Text & Photos by Gail Jarrow
The weather has been damp and rainy for several days, but now the skies are clear. It's the perfect time to go on a fungi hunt. Take a walk through the woods or your back yard. Chances are you'll find a mushroom, puffball, or shelf fungus.
Photo: Fungi cover the bark of a live tree.
Search those shady places that don't dry out in the sun. Look along stream banks and low-lying areas. You might see one or two mushrooms growing alone or hundreds clustered together.
Keep your eyes open for mushrooms among dead leaves on the ground. How many different colors, shapes, and sizes can you find?
When you spot a mushroom under a tree, notice what kind of tree it is. Some mushrooms only live close to a certain species of tree, which helps experts identify the mushroom.
Photo: Single large shelf fungus grows on a snow-covered tree trunk.
Soil isn't the only place fungi grow. Check tree trunks, broken branches, and stumps for fan-shaped fungi. Peek inside tree holes and crevices. Look for rotting wood covered with cup-shaped fungi.
If you have sharp eyes and a magnifying glass, you might spot a caterpillar with fungi on its back. Fungi even live on dead insect bodies and animal droppings. Can you find tiny white fungi on an acorn or beech nut, or a mushroom growing on a pine cone?
Fungi grow on rocks, too. The greenish-gray lichen on rocks and tree bark is actually fungi and algae living together.
Photo: Lichen grows on a live tree's bark. Lichen is a combination of fungi and algae living together.
You don't have to go on a hike to see fungi. Hunt inside your house. The slimy mildew in the shower is fungi. So is the fuzzy mold on the inside of an old jar of jelly. You even eat fungi: the yeast that makes homemade bread rise and the yummy mushrooms on your pizza.
Fungi might be on your body, too. Athlete's foot is caused by a fungus living on your skin!
Try fungi-hunting at any time of year. Depending on the season, you'll see different kinds. Start your own fungi collection by taking a photo of each discovery.
Photo: Tiny white fungi cover a beech nut found stuck in a rotten log. This kind of fungus only grows on beech nuts.
Fun Fungi Facts
-- Scientists who study fungi, called mycologists, think there are about 1.5 million different fungi. Your own back yard is likely home to hundreds of kinds.
-- A goldenrod wildflower is host to more than 100 types of fungi.
-- Fungi can't make their own food the way green plants do. Many kinds feed on dead plants and animals, which then decompose into rich soil. Others survive on living plants and animals. Often fungi help their host thrive, but they can also cause diseases.
Photo: Mushrooms growing in a rotting log.
-- Important medicines, such as penicillin, come from chemicals made by fungi.
-- A giant fungus growing in an Oregon forest covered an area about the size of 1,600 football fields.
Learn more about fungi at www.herbarium.usu.edu/fungi/funfacts/factindx.htm.