Mushroom Class People

[urbpan]

On the off chance that someone who has gone on a Fungi Field Walk with me is reading this, I thought I'd bring up some relevant mushroom information. Other people might like it too.

One of the mental notes I've left for myself and misplaced several times is "Research how the mushroom called 'carbon balls' distributes its spores." Carbon balls (Daldinia concentrica, also called 'coal fungus') are the fruiting bodies of a wood-digesting fungus. They are dark brown to black, and hard and dry to the touch. If you crush them between your thumb and finger, it's feels similar to crushing a well-burnt piece of wood. If you slice them with a knife, you can see concentric rings of growth inside (you may also, as I did, see insect larvae hiding inside, as Tom Volk did).

What I didn't know (until I consulted Tom Volk's page) was where the spores were in this fungus. It looks kind of like a puffball, but the inside of puffballs turn to spores, and that doesn't appear to be what's happening with carbon balls. The concentric rings are the clue. The spores are produced by cells on the surface of the mushroom. The mushroom is perennial, and with each season of growth, it adds another new layer of spore-producing cells.

If I find some in the city, I will write up a More Urban Species entry for them.

This mushroom is closely related to Dead man's fingers.

Comments

[ndozo.livejournal.com]

So is this a mushroom that should not be picked? (I mean assuming you want more mushrooms around?)

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

You know, I feel a little bad for picking it, crushing it, picking another, slicing it. But realistically, that probably didn't affect the ability of the fungus to reproduce very much. There are usually many fruiting bodies in a row, so removing one or two won't do too much.