How is a mushroom like an apple? Both can be considered the “fruit” of a tree, but while all the branches of an apple tree are visible, nearly all parts of the tree that mushrooms grow on are hidden underground.
“There is much more to this organism than meets the eye,” said Anica Williams, a California State Parks employee who gave a talk on fungus while walking through Hendy Woods State Park in Anderson Valley earlier this month.
Williams, who described herself as “not an expert but an enthusiast” when it comes to fungus, said she wanted to talk about the “fascinating” world of fungi — organisms that are neither plants nor animals and actually have their own kingdom — while under some of the world’s tallest trees because of “all the incredible things that fungus does for the incredible redwoods.”
And why did she choose to walk in Hendy Woods? Because Williams was “born and raised in Mendocino County, and it is fun sharing my home with people from other places.”
What was also fun, she said, was sharing all she has learned about “the very, very interesting world of fungi — the more I learn about fungus, the more intrigued I am by it,” Williams said while beginning her recent walk, which had previously been scheduled for January, but was delayed due to the powerful storms Mendocino County experienced this winter.
And while there would have been more mushrooms to find at the beginning of the year, Williams did find one or two hiding at the foot of the towering redwood trees, which she said provide the “perfect mushroom habitat — wet and shady.”
In return for the optimal shelter, fungus provides optimal food for the redwoods and many other plants with their roots in the nearby soil.
“(Fungus) will break down anything on the forest floor — all the leaves, branches and cones, decomposing them and turning them back into healthy, rich soil, which is a very important job,” she said, describing fungus as actually “more closely related to animals than to plants, (because while) plants can make their own food, fungus cannot — they have to feed off other organisms.”
Unlike animals, though, fungi digest their food outside their bodies by releasing “enzymes that break down nutrients so they can then absorb them back into their cells, which is pretty incredible,” said Williams, describing the “mycelium tree” created by a fungus as being “almost like roots, which are absorbing minerals, but the mycelium roots are breaking the nutrients down.”
Before breaking down any food, though, Williams said most fungus are “very picky” about what they eat, such as a group of Turkey Tails she found on a stump.
“Turkey Tails only like to live on (and eat) hardwood like oaks,” she said, noting that Turkey Tails also “last longer than most” other types of fungi.
Another fungus she found was “Dyer’s polypore,” which she described as “latching onto the roots of Douglas Fir trees, usually one that is already dying,” noting that the end of a tree’s life benefits the lives of many others in the forest because “a dying tree becomes like a hotel for all sorts of other species such as insects and animals. And when it does finally fall, it opens up more space for other plants to grow.”
And if those plants live near a fungus, Williams said, its “mycelium roots can connect to the roots of a plant and allow it to absorb more water and more nutrients,” while the fungus absorbs more sugar in return.
But perhaps the most direct way that fungus, mushrooms in particular, benefit a redwood forest is as a meal for one of its most popular residents: Banana Slugs.
“Banana slugs love mushrooms!” Williams said, adding that while many humans love mushrooms as well, many mushrooms should NOT be eaten by humans.
“Please be super careful when collecting wild mushrooms, because some are edible, but some will make you sick, and some can REALLY make you sick,” she said. “NEVER eat anything you cannot identify — promise me!”
Another way to explain the danger, Williams said, is this apt saying: “There are old mushroom hunters and bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old, bold mushroom hunters!”
* * *
Mushroom Poachers Sentenced
by Mark Scaramella
(Intro: Ms. Frederiksen’s interesting Hendy Woods story including mention of the mushrooms to be found there reminded us (seems like old news farts like us are reminded of past stories by almost everything these days) of our 1996 story about the two Philo mushroom “poachers” caught by an overenthusiastic Park Ranger when they inadvertently failed to hide their fungal booty when the Ranger’s truck drove by.)
Jill Myers of Philo was in AV Justice Court one day in the 1990s before the outlying justice courts were closed by Mendo’s self-serving judicial cadre with her Cheesecake friend, Sophie Otis. An unlikier pair had seldom been seen in the Boonville dock. Myers and Otis, nicely outfitted in L.L. Bean outdoor attire, faced charges of mushroom poaching stemming from having been caught red-handed with what they called “a beautiful white chanterelle mushroom.” The chastened gleaners carried their purloined fungus (singular) in a see-through plastic bag. They had just plucked the irresistible chanterelle at Hendy Woods near where Mrs. Myers lives.
Myers and Otis were walking back home with their prize when a stern-looking Hendy Woods Park Ranger by the name of Kathy Kinsey drove by and saw the contraband mushroom. Ranger Kinsey asked the pair if they knew it was illegal to take mushrooms from a park. The two shrugged, conceded they were ignorant of this particular law of the several million now deployed against an increasingly lawless citizenry and without demur accepted $108 citations.
During the moments preceding their appearance before Boonville Judge Eric Labowitz, Myers, Otis and yours truly were discussing their legal strategy — apparently they had considered some kind of Not Guilty plea having to do with misplaced signage or the apparent unfairness of the enforcement, as compared to possibly pleading guilty if they could choose their own community service as punishment.
Judge Labowitz was in his adjoining “chambers” (a bathroom sized room next to the meeting room) with the door open. Upon overhearing the tactical menu he emerged to tell us that we shouldn’t be discussing legal strategies within earshot of the judge. Labowitz returned to his chambers only to immediately re-enter the courtroom to begin the trial.
The two poachers decided to plead guilty after Labowitz told them, “I could give you each 15 hours of community service. How does that sound?”
“Fine,” replied Myers and Otis.
By this time Ranger Kinsey had rushed in looking very official and stern, just in case the miscreant pair had been thinking about getting off due to non-appearance of law enforcement. (Experienced miscreants always go to court and wait to see if law enforcement is going to appear. If the arresting office fails to appear for a minor offense, judges typically dismiss the case.) Kinsey, like her officious colleagues, is obviously a stickler for the rules.
When asked which of them actually picked the mushroom, the poaching pair raised their hands simultaneously, in obvious solidarity.
Labowitz then asked, “Where do you want to perform your community service?”
Myers replied, “How about Hendy Woods?”
Labowitz replied, “What do you want to do there, clean up the mushrooms?”
Ranger Kinsey strained to maintain a straight face at the prospect of community service in her own balliwick. Spectators, getting into the spirit of the proceedings, also stifled their laughter.
Labowitz told the two mushroom poachers they would get community service cards that had to be signed by Ranger Kinsey’s boss, Karl Poppelreiter, upon completion of the Community Service.
On the way out, Ranger Kinsey said that “no consumptive uses” were allowed in state parks, causing me to wonder if there was also some obscure prohibition against TB patients enjoying state parks.
“The only thing that bothers me about this,” said Myers after the trial, “is that the Ranger got to keep our mushroom. I hope she enjoyed it.”
According to a couple of my friends, Hendy Woods chanterelles are delicious sautéed with garlic and butter.
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