, but the base of the stem and ‘root’ structure, careful inspection of the underside of the cap, and spore prints all add up to the level of confirmation needed to be certain of identification. Other clues include gill structure and attachment, smell, bruising color, and habitat. In fact, Ken said he usually employs seven systematic taxonomic features to assure a firm ID, and has not once in his long mushroom hunting life experienced any gastronomical discomfort from eating fungi. There are several spore dispersal systems besides gills, and serve to link specimens to family...such as the boletes which have fleshy tubes or pores, or the tooth fungi in the Hydnaceae family, puffballs which form spores inside, and club and coral fungi, which disperse spores from a fertile outer surface.
After collecting a number of specimens, we drove to a local picnic area where, and while taking lunch, Ken spread out field guides and our collection for a more thorough discussion on identification.
Following is a full species list from our day in the woods:
BRDC 9/19/15 Mushroom Walk, River Ridge Farm
Austroboletus gracilis – Graceful Bolete
Tylopilus plumboviolaceous – Lilac-brown Bolete
Suillus granulatus – Granular-stalked Bolete
Polyporus badius – Black-footed Polypore
Stereum ostrya – False Turkey Tail
Stereum complicatum – Bracket Mushroom
Trametes versicolor – Turkey Tail
Oxyporous populinus – White Polypore
Tyromeces chioneus – Cheese Polypore
Phellinus rimosus – Cracked Cap Polypore
Daldinia concentrica – Carbon Ball
Chlorocibora aeruginescens – Green-wood Stain
Lycoperdon perlatum – Gem-studded Puffball
Lycoperdon pyriforme – Pear-shaped Puffball
Schleroderma citrinum – Poison Pigskin Puffball
Scuttelaria scuttelina – Eyelash Cup
Hygrophorous praetensis – Waxy Cap
Clitocybe dilitata – White Clitocybe
Russula variata – Variable Russula
Marasmius sicca – Orange Pinwheel
Marasmius rotula – White Pinwheel
Crepidotus mollis – Jelly Crepe
Mycena pura –yellow Mycena
Mycena luteopallens – Walnut Mycena
Panellus stipticus – Luminescent Panellus
Collybia confluens – Tufted Collybia
Ramaria conjunctipes – Violet Coral
Usnea sp. – Tree Beard Lichen (Medicinal)
For a brief review of fungi see: http://eol.org/pages/5559/overview
Scott Jackson-Ricketts
Ken Crouse
Morel Mushroom
At this time of year, eager and intrepid mushroom hunters go in search of the highly sought morel. Understood by many to be one of the finest delicacies of the fungi world, hunters are loath to reveal their hot spots. The harvest window is sudden and short, meaning one has to be in the right place at the right time. Before I go any further, I am not an expert by any stretch, so do pay attention to the sources listed at the end of this feature.
At this time of year, eager and intrepid mushroom hunters go in search of the highly sought morel. Understood by many to be one of the finest delicacies of the fungi world, hunters are loath to reveal their hot spots. The harvest window is sudden and short, meaning one has to be in the right place at the right time. Before I go any further, I am not an expert by any stretch, so do pay attention to the sources listed at the end of this feature.
Morels are in the family Morchellaceae, with three genera and several more species. Most of these are considered edible, but it is highly recommended that they be cooked. Similar enough in appearance, false morels, family Helvellacaea, contain many poisonous species, meaning the harvester needs to have solid knowledge and identification skills. As in all wild harvesting, caution is the first rule.
Sticking with the true morels, or sponge mushrooms, distinguishing features (with the exception of the cup shaped morels, genus Disciotis) are thin brain like fleshy folds, brown to tan color and hollow stem. I have been told and shown that morels like apple trees and orchards. For a more extensive look at habitat, I refer you to this http://amateurmycology.com/?p=637.
And for further reading sources:
-Mushrooms by Kent and Vera McKnight (Peterson Field Guide)
-Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora
Scott Jackson-Ricketts
Carol Broderson asked me to post these pictures of the morels that she and Chris found. They left quite a few.
Mushroom Walk at River Ridge Farm
Last Saturday's mushroom walk at River Ridge Farm was a great success! The weather was just perfect we had at least 16 participants. There was a lot of interest and excitement and the fungi were out in force. With the time we had; it was not possible to prepare a comprehensive species list. However, just in a quick run through I was able to ID 56 species from the walk. Not bad for a morning stroll through the forest!
