Mushrooms: Lake Superior's Great Decomposers

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LAKE SUPERIOR MAGAZINE / AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 1990

Mushrooms

LAKE SUPERIOR'S GREAT
DECOMPOSERS

written and photographed by MARK SAKRY

They have been associated with mystery and enchantment, sorcery and witchcraft. They have been feared and disdained for centuries—spurned as awful, lethal organisms which belong to the dark provinces of death and decay.
   Mushrooms—Toadstoo/s!
   Even their names roll off the tongue as if more fittingly accompanied by the croak of a frog: Corpse Finder, Witch's Butter, Tree Brain, Devil's Urn … Double, double toil and trouble!
    But wait, what are these? Names which point to a loftier province: Parasol, Angel's Wings, Fairy Ring, Chanterelle. Could it be that mushrooms have held more exalted positions in the past?
    Indeed, in many cultures mushrooms have been revered for centuries. The Romans considered mushrooms "food of the gods" and believed they gave warriors great strength in battle. In China, there was the "divine fungus," ling chih. In Siberia, there was hango, which was considered the shaman's "pathway to the gods." Teo-nanacatl was "god's flesh" to the Aztecs. And the Egyptian pharaohs found mushrooms so appealing they forbade the common people to eat them.
    As elsewhere, fungi play a vital role in the ecosystems in and about the Lake Superior region. If the lowly fungus does not appear to hold (or deserve) its forthright status, at least consider that it belongs to one of the most important cycles in the terrestrial environment: decomposition.
    A complex system of organisms which includes fungi, decay bacteria, earthworms, soil mites and millipedes, decomposers ensure the breakdown and distribution of discarded plant energy after animal consumption. They help "digest" the remains and convert it to a form usable by other living plants. Were it not for the decomposers, the forests would literally fill up with debris.
   Out of more than 100,000 known species of fungi worldwide, only about 7,000 produce the fruiting bodies we call mushrooms. In the Lake Superior region, mushrooms appear most frequently during late summer and fall, typically when dry summer weather has been followed by a good spell of rain.
    A short walk across the sponge of any spruce-sphagnum bog during late summer can inspire deep contemplation, whether you're predisposed to it or not. The diverse color and variety of mushrooms against green is astonishing.
    And who should not gasp at the waxy red dollop of a Scarlet Cup against the litter of an old-growth forest in early spring? Or the blazing tendrils of a Yellow Coral in balsam-filtered summer sunlight? Or an autumn sunset reflecting off an impeccable cluster of creamy Oysters?
    Out of almost 5,000 species of mushrooms found in the United States, nearly two-thirds may be found in areas bordering the Great Lakes. Whether you forage an open field, walk a tranquil forest path or marvel at your own lawn after a rain, there is beauty to behold in mushrooms.
    For those who wish to forage wild mushrooms, 100 are known to be poisonous and 12 deadly. Although there are comparatively few poisonous mushrooms, bring along an expert mushroom hunter, as well as reliable field texts (see those recommended below), to determine which ones are safe to eat. Read and follow the instructions given in all field guide appendices. If you do not know how to positively identify a mushroom species, you should not eat any wild mushroom.
    I'm for the inglorious fungi. They are associated far more with life than with death. They are as interesting and diverse as the environments in which they thrive. They possess enchantment and beauty.
    In a nook on my bedroom book shelf stands a humble specimen of Fomes applanatus, the "artist's fungus," upon which my wife has etched figures of geese. Somehow I see this as a fitting image. For just as the return of geese in spring symbolizes the renewal of life, so in its own lowly manner does the mushroom. LSM

Mark Sakry is a resident of Brimson, Minnesota. He previously contributed "Snowcamp" in our February-March 1990 issue. He has also written for Minnesota Out-of-Doors, Boundary Waters Journal and the Duluth News-Tribune.

Recommended Mushroom Field Guides

The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms by Gary Lincoff (Alfred A. Knopf, $13.50).

Edible Mushrooms by Clyde M. Christensen (University of Minnesota Press, $7.95).

The Mushroom Hunter's Field Guide by Alexander Smith (University of Michigan Press, $14.95).

Mushrooms of North America by Orson A. Miller Jr. (ER Dutton, $14.50).

Mushroom Pocket Field Guide by Howard E. Bigelow (Collier Macmillan, $4.95).

Mushroom Photos and Captions