As soon as I mentioned wood eaters this tree spirit started looking worried. Actually this carving doesn’t have anything to do with this post other than to show a tree’s remarkable ability to heal itself. This was carved into a tree on his property a few years ago by a local resident and it shows how quickly the bark is coming together to heal the wound. In a few more years if the tree stays healthy you won’t be able to see any sign of this carving.
On the other hand if you see a tree with turkey tail fungi (Trametes versicolor) like these on it, the chance of it healing itself is slim to none. Turkey tails are sabprobic fungi, meaning they decompose dead or decaying organic material. Though they do occasionally grow on live trees, if you find them on a standing tree it is most likely dead. Turkey tails cause white rot of the sapwood. They also show great promise in cancer research.
Crust fungi are called resupinate fungi and have flat, crust like fruiting bodies which usually appear on the undersides of fallen branches and logs. Resupinate means upside down, and that’s what many crust fungi seem to be. Their spore bearing surface can be wrinkled, smooth, warty, toothed, or porous and though they appear on the undersides of logs, the main body of the fungus is in the wood, slowly decomposing it. Some, like the white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysorhizon pictured above have been found to be useful in degrading of various pesticides, PCBs, and other poisons. Some will even “eat” plastics. Because some crust fungi break down lignin, which is the brown in wood, and leave the white cellulose behind they are also being studied for use in the paper industry for “biopulping.”
It’s too bad that many crust fungi grow in hidden places like the undersides of logs because many are quite beautiful. I’ve spent quite a while trying to identify this blue-gray one but haven’t had much luck. I think it must be a variation of the cobalt crust fungus (Terana caerulea.)
The forest would be a very different place without fungi breaking down all of the twigs, branches and logs. It would probably be more like an impenetrable brush pile, just waiting for a fire to come and clean it out.
Here is a cobalt crust fungus (Terana caerulea) that I showed in another post recently. I’m showing it again here to illustrate the difference between it and the example in the previous photo, and also the one that follows.
Though this appears to be close to the same color as the cobalt crust fungus I think that it might be bluestain, which is also called sapstain because of the way it stains the sapwood of logs. If this log were sawn into planks the blue color could show on the surface of one or more of the planks. Both deep and surface bluestain can be caused by fungi called Ophiostoma minus and others, which all seem to be collectively called bluestain fungi and which can eventually kill the tree. It is thought that bark beetles and mites help it spread.
Some crust fungi have teeth, like the toothed crust (Basidioradulum radula) in the photo above. This crust fungus starts life as round, brownish yellow patches with creamy white margins. These round patches eventually grow together to form large irregular colonies like that in the above photo. It is very tough and has a waxy coating that protects it and allows it to revive after drying out. It’s another crust fungus that feeds on dead and decaying limbs and logs.
This milk white, toothed polypore (Irpex lacteus) is another upside down (Resupinate) fungus with a tooth shaped pore surface. As the photo shows, it will sometimes try to grow a cap which is white and hairy, and grows curled up around the edges. This fungus feeds on the dead sapwood and occasionally the heartwood of fallen hardwood logs and causes white rot.
Bootstrap fungus is caused by honey mushrooms (Armillaria mellea), which are parasitic on live wood and send out long root like structures called rhizomorphs between the wood of a tree and its bark. When fresh these rhizomorphs are cream colored but darken to brown or black as they age. The fungus is also called armillaria root rot or shoestring root rot. It causes a white pulpy rot in the wood and kills many species of both soft and hardwood trees.
These are the honey mushrooms (Armillaria mellea) that cause the bootstrap fungus seen in the previous photo. If you see them growing on a live tree, it’s all over for that tree. These examples were well past their prime when I found them.
Fungal rhizomorphs are threadlike or cordlike structures made up of branched tubular filaments called hyphae. They absorb nutrients and moisture and I think of them as a mushroom’s roots, even though that isn’t entirely accurate. They are worth looking for in leaf litter and on the undersides of logs because they can be very beautiful.
Trees and logs can be stained various colors, including black, white, brown, blue, green, yellow, red, and even pink. Discolorations can be caused by fungi, molds, bacteria, yeasts, minerals in soil, inorganic deposits, metals, enzymes, and even stress brought on by tension or compression. It takes a microscope and a trained eye to uncover what causes discolorations and since I have neither I can’t say what caused this pink stain on the bark of the tree in the photo. It looked good and healthy otherwise and I didn’t see any fungi growing on it.
Nor can I say what caused the pink stain on the wood of this cut limb. It isn’t a color that you see often in nature, though.
