A Painterly Fungal Palette Indeed

Wild Mushroom Journal: Dyer's Polypore

Powell Butte Nature Park; Portland, Oregon: September 2021

September 5: Emerging Dyer's Polypore I am always on the lookout for fruiting wild mushroom when hiking the trails of the Powell Butte Nature Park. Today, with little effort or fuss, I came upon what seemed to be a most unusual fungal formation. It was "oozing" from the bark of a sturdy, mature, twin-stemmed Douglas Fir. Delighted as I was by the complex, contorted, tubular growth, I was also intrigued and baffled. I decided to snap some photographs in the hope that I could document its development over the coming week. Was I ever glad that I did. For when I returned to the tree days later, I realized that the growth in question was Phaeolus Schwenitzii, commonly known as Dyer's Polypore. In the past I had on occasion found Dyer's fruiting on the forest floor where it typically springs from underground tree roots. Visible fruiting from the bark of a living tree is far less common, so I relished having spotted this fungus before it had grown its colorful brackets.

Photo Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ux8e9HwsQirwZSfeA

September 10: Maturing Dyer's Polypore Over the course of a mere five days the fungal brackets had taken shape and evolved significantly. Stacked snugly a dozen high, they now displayed the rich coloration that makes P. Schwenitzii a sought-after resource of many artisan wool-dyers. For Dyer's colors can vary greatly depending on the mushroom's placement and ambient conditions. They are also likely to change as the polypore's brackets mature. White, yellow, gold, orange, brown, purple, olive green: any mutable combination thereof can be part of Dyer's organic palette. The brackets that I observed today were thick and rubber-spongy. Over time they will slowly grow harder and thinner, turning black before they fall to the ground, no longer resembling a wild mushroom. Examining the host trunk more closely, I spotted a second nascent fruit just beginning to seep through a fissure in the bark. In other small cracks and wounds throughout, I also found some bulbous conks that had already hardened, their growth aborted before they became full brackets. I wondered whether this stunted growth was due to natural causes or human interference. Whatever the case, they were no less striking for their nuanced coloration. Note: Harvesting wild mushrooms in relatively small urban nature reserves is not recommended. Also: Dyer's Polypore in particular is non-edible and even considered poisonous by some wild mushroom experts.

Photo Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/bdmH3wUK4PmegyA86

September 12: Dyer's Polypore Reexamined Here in western North America, the fungus P. Schwenitzii favors Douglas Fir as a host tree. Younger trees are preferred, but older growth are also susceptible. Once established in the nearby soil, the mycelia will colonize by way of the host tree's roots. Inside, the mycelia then advance a root and butt rot by feeding on dead heartwood. As the fungus spreads, the brown rot will cause severe damage at the base of the tree. This will weaken the tree structurally and eventually render it prone to breakage or wind-throw. Accordingly, the fruiting of P. Schwenitzii on a colonized tree also takes place close to the roots. Seldom does it occur any higher than ten feet up the trunk. The fruiting I discovered was well within that range, about 6 feet from the ground. Notably, I located fruiting on only one trunk of the twin-stem Doug Fir in question. Looking high above, this trunk toward its upper reaches looked stressed and as if the branches had long ago begun to lose vigor. This stress, however, is not a symptom that is typically associated with root and butt rot. Meanwhile, near the twin trunk that showed no signs of fruiting, the armor-like bark at the common base was eaten away significantly by what did look like a brown rot of sorts or perhaps an insect infestation. Coincidentally or not, the upper reaches of this trunk looked healthier. Had mycelia entered the common base near one trunk, then worked their way to the other trunk where they now were fruiting brackets? Had they reached a place at the base of the tree where sapwood had been converted to dead wood, thus enabling the fungus to consume the bark from within? Had fruiting occurred at some earlier time where the trunk exterior was now reduced to rot? Most regrettably: Was the loss of bark on the trail-facing trunk the result of human-inflicted damage that enabled spores to colonize exposed heartwood at the base? In other words: Go figure. Returning to the host trunk, I noted that the smaller set of emerging brackets was developing slowly and less prolifically. Then circling away from the trail, I located a number of small cracks where only a peg of old fungal growth was lodged amid the bark. Some of these stubs showed uneven surfaces caused by breakage. Others betrayed what may have been the cut marks made by a knife. I also found a group of mature brackets removed from the trunk and lying at the tree base. This allowed me to examine more closely the pores of Dyer's maze-gill underside, pores from which its spores are released. Likewise, I gained a better look at the lush, soft upper surface, recalling that this mushroom is also known as the Velvet-Top Polypore. These dislodged brackets also provided a good example of how an evolving bracket mushroom will grow to surround and attach itself to something that lies in its path: leaves, needles, cones. Note: Oysters will do the same when growing their shells! Finally, sorting through the nearby underbrush, I spotted two fresh terrestrial growths popping up from the duff. Soon there should be others, annuals that originate at a hidden place where mycelia mate in a substrate of wood or soil.

Photo Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eJz61sPkCXmz62398

Dyer's Polypore Revisited: Autumn 2019 It was two years ago, not far from the host Doug Fir in question, that I stumbled upon Dyer's fungi peeking out from the underbrush at more than one location. Typically, unlike a bracket, this terrestrial mushroom will grow the shape of a circular disk with rings of variable colors and an obvious stipe or stem. Like brackets, however, this circular disk will also turn black and brittle with age. Piecing together all I have seen and researched, I can only imagine the complex role that Dyer's plays in one small corner of a forest where Doug Fir and Western Red Cedar dominate the overstory. How extensive are its unseen mycelia? How active are these mycelia in the life and death cycles of place? And with so much wood biomass available, I am curious: Does the fungus intentionally choose one tree among many to be its host? And if so, how and why?

Photo Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/xt87bjp5KSMMTh7G6

One Final Note: During my on-site investigation of September 12, 2021, I was joined for a while by a young man who was hiking the park trails when he happened upon the scene. Esra was captivated by a chance encounter with such a stunning fungal growth, and he paused to contribute much in the way of observation and exchange of information. Inspired as he turned to continue on his way, he offered one crowning comment to the experience:

"Mushrooms will save the world!"

Yes, Esra, it's a dirty job, but somebody had better do it.

Lloyd Vivola.

In Cascadia

September 13, 2021

To view a gallery of wild mushroom photos taken in the forest of Powell Butte, 2019, visit: https://photos.app.goo.gl/UwiGrm4oYyJKgjSN7

To view more photos of Dyer's Painterly Palettes, visit: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1vyknSrHyg7DKAaV6

For those who enjoyed this post, you might also like "Small Encounters of the Avian Kind." Visit: sites.google.com/site/ocascadia/close-encounters-of-the-avian-kind