Fungus News

May 19th, 2010

Stinkhorn fungus.

   On the fungal front this week, I’m getting questions already about growths emerging from lawns and mulched beds.

   Most of these are harmless mushroom-like fungi that feed on decaying (and sometimes live) wood. A few look more like something the dog did (i.e. the slime mold or “dog-vomit” fungus we’ll be seeing soon) or like something from another planet (i.e. the pointy upright stinkhorn fungus).

   The most annoying is the artillery fungus that shoots those little black tarry dots on siding and fences (see https://georgeweigel.net/category/favorite-past-garden-columns/mayhem-in-the-garden for two articles I’ve done on this one). Artillery fungus will be firing away shortly. The “dots” are the reproductive spores (actually called “gleba”) that are almost impossible to remove once they dry.

   No need to spray any of these. Just kick them over, cultivate them before they mature into the reproductive stage or bag them and toss if you’ve got young kids or pets around. A few are toxic when eaten, so better safe than sorry in the latter instance.

   For those of you eager to beef up your fungal knowledge, Gary Emberger, a biology professor at Messiah College, has an excellent web site that shows and describes all sorts of wood-decaying fungi that pops up in the northeastern United States.

   The address is http://www.messiah.edu/Oakes/fungi_on_wood.