Last Saturday's mushroom walk at River Ridge Farm was a great success! The weather was just perfect we had at least 16 participants. There was a lot of interest and excitement and the fungi were out in force. With the time we had; it was not possible to prepare a comprehensive species list. However, just in a quick run through I was able to ID 56 species from the walk. Not bad for a morning stroll through the forest!
Photo Credit: Joan Sunday
We started out the day, while everyone was arriving, by reviewing a selection of several species that I had previously collected and brought for demonstration. This gave everyone a chance to meet one another and familiarize themselves with a bit of the language of mycology. This turned out to be very helpful once we started collecting during our walk. There was at least some familiarity with how to look at fungi and some of the terminology.
Here are a few highlights and notable finds: We did come across 3 different species of Amanitas, which made it possible to familiarize everyone with the characteristics the make up this genus.This is very important since some species of amanitas can be deadly poisonous!
We ran across a dozen species of Boletes; including the beautiful "Two Colored Bolete" B. bicolor and the blue staining Gyroporus cyanescens which stains dark blue immediately when it is handled.
There were 3 species of the highly sought after chanterelles; ie, the "Cinnabar Chanterelle"Cantherellus cinnabarinus, the "Horn of Plenty"Craterellus cornucopoides, and the "Golden Chanterelle"C. cibarius.
Other notable finds among the gilled mushrooms were many species of Russulas of many colors and Lactarius species that exude a type of "milk"when injured. There were several species of the colorful Entolomas, including the "Yellow Unicorn"E. murrayii and the "Salmon Witch's Hat"E salmoneum. We looked at many types of Polypores or "shelf fungi" such as the medicinal "Turkey Tails"Trametes versicolor and the "Cinnamon Polypore"Coltricia cinnamomea. An exciting find; growing from the base of a dead tree was Meripilus gigantea, which can grow to the size of several pounds. Higher up on the same tree were 2 specimens of the "Bearded Tooth"Hericium erinaeus, another highly regarded edible. Unfortunately,all we could do was look at them since they were way out of reach.
We were able to compare the edible and common "Gem-studded Puffball"Lycoperdon perlatum with the "Poison Pigskin" Puffball Schleroderma citrinum. Also, there were several different colorful species of the coral mushrooms including the "Golden Tuning Fork"Clavulinopsis fusiformis. One of the most exciting finds for me was a species of "Cup Fungus"called "Moose Antlers"or Wynnea americana. This is a very unusual looking fungus and fairly rare in our area.
We ended the day by going over to the picnic area and displaying our finds and having a discussion of each type; including toxicity/edibility, etc followed by a great picnic lunch and more mushroom talk. I believe a good time was had by all and a lot was learned and shared. There were several requests for a repeat sometime in the future.
- Ken Crouse
Mushroom Species List
River Ridge Farm
9/20/2014
Gilled mushrooms:
Amanita vaginata – Grisette
A. flavaconia – Yellow Patches
A. ceceliae
Russula virescens – Green Russula
R. variata – Variable Russula
R. compacta – Firm Russula
R. rosacea – Rosy Russula
R. aeruginea – Green Quilt Russula
R. brevipes – Shortstalked White Russula
Lactarius croceus
L. peckii – Peck's Milky
L. rufus – Redhot Milky
L. torminosus – Pinkfringed Milky
L. subpurpurea – Variegated Milky
Tricholoma sp.
