Just in time for Halloween, it's time to talk about fuzzy, furry fungi! This fall, I found a strange mushroom. It looked like a plain, run-of-the-mill brown mushroom - except for the fact it was covered in long, white whiskers. Having never seen a furry fungus before, I was flummoxed. Was this some strange adaptation for frost? Had it been electrocuted? Maybe it had been bitten by a werewolf?
When I got home, I did some googling and the mystery was solved. Because Mama Earth is always weirder than I give her credit for, I learned that I'd stumbled across a mushroom-munching mold!
Fungi in the genus Spinellus are molds that grow on mushrooms. Their fruiting bodies are long, thin, and hairlike, ending in a small spore-producing gland that allows their spores to disperse on the wind. When they sprout, it appears that the host mushroom is growing whiskers!
(If you're in need of a new vocabulary word, here it is: Mycoparasite, or a parasite that grows on fungi.)
This week's phenology report covers more than mysterious mushrooms - listen in to learn about migratory birds, fall colors, and more.
What have you seen out there? Let us know: email us at comments@kaxe.org or text us at 218-326-1234.
That does it for this week! For more phenology, subscribe to our Season Watch Newsletter or visit the Season Watch Facebook page.
Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
