365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Friday, February 28, 2020
Frankia Nodules
Day 138: My initial reaction when I spotted these at a distance was, "Oooooooh, slime mold!" but when I got closer and saw the network of fine roots, I realized I'd been fooled again. Frankias are nitrogen-fixing bacteria which live on the roots of various trees and plants, especially those in stressed conditions where natural nutrients are limited. The different strains of Frankia tend to be specific to certain hosts. In this instance, the host roots belong to Alnus rubra (Red Alder), a tree quite common to the lowlands of western Washington. Experiments with Frankia inoculation have been done successfully to increase performance of Alder stands in poor soils, and although I'm not sure that was the case at this location, there certainly seems to be a lot of it, waiting to trick me into thinking I've found a slime mold, if only momentarily.
Labels:
Alnus rubra,
bacteria,
Frankia,
nitrogen fixation
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