Earth & Sky

Special thanks to:

Dr. Josoph Ammirati
Professor & Chair
Department of Botany
University of Washington
Seattle, WA

Dr. Sally Claggett
Botanist
Mount Adams Ranger District
Trout Lake, WA

References:

Personal communications with Dr. Joseph Ammirati and Ms. Sally Claggett.

Bridgeoporus, a new genus to accommodate Oxyporus nobilissimus Mycotaxon 60:387-395, 1996
by Harold H. Burdsall, Jr., Thomas J. Volk, and Joseph F. Ammirati, Jr.

Survey Protocols for Bridgeoporus (=Oxyporus) nobilissimus by Claire Hibler and Thomas E. O?Dell
May 13, 1998
Pacific Northwest Research Station,
USDA Forest Service Website

Bureau of Land Management Website
Field Guide – Handbook of ROD Strategy-One Fungi

Tom Volk?s Fungi Page, University of Wisconsin

The Amazing Kingdom Of Fungi (Palomar College)

The Fungal Kingdom by Sandy Sheine and Bill Freedman – North American Mycological Association. Manual for Teachers and Naturalists: Teaching About Fungi: Grades K-12

UC Berkeley’s Introduction to Fungi

Background: Fungi

They come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, sizes, and textures. Many are critical to the ecosystem, promoting the degradation of dead organic matter. Some cause disease, like athlete’s foot and ringworm. Some are beneficial to humans: yeast is used in bread-making, wine-making, and beer brewing. One fungus can be credited for saving billions of lives, the Penicillium mold that secretes an antibiotic known as Penicillin.

There are three types of fungi:
1) saprophytes (or saprobes) absorb the dead remains of other organisms, absorbing some of the food and recycling carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients back into the ecosystem. These fungi includes many of the mushrooms we eat, as well as other species we find growing on trees or on the ground in forests and backyards.
2) Symbionts are fungi that live in partnership with another organism, where both are mutually beneficial to each other. Lichens, for example, are algae and fungi species that have evolved to rely on each other for survival. Mycorrhizae are another kind of fungi found on the roots of many plants, helping with the absorption of nutrients from the ground. 3) Parasites live off the tissue of living organisms – animals and plants – often causing them harm.
One deadly example of a fungal parasite is the potato blight that destroyed the potato crop in Ireland about 150 years ago, causing widespread famine.

Unlike plants that can produce their own food, or animals that seek food, fungi need to absorb food from their hosts, be it a dead log, a stale piece of bread, or a living animal. Most fungi only need simple sugars, and in some cases, complex organic molecules, for food. They get their food by excreting enzymes into their host, breaking down the host?s tissue into more easily absorbed components that can be taken in through their cell walls and membranes. In most fungi, the nutrient-absorbing part of the organism is usually imbedded in the host. What many people see and recognize as fungi, like mushrooms or truffles, are called fruiting bodies, conspicuous tissue growths that produce spores for dissemination, usually through the wind. These spores can either be created sexually or asexually, depending on the fungus species.

Background: Fuzzy Sandozi (Bridgeoporous nobilissimus)

The Fuzzy Sandozi is only found in the Coast Range of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, and the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington. Most specimens have been found at elevations between 1000 feet to 4000 feet, in old growth forests with many fir trees. Since then, only 34 locations are known for this fungus in Oregon and Washington. It is the first fungus ever to be listed as an endangered species by a private or public agency, the Oregon Natural Heritage program being the first to do so.

This fungus requires very specific living conditions. It is only found on large noble firs and Pacific silver firs, on trees that have a diameter of 3 to 6 feet at breast height. Such large trees are not that common, making the fungus even rarer. The fungus is usually found growing near the base of the trees, along the sides not far from the ground, on the ground near the tree?s root collar, or on old cut stumps. Its fruiting body is often shaped like a large clam or like a hoof, and can grow to be as heavy as 300 pounds. The top of the fungus looks like a fuzzy sisal doormat, covered in brown and green algae, small plants, and forest debris. Underneath, it has a white color. It can be well- camouflaged by vegetation, but when found, is easily identifiable because of its distinctive appearance.

Questions posed to Dr. Joseph Ammirati, a mycologist at the University of Washington:

Q: Can you describe what the fungus looks, feels, and smells like? (So far, I’ve read descriptions like “giant clam,” “green pizza with a crew cut,” and “sisal doormat.”) Does it attract insects or other small animals?
A: The “sisal doormat” is the closest because of the fuzzy or fibrillose nature (matted fine cords) of the outer portion of the conk surface. In age, it often has all kinds of plants and other things growing on and through it, so it can become greenish in color. Its shape varies depending on where and how it grows, from circular (on a stump) to shelf-shaped, or otherwise. It can be difficult to see depending on its location. It likely attracts insects, many fungi do. Animals are not known to eat it as far as I know.

Q: Do you know the origin of the name “ Fuzzy Sandozi?” A: “Fuzzy” comes from the fuzzy appearance and “Sandozi” from the fact that it was first brought to the attention of pathologists by Ali and Fred Sandoz, two brothers who found it in Clackamas County.

Q: How much is known about the life history of this species? For instance: Lifespan. Have you observed a wide range of ages? How long does it live?
A: It lives a long time, probably more than 20 years. In one case, 35 seasons of growth were found on a large one collected in the 1940s on Mount Rainier.

Q: What’s it annual rate of growth? How old is a specimen that would weight 300 pounds?
A: A 300 pound specimen would be more than 30 years old. The growth rate has not been determined and varies from year to year.

Q: Since it’s so rare, is there something unusual about its reproduction? Does it need very specific environmental conditions for survival? A: We are not sure. It cannot be grown in [laboratory] culture from tissue and the spores will not germinate in culture. We worked for several years to grow it without success. It likely has some special growth parameters but we don?t know what they are. It fruits almost exclusively on very old stumps, snags, or living trees of noble fir, and rare silver fir. It is a regional endemic.

Q: Why is it associated exclusively with live and dead old growth trees like the noble fir and Pacific silver fir? A: We don’t know.

Q: The fruiting body… does that refer to the reproductive portion of the fungus? Is the rest of the fungus imbedded in the host where the enzymes that cause rot are released?
A: Yes, correct, although we are still somewhat uncertain about the kind of wood decay it causes and we know nothing about the enzymes it produces. It may be a brown rot fungus but it is unclear whether or not it is parasitic, or symbiotic, etc..

Q: Is this fungus a food source for wildlife? A: There is no evidence of this.

A: Is there anything else unusual about it, such as use as a food source by humans, medicinal value, Native American lore, etc.. A: Like many fungi, it has potential [to be a food source] but nothing is known for certain. It was not used by Native Americans, as far as we know.

Q: Would you consider it the largest naturally-occurring fungus species in the world?
A: It was for a long time, and appeared in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest conk for many years.