Sometimes woods affected by fungi can become very desirable to woodworkers. Spalting is essentially any form of wood coloration caused by fungi but there are 3 major types; pigmentation, white rot and zone lines. Sometimes all 3 can be present as they are on the end grain of the elm log in the above photo. Pigmentation is the blue gray color, which is probably caused by bluestain or sapstain. The white rot can be seen in the areas that look soft or pulpy, and the zone lines are the dark, narrow lines found radiating randomly throughout the log. Zone lines often form where 2 or more types of fungi meet.
A few woodworkers have learned how to recreate the natural spalting process artificially, and the worth of a log can jump from $30.00 to $3,000.00 after a few weeks of spalting. Why would a log attacked by fungi be worth so much money? Because of the beautiful things that can be made from it, like the spalted maple covered box made by Michael at Michael’s Wood craft blog. Michael knows wood and he makes some beautiful objects from it, including cutting boards, ice cream scoops, honey sticks, and just about anything else you can think of. If you haven’t seen his blog you’re missing a real treat. You can visit it by clicking here. You’ll see some of the most beautiful woods that you’ve ever laid eyes on.
I’ve found by studying wood specific fungi that I have a greater understanding of how the forest works, and a greater appreciation of the beauty of the fungi themselves. I’ve also had a lot of fun and have learned a lot by searching for various fungi and learning how they affect certain types of wood. It’s a fascinating subject!
If you want to learn about nature, to appreciate nature, it is necessary to understand the language that she speaks. ~Richard Feynman
I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for coming by.
Reblogged this on Dawn of Divine Rays.
Thank you Agnes.
I love the turkey tails and the cobalt fungus. It’s sad that the trees are killed though even if the wood makes beautiful things,
I think the trees have probably been weakened or wounded by the time the fungi begin to grow on them.
I couldn’t imagine the clutter in the forests and fields if fungi didn’t exist. Just goes to show, everything has a purpose!
Yes, it would be a real mess out there without them!
Allen, does the turkey tail fungus become a burl – the stuff that woodworkers use to make beautiful bowls and trays and so on>?
Or is that another kind of growth on the tree trunk that is called burl when it matures?
The truth is, nobody really knows what causes burl to form in wood. People speculate that it could be caused by damage, mold, insects, fungi, and soil minerals but all attempts to create artificial burls have failed. And woodworkers have been trying for a very long time. That’s one reason burl is so expensive. It sure is beautiful though!
Sure is.
Another great post …I’m learning all the while thanks… 🙂
Thank you Sue. Me too!
Something that is overlooked by most is such a critical part to the puzzle of life. Fascinating!
Thanks! Yes, the forest would be a very different place if not for fungi.
The different colours of fungi are beautiful, they are certainly worth studying and I applaud your dedication to finding out so much about them. The quote is very appropriate. Amelia
Thank you Amelia. They really are beautiful and seem to be among the most colorful fungi. Finding them and then finding out about them is fun.
Happy Thanksgiving!
You’ve done it again, come up with another great post! I’ve seen a few of the things that you’ve included here, like the bluestain fungi, but you’ve really tied some things together here that I’ve guessed at in the past when I’ve seen them. I may never remember the names of these things, but the knowledge of how nature works is more important to me than names, and you’ve hit a home run with this post on that count!
Thanks Jerry, and happy Thanksgiving to you, too! I hope you’re getting a long weekend so you can get out and take some more photos.
I learned quite a lot by researching this post and I’m glad that you’ve gotten something from it as well. There are some amazing things going on out there!
There is so much in the natural world to see and to appreciate…You do such an amazing job of bringing that all to the written page; love the photos.
Thank you Charlie. I do try to show things that normally go unseen, hoping that people might stop and look just a little closer.
Another step in my education and beautifully illustrated too.
Thank you. I also learned a great deal by doing this post, including how to find crust fungi.
I shall have to turn things over more.
You’ll be surprised by what you find!
Sabprobic – that is my new word of the day!
Another good one for Scrabble!
I enjoy your posts, a learning experience every time. Something like the fungal rhizomorphs was growing on one of the beds in my greenhouse, where I had a thick planting of turnips. It was the only area where I found it. Also, thanks for the link to a woodworking site…I’m going to check it out.
Thank you. I’m glad to hear that you enjoy them. Fungi aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but I thought a few would enjoy reading what I’ve learned over the past few months.
You might want to let the soil in that turnip bed dry out a bit. Turning the soil might help too. Most fungi like heat, humidity, and dampness and removing one or two will discourage them. It’s tough to do in a greenhouse though, I know.
