Schizophyllum Commune, Split-Gill Fungus

Day 81: Park colleague and friend Yonit invited me to join her for dinner and a show to celebrate the New Year, and appropriate to the occasion, we first took a walk on the Grass Lake Nature Trail near her home in Olympia. True to form, I was stopping at every tree to look at lichens, scanning the surrounding woods for invasives, and carrying on with my typical running commentary along the one-mile loop. As we came back into the clearing at the trailhead, Yonit pointed out where a local group has been working on restoration. My eyes were immediately drawn to a white bracket fungus on a short alder stump, certain I knew what it was even from a distance of fifty feet. Sure enough, it was Schizophyllum commune, Split-Gill Fungus. The colony was well-established, so I broke off on bracket in order to show Yonit the split gills, a reproductive mechanism which I believe is peculiar to this genus. The gills open or close depending on humidity levels, thus husbanding the spores inside until enough moisture is available for them to thrive. Some experts believe that the species was introduced into Washington when infected wood was transported commercially, however the Schizophyllaceae are known world-wide with S. commune being one of the more common species. To me, this raises the question of "introduction" versus "range expansion," and I am more inclined to side with the latter option, particularly where it concerns a very prolific and adaptable fungus. But where do we draw a line, scientifically speaking? How many Scrub Jays must appear in an area previously populated only by Steller's and Greys before they are considered to have expanded their range for whatever reason (habitat loss, new food sources, etc.)? The biosphere is not a static place; it is a living laboratory. As such, it was addressed somewhat superficially in "Fantastic Fungi," the film we saw later in the day.

Brought back for another run at the Capitol Theater, "Fantastic Fungi" drew full-house crowds when it was first shown, and I have to say that the packed theater seats yesterday surprised me. It wasn't until we were about a third of the way into the film that I realized the draw was not so much curiosity about the fungal network (although that was covered rudimentarily by the film) but an interest in a specific genus, the Psilocybes. Almost a third of the documentary was devoted to the use of psilocybin, both recreationally and medically. Other "medicinal mushrooms" were covered as well, notably Turkey-tail and Lion's-mane. While the latter is easy to identify, it is relatively uncommon and I was saddened to see it being promoted as a healthful collectible. Turkey-tail, on the other hand, is not so easy to identify reliably, and while no one is likely to poison themselves by making teas of its look-alikes, the popularity of it as an alternative medicine could lead to over-collection of other shelf fungi as well as Turkey-tail itself. Based on the comments overheard from the row behind us, I got the impression that very few people in the audience had come to learn more about the fungal Kingdom and in fact probably couldn't have told a Chanterelle from a Morel if they'd been presented them side-by-side. That said, the time-lapse photography was beautiful if repetitive, and showed a range of things including fungi, sprouting seeds and flowers opening from bud. However, I was profoundly annoyed when in the middle of a sequence about mushrooms, the cinematographer had elected to include a time-lapse of a slime mold in its plasmodial form. There were no captions, so the uninformed might have assumed it was mycelium. Mycelial connections were only superficially explained, but magnificently illustrated in animated graphics. That said, I could have done without some fifteen minutes or so which were devoted to the hippie-style kaleidoscopic mandalas which were supposed to demonstrate the high attained from psilocybin. Both Yonit and I had expected the film to be more scientific and although some interesting points were made about the interconnectedness of all things via fungi, it struck me as being largely a promotion for one man's business venture. Still, the visuals were beautiful, and if I didn't learn anything in particular, at least I was entertained.