Chaga mushrooms (Inonotus obliquus) grow on birch trees. Though unappealing, chaga makes for a mild-tasting but powerful antioxidant tea.
Local Experts On September 22, mushroom expert Bob Bowles leads a walk and talk through the Wallwin Tract of Simcoe County Forest beginning at 10 a.m. Hosted by Dufferin Simcoe Land Stewardship Network, tickets are $15; register at www.dslsn.org. And on September 25, Kevin McAuslan presents a talk on fungi biology and cultivation. Hosted by Upper Credit Field Naturalists, this free event is at 7:30 p.m. at Orangeville Seniors’ Centre, 26 Bythia Street. Mycological Society of Toronto www.myctor.org Fabulous Fall Fungi Fabulous Fall Fungi is a series of multiday workshops offered to the public every fall at the Queen’s University Biological Station. The workshops focus on fungal identification, natural history and ecology. Richard Aaron of the Mycological Society of Toronto is the instructor. Kevin McAuslan calls him “an excellent teacher.” See natureknowledge.weebly.com “6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save the World” Search Paul Stamets’ TED Talk at www.ted.com Mushrooms of Ontario and Eastern Canada George Barron’s Lone Pine field guide is an excellent resource for identifying many of the mush rooms found in Headwaters and the rest of Eastern Canada. Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms Eugenia Bone’s volume is an enjoyable read packed with personal, often humorous stories.
ALEKSEI MARINCHENKO / STOCK
Further Fungi Forays
FUNGUS
continued from page 55
Stamets calls his burlap, fungi-laced sacks “bunker spawn” and promotes their use to intercept and treat chemical toxins from factories and bacteria-laden water from livestock farms. The fungi mycelia in the sacks capture the poisons and break their toxic molecules into simpler forms that can be metabolized by plants and other organisms. According to Stamets, oyster mushrooms, for example, are very good at breaking down hydrocarbon molecules into carbohydrates and water. One obvious application would be oil-spill cleanups. Kevin wonders whether a variation of Stamets’ bunker spawn concept could be used to help clean up Mill Creek, the troubled stream that runs through the heart of urban Orangev ille and lends its name to the pub where we sat enjoying beer and chaga. Kevin imagines the creek filtering through a permeable barrier filled with an organic matrix – straw, for example, infused with oyster mushroom mycelia – that would intercept and deconstruct the toxins. Though the practical problems associated with such a scheme may be insurmountable, it presents an interesting thought experiment. Who knows? There may be ways to use fungal remediation techniques to augment traditional water treatment methods.
Ötzi the Iceman As a species, human beings have long used fungi to our benefit, and it is fascinating to ponder that people long ago knew about health benefits only now being rediscovered. More than 5,000 years ago, a man was murdered in the Ötztal Alps of northern Italy. An arrow pierced his shoulder and lodged close to a lung. Soon he was entombed in ice that preserved his body and belongings over millennia. Then, in 1991, he was found by German hikers. His body was chiselled out of the ice that still held him fast, and he was taken north to Innsbruck, Austria, for an autopsy before being repatriated to Italy. He was named “Ötzi” for the mountains where he was discovered. The moniker “Iceman” also stuck for obvious reasons. Ötzi the Iceman’s body and belongings yielded a treasure trove of information about his health, his times and his lifestyle. Two mushrooms, still common today throughout the northern hemisphere, were found in a pouch tied to his clothing.
One was tinder polypore (Fomes fomentarius), a hard, woody fungus shaped somewhat like a horse’s hoof. I’ve found this fungus many times on my Bruce Trail rambles. Tinder polypore, as befits its name, is apparently an excellent fire starter, easily ignited by sparks. And it smoulders a long time. So Ötzi was well equipped to start campfires on his mountain journey. The other fungus he carried was the birch polypore (Fomitopsis betulina). Modern research has found a compound in this fungus that is toxic to intestinal parasites. Ötzi’s autopsy revealed his intestines were plagued by parasitic whipworms, so it’s reasonable to speculate he was using the birch polypore as medicine. While I was discussing this with Kevin, another container appeared, this one filled with chunks of birch polypore gathered in Headwaters. Enthusing about its antiparasitic properties, he said, “You make a tea from it.” If whipworm ever takes up residence in my gut, I’ll be prepared. As for Ötzi, it seems that 5,000 years ago he was on to something. Fungi are now gaining serious attention in medical science. Mushrooms, and the cornucopia of exotic compounds they contain, are being studied for their potential in treating a vast range of health problems and as substitutes for antibiotics whose effectiveness is increasingly compromised by drug-resistant bacteria. Stamets is a huge proponent of fungi-derived medicine. In his TED Talk, he states with conviction that one way mushrooms can save the world is to enlist them in the fight against viruses. He cited his own research that found various mushrooms, including the chaga I was drinking at the Mill Creek Pub, showed extraordinary promise in combatting flu viruses. In his book Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World, he presents many other claims asserting fungi can help defeat other viruses, harmful bacteria and even cancers. As Kevin and I parted, I pondered the task that lay ahead. My knowledge of fungi had – well, mush roomed. But I needed to distil all that information to a more manageable size for this article. So I’ve written nothing of the purported link between Santa’s flying reindeer and fly agaric mushrooms, or the speculation, admittedly far out, that mushrooms are extraterrestrial in origin. I also decided to leave out some novel uses of fungal mycelia that include the manufacture of clothing and furniture. Fungi have fascinating tales to tell. They work largely out of sight, sometimes exacting a terrible toll on other living things. But as we are learning, they also support ecosystems through their remarkable mycelium networks. And as Stamets avows, fungi may have the potential to help us solve some of the most challenging problems of our time.
Don Scallen is a naturalist and retired science teacher. You can read more of his observations about local flora and fauna in his “Notes from the Wild” at www.inthehills.ca.
IN
T HE
HIL L S
AU T U MN
2018
57