Fungi Field Trip- Pine Ridge Park

About two weeks ago, the Biology 213 class did something different than the ordinary lab day; we stepped outside into the beautiful weather and went on a short hike to look at fungi. Although our class is taught by Gwen, the field trip was lead by Karina; a student at the University of Washington. Out of all three biology classes I have taken at EDCC, this was the first with a field trip. Pine Ridge Park is a beautiful park near EDCC and has water, forest, and a trail to guide through the woods. During this field trip, we looked at everything that I would NOT look at on a regular hike. Karina would stop and pick up a stick and talk about it, or flip over a log and point something out. It was amazing to me to realize how much goes unseen by the majority of people. There is a whole network of fungi throughout the woods. Throughout the field trip I saw fungi, lichen, mushrooms, and other fascinating things.

Karina energetically talked about a tree to us. This tree had many types of fungi, and lichen. She hypothesized that the tree was slowly dying from some fungi in the sapwood layer of the tree. This caused the tree to push out sap into a wound-looking section on the tree in attempt to expel the fungi. This tree also held 2 majorly visibly types of lichen; crust and powder lichen. These lichen were attached to the bark of the tree and held a mutualistic relationship with the tree. These lichens as well as the "sap wound" from the fungi inside the tree can be seen below;



In addition, Karina also showed us some fungi called conks, these were living on an old fallen tree. There were conks all over the log, and their mycellium were connected to each other throughout the log.

Finally, Karina showed us some basidiomycetes. The mushrooms had beautiful fruiting bodies. Although she could not defiantly name them, they were some form of Aminita. Interestingly, the Aminita mushroom family also holds the Death Angle, and the Death Cap; two of the most deadly mushrooms. In the picture below, many structures of the mushroom can be seen. The gills are exposed as well as the signature polka dotted top. The ring around the stem of the mushroom can also be seen clearly. Although this looks like all there is to see, the mycellium of this mushroom stretches to other trees and mushrooms, creating an underground network across the whole forest. These basidiomycetes can be seen in this picture below;


Along with being very educational, this field trip showed me how stepping of the trail and being observant can lead to some very interesting finds. Looking at a tree closely, turning over a log, or even picking up a stick can uncover some fascinating discoveries that would otherwise go completely unseen.