A field trip was conducted on April 18 because like all college courses, going on a trip to examine fungi in the forest is a normal thing. The fungi expert for the expedition was Korena; she was very knowledgeable and had a keen interest in her craft. Thankfully the weather was forgiving so there was no need to walk around in mud or wet grass.
The first fungi that we encountered was wood-decaying fungus, also known as rot. These fungi release enzymes that cause the wood that they live on to decay (as the name implies) making this particular fungi parasitic. Although the tree looks like it has been peed on, the dark spot actually means that the tree is “sick”.
This picture shows a tree that Korena ripped to shreds with her bare hands (not really) that had wood-decaying fungi. I believe that the fungi in this picture is the whitish area in the middle of the picture.
This photo shows the gills of what seems to be a fungi from the phylum Basidiomycota. One interesting thing that Korena mentioned when she viciously pulled the fungi off the ground (she didn’t viciously pull them) was that even though you can physically see defining characteristics of a certain fungi, it might not actually be that fungi because there are so many different types of species in the world that have the same characteristics. Even if you are 100% sure it’s one thing, it could still probably be something else.
Even though these mushrooms look delicious, you probably shouldn’t eat them. You shouldn’t eat anything you pick off the floor anyways because of bacteria and what not. Korena also talked about a fungi called the death cap that is also part of the phylum Basidiomycota. The mushroom tastes delicious, but it will kill you.
There are so many kinds of fungi that you might not even know that what you stumbled upon was indeed fungus. Most of the fungi that we saw on the trip were lichens; they share a mutualistic relationship with the plants that they inhabit. Overall, this field trip was successful because even though I don’t remember most of the names of the fungi that we came across, I am slightly more aware of the organisms around me and their role in the environment.
Whats up Suaverdez. Love your commentary, full of sarcasm! I enjoyed the trip as well About that "death cap" loo alike, she mentioned that the effects of the fungi is not immediate, but might take a few weeks to take affect. Then Dr. Suaverdez would need to do some detective work to find out if the person had ingested a "death cap" in the past few weeks.
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