August 11, 1988 - Mysteries of Mushrooms and MoldAugust 11, 19881The Suffolk Times /Page 11A
Mysteries of Mushrooms and Mold
By Paul Stoutenburah
It was one of those mornings when I
woke just as the dawn was opening its
eye. I twisted and turned and tried to fall
back into dream world but it was to no
avail. The week's weather was unbear-
able -- hot and humid -- and the
prospects for the day weren't any better.
Under those conditions there was only
one thing to do and that was get up.
Cool water felt good on my face and it
seemed to wash away some of my
drowsiness. It was time to go feed the
chickens and cows before the sun started
its sweltering act.
Outside it was still cool from the
night and dampness hung in the air.
Across the open fields to the back of the
pasture fog lay in puddles in low spots
like some distant pond or lake. There
wasn't a sound except for the far -off
cooing of a lone dove. Perhaps it, too,
was contemplating the coming heat of
the day.
The only other sound was an occa-
sional crow the the "king of the hill,"
our big rooster, as he proudly strutted
amongst his harem. The silence was
almost eerie as I walked to the stable to
feed the chickens. Their sharp eyes
caught me as I walked through the
woods and they started toward their
usual feeding spot. There was no need to
call "Come and get it" to this hungry
crew. A scoop into the yellow barrel of
cracked corn and then a swish of grain
on the ground and they were all absorbed
in feeding. Pecks and jabs by dominant
ones would send the underdogs scurrying
off, only to work their way back into
the feeding ground in a less belligerent
spot.
Chickens Fed, Cows Next
The cows were standing in the pasture
chewing their cud in a half -sleep but
when they heard the commotion of
feeding their heads came up and they
came toward me. They knew of our
supply of leftover sweet corn from the
neighboring farmstand and they wanted
to be fed. A basket of corn soon satis-
fied their hunger. The whole ear, husk
and all, went into the grinding mill of
the slobbering mouth of these huge an-
imals.
The weather has been so crazy lately
it is hard to remember the sequence of
its coming and going. Some time ago it
was so dry that everything had to be
watered and the farmers were continually
irrigating. Then later a bit of rain came
and gave us relief. But always there was
Focus on
Nature
that hot and humid weather that hung
like some great cloud over our East End.
Whatever the combination, mush-
rooms were popping up in our pasture,
on the lawn and in the woods. The
heavy -domed boletus and the delicate -
veined mushrooms were most obvious
and our grandchildren were continually
showing us samples of their fascinating
shapes and colors.
With a little careful searching they
even found the milky white, almost
transparent spears of the Indian pipe. It
grows to about five or six inches, has
no leaves but rather scales on its stem.
Through the days we watched the change
of these shade - loving parasites that grow
on the forest floor and change from the
characteristic pipe shape to a mature
upright position.
This new position told us their blos-
soming days were over. They would
now dry to a dark brown and remain as
winter sentinels to remind us of the
warmer, greener days of summer. These
interesting plants have no green leaves
to manufacture food as other plants do,
but rely solely on fungi working in
damp and decayed matter in the ground.
They are literally parasites.
Mystery in a Woodland Path
There is a woodland path that leads to
our daughter's house and during their
travels back and forth our grandchildren
always keep an eye out for things to tell
us. The latest was a yellow mushroom
Sara found and couldn't wait to show
us. I had to be taken immediately to see
it and so, hand in hand, we walked along
the path to an old rotten log where she
had spotted one of the great mysterics
that baffle scientists to this day.
What we saw was a big patch of
bright yellow that appeared like some
colorful fabric along the top of a log. I
recognized it as one of the mysterious
slime molds. Some say it's a plant, for
it reproduces by spores or seeds like
most plants, and yet others say it is an
animal like some amoeba feeding and
moving in search of food.
It has no head or feet or nervous sys-
tem, yet it has mobility. True, it is
slow, but it can be calculated as it
moves about the damp forest debris. As
it does, it is in a more or less jelly -like
stage, creeping like some science - fiction
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Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
DEADLY AMANITA- -Given weather such as we have had, mush-
rooms and fungi of all sorts pop up everywhere. Unless you are an ex-
pert, keep away from sampling any of these. Like the amanita pictured
above, some can be deadly.
ninrrter-on TV. When it wants to fruit
i;, climbs to a high position just as Sara
had found it atop a fallen log, and then
it blossoms. The bright pattern we were
looking at was the flowering. Eventu-
ally it would release spores into the air.
This was its reproduction cycle.
Overnight a whole parade of color and
beauty had disappeared and only a mass
of nondescript, colorless material was
left to mark the climax of this mysteri-
ous and fascinating plant/animal.
Slime Molds in All Colors
Slime molds come in a variety of
colors: red, orange, yellow, brown, pur-
ple, blue, gold, grey, almost any color
of the rainbow except green. Their shape
can even be more varied than their col-
ors. Under a magnifier the tapestry turns
into a myriad of shapes, such as bells,
ferns, donuts, floor lamps, fountains,
toy balloons. Your imagination is the
only limiting factor. As the slime mold
grows, it continually divides but never
separates from the basic mass and so
becomes larger and larger. Some call it a
community animal, but remember, it's
not an animal to all.
Slime molds are just one of the fasci-
nating parts of the natural world. By
knowing how these parts fit together
and their relationship to others, we start
to understand how we as humans affect
that world. It's only then that a change
can come about to make this world a
better place for all of us to live.
Goldsmith, F
s
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