Photo courtesy of Julie Buehler
Amanita Muscaria
By Julie Buehler
Special to the Turnagain Times
On a misty day in Girdwood, I was walking though the blueberry bushes and came across a red fleshy cap and with a white stalk hiding in the woods. Yes! My first Amanita of the season! Although these mushrooms are highly poisonous, these are my favorite. This red and white fungus is the star of a thousand storybook illustrations and has a colorful history of being an intoxicant. Their appearance in the local forest is a fun reminder that the peak of mushroom season is here and the Girdwood Fungus Fair is just around the corner.
Fungi that produce mushrooms are a very important component of the ecosystem. Without mushrooms, the boreal forest would not exist. There are hundreds of mushrooms species that grow in Alaska where temperatures and rainfall allow. You can find mushrooms throughout most of the state until just beyond the Arctic Circle. In general, mushrooms show fruit from spring snowmelt until fall freeze (June through September).
Mushrooms are the fleshy fruit of fungus and contain millions of tiny spores that help reproduce the fungi. Animals and the wind spread these spores. If a spore lands in a good habitat, it will geminate and produce mycelium.
Unlike plants and animals, fungi are not able to use sunshine for food or move around to eat food. Instead, the mycelium absorbs nutrients, and eventually forms fleshy fruit called a mushroom and the life cycle begins again.
Each type of mushroom has a specific role to play in the forest. Some break down plant or animal matter and return it to the soil, while others form symbiotic partnerships with the roots of plants and exchange nutrients and services. Without mushrooms, forest would neither grow nor decay!
Next time you’re on a walk or out picking berries keep an eye out for these amazing fungi! It might be in the mouth of a squirrel as they gather mushrooms and carry them to their nest, or along the trail you are walking.
If you are interested in learning more about mushrooms, the Girdwood Fungus Fair is taking place on Aug. 27-29. Check out their website at http://www.fungusfair.com.
You can also contact Kate Mohatt with the USFS at 907-783-3242.
