From turkey tails to fairy inkcaps: A naturalist’s guide to tree-dwelling fungi

Last autumn, I wrote about fungi found on the ground. This fall, we will take a look at mushrooms on trees.

Admittedly, this division is somewhat arbitrary. A fungus seen on the ground could have originated on a dead branch that fell to the ground and started to decompose. So be it.

As before, I will avoid the subject of edible or poisonous mushrooms. Different people react to mushrooms in different ways. Also, there are plenty of references on edible and dangerous fungi. Finally, I’m a naturalist, not a gourmet.

The study of fungi is known as mycology and there’s a lot to study. There are roughly 145,000 known species of fungi, which includes molds, mildews, smuts, rusts, yeasts and mushrooms.

Returning to trees, remember, if the mushroom is growing on dead trees, it would be saprophytic.

If it grows on live trees, it would be a parasitic. Now, let’s take a look at a few fungi that can be found on trees.

Fungi fundamentals

Keep in mind that the body of a fungus is composed of strands called mycelia. You might see the strands, looking like an oversized hair net, under the bark of a dead tree where a protruding fungus is attached.

The mushroom “seeds” or spores, to be more accurate, fall from this reproductive body. Sometimes called a fruiting body, such structures may be extremely long-lived and woody, adding a new layer of living fungal matter at the base each year.

Other fruiting bodies seem to come and go in the blink of an eye. Either way, the mycelium remains.

Mycelium is the most metabolically active part of the mushroom, representing about 95% of its life cycle, in contrast to the fruiting body’s paltry 5%. A mushroom’s spore color and patterns can help identify a particular species.

What’s on the shelf?

The bracket or shelf fungi comprise numerous species of the polypore family. This family has vertical pores or tiny tubes on the underside of the caps. The shelflike fruiting body, sometimes called a conk, is somewhat tongue-shaped, with no discernible stalk.

In size, the tough tissue is one-sixteenths- to one-eighth-inch thick with a flat cap that can grow up to four inches across. It is often triangular or round, with zones colored rust-brown or darker brown, sometimes with black zones.

Time to focus on one of the most common examples.

Going cold turkey

It is no mystery on how turkey tail fungus got its common name. Its scientific name (Trametes versicolor) is a different matter. Classifying fungi is challenging and mycologists don’t always agree on the categories they belong in.

So, the same mushroom, like turkey tails, can have alternative scientific names such as Coriolus versicolor or Polyporus versicolor. Different names notwithstanding, it is a quite common mushroom found throughout the world.

Given its global distribution, much has been written about turkey tails. For centuries, many Eastern herbal scholars have documented its influence in historical texts, recognizing it as a symbol of longevity and good fortune.

As a saprotrophic species, turkey tail contributes to forest health by decomposing organic material and enriching the soil for trees and other plant life.

Across the planet, turkey tails help to revitalize and sustain biological communities, but they aren’t working alone.

By using its mycelium, turkey tails can collaborate and connect with other mushroom species via the “Wood Wide Web.” This immense mycelial network supports entire ecosystems by recycling nutrients, bioremediation and enhancing biodiversity.

A decomposing umbrella stand

Contrary to its tough predecessors, Fairy Inkcap (Coprinellus disseminatus) is here today and gone tomorrow. It is a delicate ephemeral that looks all the world like a large collection of tiny umbrellas.

Speaking of the world, this mushroom can be found in Europe and North America.

To coin a phrase, a picture is worth a thousand mushrooms. With the fairy inkcap, a thousand could be a conservative estimate. This fungus forms dense masses carpeting rotting tree stumps and roots. It is one of the first fungi to colonize a stump as the wood dies. Living trees are rarely home to fairy inkcaps.

All inky caps have conical caps with what like book pages or fish gills under the caps. Another common name given to this species is trooping crumble-cap, reflecting their tendency to disintegrate when touched as well as their apparent ability to march en masse across a stump or the ground.

You can look for these petite fungi any time from early spring until the onset of winter. Interestingly, these little umbrellas often appear after serious rains.

They are most charming when the caps are young and pale, bordering on white. It takes just two or three days for their young ivory caps to turn gray, begin blackening and dissolving.

As these mushrooms quickly age, they earn their name, the cap margins and gills turn into a dark liquid that contain these mushrooms’ inky spores.

Fungus logic

Compared to fungi, tree or bird species are relatively easy to separate. I understand why mycologists differ on their names. Maybe that’s part of their appeal.

Some fruiting bodies don’t stick around for very long while others are here all year. They come in an amazing variety of colors and shapes. Somehow, mushrooms just draw us in.

I think Potawatomi botanist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer put it best: “There is a logic to mushrooms, but it is a logic that is not our own.”

• Mark Spreyer is executive director of the Stillman Nature Center in Barrington. Email him at stillmangho@gmail.com.