I’m sure you’ll see something you like on Michaels blog. He makes some beautiful things.
I have been reading recently about the research being done into the many uses of fungi and lichen. I am sure if we keep on looking the cures for all the worlds illnesses are out in the natural world somewhere – unless we have destroyed some of them already with our carelessness. I remember you saying that lichens can etch into glass; I suppose this quality can be used to break down all sorts of substances? I hope you and your family have a very happy Thanksgiving.
Thank you Clare. I agree, in just the Amazon basin alone there are probably enough medicines to treat everyone on the planet, and if we knew what we were doing we’d have scientists there studying with the natives.
Yes I’ve read that lichens, along with weather, is what turns stones into sand. Of course, it takes a while!
I know you don’t do Thanksgiving there but I hope you have a great week and find many things to be thankful for.
Further evidence of life’s complexity. Those who seldom venture beyond videoland and their personal soap opera miss so much. Thank you for opening other doors
You’re welcome Ben. I’m happy to show others what they’re missing. I just hope that they take the next step and go and see for themselves. There are some very beautiful things to be seen out there.
And you always seem to find some of the less obvious ones too. which is of great service.. 🙂
I look for those things that people tend to pass by.
That first shot of the cobalt crust fungus is astonishing, Allen. And very unbiological looking I think – outside marine coral. Interesting about spalting – a word I haven’t come across before and a good one for scrabble.
Thank you David. It’s just amazing what you can see out there and I’m surprised by something almost every time I go out. You’d better have a dictionary handy if you use spalting in Scrabble!
Those crust fungi were amazing. I’ll have to look for them. My son and I have spalted hackberry for a friend of his in Alaska that makes knife handles with it. So I see why the knives sell for so much.
Thanks! A spalted handle on a hunting knife would be a great thing to own and that hackberry wood is a great gift for your son’s friend. I’ll bet he gets some really beautiful handles out of it. I’d also guess that they would sell quickly!
Craig, in Alaska, is quite talented and he does make is living off knives and selling scales and blocks of the wood.
That sounds like a great way to make a living. I wouldn’t mind doing that myself if I were talented enough.
It takes a lot of patience and takes a while. You never know what you’ll find until you cut into the wood … and then you don’t want to cut it wrong. You might watch for fallen trees that went down in a wet area, not in water. Davis found one such tree where he deer hunts on family land. It had a beautiful spalt. Let me know if you have any more questions.
I LOVE the first photo – it is great. 🙂 And, I just ordered a board and a scoop from Michael for a gift. Happy holiday and keep the snowblower gassed up.
Thank you Judy. I agree-the man who does these is quite a wood carver. I’m glad you found a few things at Michaels website. I’m a sucker for beautiful woods and he has plenty of them. I don’t have a snow blower but the shovel is ready to go. I just wish I was. Have a great Thanksgiving.
It’s always a treat to follow your posts. I learned a lot about lichen and fungi by following it. Thank you for that.
You’re welcome Zyriacus, and thank you. I’m always happy to hear that people are getting something from these posts.
Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for the glorious colors and shots of things most people walk right by. Love the first shot of the wood carving!!
You’re welcome Martha. I like that wood carving too. He has another one but I didn’t feel right walking across his front lawn to get a shot of it. Happy thanksgiving!
So interesting, all those different colours of fungi. I was also interested in the possible use of the turkey tail fungus to combat cancer.
Thank you Susan. A lot of people believe that the reason cancer is almost unheard of in China is because they have been drinking tea made from turkey tails for centuries. Scientists have found certain chemicals in them that boost the immune system, and they are also being studied in Aids research.
Very nice, I learned a few things! thank you for the link back, I hope you and your family have a wonderful Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks Michael. I’m sorry it took me so long to post this but it was a tough one. You might want to look into how to do your own wood spalting. There is quite a lot of information on it out there and it doesn’t seem like it is that hard. Have a great Thanksgiving!
Honey fungus as its known over here, is feared as its the most destructive fungal disease we have. Great shot of the bootlace rhizomorphs. I’ve not seen such a lovely Turkey Tail before, only a pale creamy white one. Bluestain is new to me too, I would of assumed wrongly that it was artificial. So much to see, it is fascinating and I love your insights.
Thank you Julie. Honey fungi are one of the worst here too-pretty much a death sentence for a tree. Our turkey tails lean toward the brown shades but I’ve seen purple, blue and even orange ones. I’ve never figured out what gives them their various colors.