Tilachlidium Brachiatum

Day 57: When a Park colleague sent me her photos of a strange growth she had discovered on the cut end of a trailside log and said, "Crow, do you have any idea what this is?" I was frankly baffled. I could tell it was fungal, but it was entirely unlike anything I'd ever seen. I misread her instructions or locating it and made two trips on the wrong trail before finally asking her to accompany me to the site, but when we got there, I was no more certain of its nature than I'd been before. The specimens taken by the Park's Plant Ecologist were too dry to examine (she was also baffled), so I took a fresh sample to put under the microscope. When I did so, I found that the thready bits were in fact growing on a gilled structure which I believed to be Angel Wings (Pleurocybella porrigens). The threads were an overgrowth. Armed with that clue (despite it being a very small one), I was eventually able to find information which led to its identification as Tilachlidium brachiatum. My photos of the fungus in situ became the first in the Burke Herbarium's photo gallery. A few days ago, I revisited the site and took this photo. Obviously, "Tilly" has not taken any hurt from cold or damp and is, if anything, doing even better. However, a concerted grid search of a 100-foot radius of her log revealed no other examples of the fungus despite the fact that it is known to occur on a wide variety of shelf-fungus hosts, many of which were present in the area. Tilly is on our 2020 watchlist, for sure.

A Run Around Rampart Ridge

Day 54: With snow on the ground at Longmire, I figured I'd have to turn around before I reached the crest of Rampart Ridge, 1200 feet higher. My original intention was to check on the Tilachlidium which, if you stay tuned, will make a healthy and happy appearance in an upcoming post. I was worried it might have succumbed to wintery temperatures and humidity, but when I discovered it in good shape, I went off-trail to search for other examples. In a 100-foot radius, I could not find any more. I will have to expand my search area later. At any rate, I decided to keep going up Rampart's steep east end and when I reached the intersection with the trail to Van Trump Park, the ground was still relatively snow-free. I checked the time on my camera. Could I finish off three more miles and be back before Kevin wanted to head home? I thought it might be possible, if only marginally. The ridgeline is relatively flat for almost a mile. I won't say I ran it, but I definitely was travelling at a good clip, even moreso when I started down the switchbacks of the west end. Only pausing briefly to speak with a visitor at the viewpoint, I made it back to Longmire with an hour to spare, five miles and a twenty-minute Tilachlidium hunt in just a little over two hours.

Mystery Fungus

Day 19: You have undoubtedly begun reading this expecting that at some point in the narrative, I'll tell you what this is, maybe even give you a natural history lesson to accompany it. If so, you can just keep walking because it not only has me puzzled, it has our Park plant ecologist Beth Fallon baffled as well. I suggested that it may be in the genus Phycomyces, a group of mold fungi which grow on a variety of substrates, most commonly on animal scat but also on other fungi. Looking at it under the microscope reveals that the filaments are growing out of/on a gilled structure, possibly Pleurocybella porrigens (Angel Wings). Some of the filaments are hair-like; others show many tinier filaments branching off from the main ones in a manner which calls to mind Usnea lichens (no, this is not a lichen). Beth and I are both out of our depth here, so we'll be sending off photos and possibly specimens for expert identification.

Update - We have an ID: Tilachlidium brachiatum, formerly known as Clavaria brachiata or Pseudonectria tilachlidii, it was given the distinction of its own genus based on genetic analyses. It is thought to be non-discriminatory with respect to the host fungi on which it grows.