Gymnopus dryophila – Oak Loving Collybia
Clitocybe clavipes – Clubshaped Clitocybe
Clitocybe gibba – Funnel Clitocybe
Hygrophoropsis aurantiacaFalse Chanterelle
Hygrocybe coccinea Red Waxycap
Cantharellus cinnibarenis—Cinnabar Chanterelle
Cantharellus tubaeformis –Trumpet Chanterelle
Cantharellus cibarius Golden Chanterelle
Craterellus cornucopioides – Horn of Plenty
Nolanea murrayii – Yellow Unicorn
Nolanea salmoneum Salmon Unicorn
Marasmius siccus – Orange Pinwheel
Marasmius rotula – Pinwheel Marasmius
Marasmius nigripes Black Foot
Poroid Fungi:
Boletus bicolor – Twocolored Bolete
B. subvelutipes – Redmouthed Bolete
B. chrysenteron – Cracked Cap Bolete
B. ornatipes – Ornatestalked Bolete
B. griseus
B. subglapripes
Gyroporous cyanescens Bluing Bolete
Leccinus scabrum – Scaber Stalk
Suillus granulatus – Granularstalked Suillus
Strobilomyces floccopus – Old Man of the Woods
Tylopilus felleus – Bitter Bolete
T. plumboviolaceus Lilacbrown Bolete
Polypores/Shelf Fungi
Meripilus gigantea – Blackstaining Polypore
Hericium erineus – Bearded Tooth
Trametes versicolor Turkeytails
Stereum ostrya – False Turkeytails
Polyporus badius – Blackfooted Polypore
Coltricia cinnamomea—Shiny Cinnamon Polypore
Puffballs'Earthballs:
Lycoperdon perlatum – Gemstudded Puffball
Schleroderma citrinum – Poison Pigskin Puffball
Coral/Club Fungi:
Clavaridelphus truncaFlattopped Coral
Cordyceps militaris Trooping Cordyceps
Clavulinopsis fusiformis Spindleshaped Yellow Coral
Tremellodendron pallidum White Jellycoral
Ramariopsis kunzeii – White Coral
Cup Fungi:
Wynnea americana Moose Antlers
Peziza badioconfusa –Common Brown Cup
Peziza repanda – Recurved Cup
Parasitic Molds:
Hypmyces hyalinus – Amanita Mold
Hypomyces chrysospermus White Bolete Mold
Shaggy Manes, Autumn Olives, and Hickories
Amidst a weekend of meetings some BRDC crew managed to get outside and do some exploring. Here's a description of discoveries offered by Scott, with some photographs snapped on an I-phone (?) by Eva Baird:
"A little after noon, on the 17th of October, Devin and Aaron Floyd, Eva Baird, and Scott Jackson-Ricketts met in Mouth of Wilson to plan a walk. Resulting from a conversation between the brothers Floyd [and Eva B.] of the previous night, we decided to 'test' the idea of harvesting as a theme for outdoor experience. The details of this were discussed throughout the afternoon, including a harvest calendar based upon accumulated information through time.
A large sprouting of shaggy mane mushrooms was spotted along the highway between MOW and Grant, to which the adventurous four headed. After seeking permission to pluck some 'shrooms' from the property owner, we went at it.
From there we headed to the Floyd house to further harvest Autumn Olives, noted in abundance earlier in the week. Leaving the 'shrooms in the kitchen, we headed out with baskets and high expectations of creating fruit leather from
these sweet berries, but found to our disappointment, that a black bear had beat us to them. This theory was verified by scat and broken branches with abundantly attendant claw marks. We also determined, for the elevation, that we were a tad late.
Setting aside this disappointment, we headed up the hill to attempt
identifying the hickories now in golden leaf. All of us had recently
been studying the new Sibley's 'Guide to The Trees', and wished to
measure its worth. Studying bark configurations, leaf size, leaflet
numbers, and what nuts we could recover from under the trees, we went
back to the house for further identification exercises as well as preparing and frying shaggy manes. The possibilities of hickory species were mockernut, pignut, shellbark, and shagbark. It is noteworthy that some of these species hybridize.
Our first attempt at preparing the mane did not go well, too many bits in the pan, too soggy. Separating the bits, adding more butter, frying them to nearly crisp, and adding a bit of lemon, created a more palatable cuisine. Someone mentioned Julia Child's strong recommendation to not let mushrooms touch one another when cooking this way. More conversation about the value of a harvest orientation to discovery in the outdoors was had, including the idea of creating an entire focus that could even lead to a club-like approach, garnering interest through a unique aspect that could become a significant part of BRDC. "
-SJR
Piedmont Morels
Norah and Eva
OK. This is a heads up to those of you in the mountains. We found a mess of morels two days ago, April 24th. To see correlations between different elevations and latitudes I offer the following observations. Let me know if and when you Blue Ridge folk find morels.
- Slope/aspect: 1%-2% west facing
- Elevation: 580 feet, 20-30 feet from a small stream
- Latitude/ Longitude:
- Latitude: 37.85868
- Longitude: -78.63983
- Forest mix: canopy of large yellow poplars and white oaks, understory of dogwood and hazel alder, herbaceous ground cover of christmas ferns and honeysuckle vine.
We found these two days after a heavy rain and they were just beginning to dry up a bit. They were heavily infested by wood fleas...something that a quick soaking in salty water fixes.
It is only 85 miles from this latitude south to a latitude that is in central Grayson County. the elevation change is roughly 1500-2000 feet . I am curious about the relative time-lag between the morel show at differing elevations.
Some generalizations floating out there are that, if one remains at the same elevation, same slope and aspect, heading 230 miles north is the ecological equivelent of climbing 1000feet. There is also a 3.4 degee f reduction associated with this move. So wether you climb upslope 1000 feet, or head north 230 miles, one should see, on average, a reduction of 3.4 degrees.
Ooh, lightening strike...I should probably turn off the computer.
