Fungus Fact Friday

Tagged: disease

#026: Pseudogymnoascus destructans 5

Fungus Fact

#026: Pseudogymnoascus destructans

The fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans is the causal agent of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) of bats. WNS is most destructive to bats during the winter.  Its primary effect on bats is to change their behavior during winter.  Bats with WNS are observed to wake up frequently, fly around during the day, and cluster near the entrances to their hibernacula during the time that they should be hibernating.  This extra activity kills bats in two ways.  For one, they could either freeze to death while flying around outside.  Alternatively, the extra activity could deplete their fat reserves and the bats could starve to death.

#020: Aleurodiscus oakesii, Smooth Patch Disease of Oak [Archived] 0

Archived

#020: Aleurodiscus oakesii, Smooth Patch Disease of Oak [Archived]

Note: This is an archived post.  You can read the current version of the post here. How to use a trees to identify a mushroom (without seeing the actual mushrooms): If you are more than a casual observer of trees you have probably learned that oak trees often have smooth patches in their normally rough bark.  What you may not know is that these smooth patches are caused by the fungus Aleurodiscus oakesii.  This fungus only feeds off of the tree’s bark, so it does not cause any damage to the tree.  However, it does result in patches of bark that are more smooth than usual.  These patches are known as “smooth patch disease.”  As the fungus is not harmful to the tree, the main impact of the disease is the undesirable cosmetic effect it has on trees in peoples’  The disease is common on oaks, especially on white oaks,...

#019: Apiosporina morbosa, Black Knot of Cherry [Archived] 0

Archived

#019: Apiosporina morbosa, Black Knot of Cherry [Archived]

Note: this is an archived post.  You can view the current version of this post here. And now for something completely different: identifying trees from a long way away. If you’ve ever tried to identify deciduous trees in the winter, you know how hard it is to identify a tree based on its bark.  However, thanks to the fungus Apiosporina morbosa, identifying cherry trees in winter becomes a walk in the park.  Apiosporina morbosa is an ascomycete that parasitizes cherry and plum trees.  Commonly known as “black knot,” the fungus forms black, dry, cracked, irregular swellings on branches which grow to surround the branch.  According to Michael Kuo, these knots look like “dried cat poop on a stick.”*  Although this is not the most attractive-looking fungus, it is very helpful for identifying cherry trees from hundreds of feet away, especially in winter when the knots are not hidden by leaves.

#001: Armillaria ostoyae, the Humongous Fungus 3

Fungus Fact

#001: Armillaria ostoyae, the Humongous Fungus

Welcome to Fungus Fact Friday! To start off this exciting new series I have chosen a simple yet amazing fungus fact: the largest known living, single organism on the planet is a fungus; Armillaria ostoyae to be specific!  The Armillaria genus contains good edibles and includes species commonly known as “honey mushrooms” or “shoestring fungi.”  The second name comes from the thick, black rhizomorphs that connect various areas of the fungus together.  These rhizomorphs form under the bark of trees that the fungus attacks parasitically and extend through the soil from tree to tree.  This infection causes the trees to die back, which makes the 2,385 acre area the fungus has colonized visible from the air.  DNA tests taken from ostoyae samples all around the infected area showed that this was one individual (for the moment I have put aside the “what is an individual?” debate, a very confusing subject...