Fungi the focus of Norfolk Field Naturalists’ hike

Artist’s conk, also known as “canvas of the forest,” was one of many types of polypore mushroom visible on the recent Norfolk Field Naturalists’ mushroom hike. If the underside of the artist’s conk is scratched with a stick or other object, it will turn brown along the lines made. 

Lisa Timpf

Advocate Contributor

When we think of nature’s beauty, our minds might turn to birds in spring plumage, butterflies sipping nectar from flowers, or deciduous trees in their fall splendour. But as the Sept. 27 Norfolk Field Naturalists’ Mushroom Hike demonstrated, mushrooms are also magnificent in their own way.

As local mushroom enthusiast and hike leader Inga Hinnerichsen pointed out, there’s more to mushrooms than meets the eye. Mushrooms are the visible part of many fungi, serving as fruiting bodies to form and then release spores.

Underlying the mushrooms, the part we see above the ground, is a network of mycelium, thin threads that might run through decaying matter like tree stumps, or in the soil. Some fungi feed on decaying matter like rotting wood, helping to break it down. In this way, they serve as one of nature’s recyclers. But there’s more to them than that.

Many mushrooms are in a symbiotic relationship with trees, so there’s a give and take. The mycelium under the ground connects with tree roots. When a tree is attacked by a virus or insect pests, the tree develops chemical defenses. 

A signal goes through the tree’s roots and into the mycelial network, where it travels to other trees to help them develop their own defense mechanisms. In this way, Hinnerichsen says, fungi serve as the “wood wide web,” carrying messages underground.

By breaking down fibres and tissues, the mycelium also makes it easier for the trees to access nutrients. In return, the fungus gets sugars from the tree, making the relationship a win-win.

Trees aren’t the only ones to benefit from mushrooms’ presence. Mushrooms also serve as food for squirrels, chipmunks, and other creatures. Squirrels will sometimes hang mushrooms in trees and let them dry for winter food, says Hinnerichsen.

It would be a mistake to think all fungi are friendly. Hinnerichsen notes that honey mushrooms, for example, kill trees by rotting their roots, though the process may take a number of years.

Humans can use some wild mushrooms for food, although it’s important to have top-notch identification skills as some poisonous species are look-alikes for the edible ones. Some cultures have also used mushrooms for medicines and teas. 

First Nations people, Hinnerichsen says, also used a mushroom known as a “tinder polypore” to transport fire when they moved camp. Tinder polypores are hollow inside, so embers from the fire could be placed within them and carried to a new location.

This year’s mushroom hike offered viewings of many species of polypores (known for the small pores on their undersides where spores develop) as well as other mushroom varieties. The hike, however, did not yield the usual variety, a fact Hinnerichsen attributes to the warm, dry weather we’ve been having. Chicken fat mushrooms, slippery jet, “old man of the woods,” chanterelles, and other woodland fungi that have been spotted on mushroom hikes in other years were not present.

That being said, there were plenty of interesting sights.

“Turkey tails,” so-called because of their shape and striping, were visible in several spots. Bear’s head tooth fungus, which looks like a frozen waterfall made of rubber, could be found in a few places, and the woods were also dotted with honey mushrooms and tinder, purple spore, and other polypores.

There were also some specimens of artist’s conk, so named because scratching the underside will cause the mushroom to turn brown along the scratch-lines.

The mushroom hike is one of a number of field events offered by the Norfolk Field Naturalists. The Field Naturalists’ next speaker event, “The Niagara Escarpment,” will take place Tuesday, Oct. 21, starting at 7 p.m., at the Simcoe Recreation Centre. Speaker events are open to all.