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, November 11, 2022
The Joe Log
Day 29: Whether due to drought-like conditions during the summer or the possibility that it has consumed all available nutrition from its host wood, the Joe Log has so far only produced a dusting of aqua-blue disks. My botany partner brought me this 18" long stick a couple of years ago after posting a photo which elicited the comment from me that I would "give my eyeteeth to see this in real life." The species is Chlorociboria aeruginascens, one of a small handful of turquoise-coloured fungi. I've been cultivating it carefully ever since, keeping it tucked beneath ferns where it was most likely to stay moist year-'round. However, our exceptionally dry summer has taken a toll on fungal communities in general, and I suspect the Joe Log hasn't escaped without feeling some effect. That said, the colony has had a few slow starts before. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes off now that the weather is cooler and the rain has returned.
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