Specimen of the Month: Shiny Skin
Most of us envision fungi as stalked, capped, and gilled--and it's just the case with many mushrooms that they bear a firm stalk topped by a cap filled with gills underneath. Indeed, mushrooms appear much unlike anything else living on this planet. But much more diversity lies within the fungi realm. Some species are spherical and spongy, others reach out from the forest floor with branches just like coral. The majority are meaty and pliable, but some, perhaps most overlooked of which, are hard, strong, and uniquely enchanting in their own right. These are the bracket fungi.
Two large bracket fungi, also called polypore fungi, occupy the Museum's collection. Polypores are a distinct group of fungi. They don’t have familiar fruiting bodies with a stalk, cap, and gill structure. Rather, polypores have pores or tubes on the underside of a hard, fan- or bracket-like fruiting body which grows out of wood. While many grow horizontally, some develop on the top surface of wood and bloom upward. One might almost compare the appearance to that of a flower.
The macrostructures are part of what intrigued me when handling the lone two polypores in our collection. While information about both was apparently lost or never surrendered, I like to think that whoever collected them was startled by their structural beauty. A rosette, if you will, of woody flesh must have grown to dazzle others in the forest with its shiny red surface.
Whatever species it might be (I'm looking into either Ganoderma tsuage or Ganoderma lucidum), this is one of multiple Ganoderma--among many more bracket polypores--that we may encounter in the Northwoods. What else might be found out there? Every foray is an opportunity for a new discovery!
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| This Ganoderma mushroom (Ganoderma sp.) was donated to the Museum at an unknown time by an unknown collector! Though lacking information, it's still an interesting natural object. |
Two large bracket fungi, also called polypore fungi, occupy the Museum's collection. Polypores are a distinct group of fungi. They don’t have familiar fruiting bodies with a stalk, cap, and gill structure. Rather, polypores have pores or tubes on the underside of a hard, fan- or bracket-like fruiting body which grows out of wood. While many grow horizontally, some develop on the top surface of wood and bloom upward. One might almost compare the appearance to that of a flower.
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| Another unknown--likely Artists Conk (Ganoderma applanatum) which we've found hidden in the Museum's collection. This specimen can now be found in our "Cabinet of Curiosities" display. |
The macrostructures are part of what intrigued me when handling the lone two polypores in our collection. While information about both was apparently lost or never surrendered, I like to think that whoever collected them was startled by their structural beauty. A rosette, if you will, of woody flesh must have grown to dazzle others in the forest with its shiny red surface.
Whatever species it might be (I'm looking into either Ganoderma tsuage or Ganoderma lucidum), this is one of multiple Ganoderma--among many more bracket polypores--that we may encounter in the Northwoods. What else might be found out there? Every foray is an opportunity for a new discovery!
