» 2006 » December
The Insect-Fungus War: Behavioral Fever
A student in pp309 wrote this post.
When people talk about fungi it’s usually in the context of a tasty dish, or that fuzzy brown thing on your peach, but rarely ever are fungi referred to as deft, vicious killers. What you say? Killers? Well, fungal pathogens have long preyed on insects, claiming [...]
Phallus ravenelii: the common stinkhorn, Ravenel’s stinkhorn
This stinky story was written by a student in PLPA 319.
THE MUSHROOM
The Stinkhorn is aptly named for the foul odor it exudes and its horn-like shape. The odor can be likened to decaying flesh or feces. Why would anything smell so disgusting? Why, to attract flies which land on the head of the mushroom. Then, [...]
A tribute to Carl Sagan
by Kathie Hodge
Carl Sagan died ten years ago today. In his honor, the blogosphere, a strangely cohesive and disparate universe, brings you the Sagan blog-a-thon. Kudos to Joel Schlosberg for initiating this–here is his meta-post that compiles all the other Sagan tributes posted today.
I overlapped Professor Sagan here at Cornell by a few years, [...]
Hydnum umbilicatum, the sweet tooth
This Hedgehogology post was written by a student in PLPA 319
Known as both the “hedgehog” and the “sweet tooth” mushroom, Hydnum umbilicatum has some remarkable features that make it an incredible member of the diverse world of fungi. This mushroom gets its common names due to its edibility and the structure of its gills.
Hydnum umbilicatum [...]
Pilobolus and the lungworm
Jack, a student in PLPA 309 wrote this, and isolated the fungus in the time lapse, too.
Innocently spreading by mycelial growth, Pilobolus species faithfully secrete their extracellular enzymes, breaking down herbivore dung and recycling its nutrients. Upon maturation, Pilobolus species produce tiny fluid-filled vesicles, atop each of which a spore packet called a sporangium is [...]
$#%!&! Red Russulas
This essay on those confounded red Russulas was written by a student in PLPA 319.
The thunder and lightening roared as I aimlessly went from tree to tree in search of mushrooms. Slowly I was getting soaked and I began to feel lost. I decided to find some students to tag along with on [...]
Dyeing with Lichens & Mushrooms
This post was written by PLPA 309 student Randi W., who encouraged our class to try dyeing and collected some Pycnoporus, too.
Did you know that fungi can be used to make dyes? Perhaps that lovely carpet your grandmother had in her living room was dyed with lichens early in the 20th century? That’s [...]
Frogblog2: Origin and spread of the frog chytrid
PLPA 309 student Anna Savage wrote this post—a sequel to Frogblog1. She’s a grad student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell, and studies the frog chytrid.
Fungi in the phylum Chytridiomycota are incredibly ancient, biologically diverse, geographically widespread, and generally overlooked. Chytrids tend to be tiny, inconspicuous organisms that do not produce harmful [...]
Mystery liverwort fungus, chapter two
The saga of the Friday Afternoon Mycologist vs. the mystery fungus continues…
Last week, fear won. Making a slide of a mysterious fungus at 4:50 when someone is waiting to be picked up at five o’clock is just too irresponsible an act. Remember this if you are ever in that situation. It is now 3:45 one [...]
Frogblog1: Chytridiomycosis and global amphibian decline
PLPA 309 student Anna Savage wrote this post (and its sequel). She’s a grad student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell, and studies the frog chytrid.
In the 1970s and ’80s, field biologists studying amphibian populations from around the world started to notice something strange: many of their study populations were disappearing. In [...]
Shaggy Mane Time Lapse
Post and video by the talented Dawn Dailey O’Brien, Plant Pathologist and co-editor of Branching Out
Shaggy mane mushrooms are also known as Lawyer’s Wigs. They are white with a cylindrical cap 1-1/4 to 2 inches wide and 1-5/8 to 6 inches high. They get their name from the flat, white scales on the cap which [...]
Blewit eaters
Blewits are tasty purple mushrooms, so it’s always exciting to find them. But imagine how excited I was when I found they had an ornate and seldom-seen parasitic mold growing on them. Do you know me at all? I was ecstatic.