Botany 360 lecture

Fall, 1999

I. Lecture Topics:

Day

Month/Date

Topic

W

Aug

25

Introduction to Class; Systematic arrangement of Fleshy Fungi; Life Cycle of a Mushroom; Review of Research on Mushrooms

W

Sep

1

Variation in Life Cycle Features: Spore production; spore discharge; spore dormancy; spore germination. Hyphal growth and fusion

W

Sep

8

Formation of dikaryon; Mating systems in fungi; Genetic control of fruiting; Monokaryotic fruiting

W

Sep

15

Review of features of mushrooms at HBMS meeting at the Unitarian Fellowship Hall on Jacoby Creek Road 7:45-9PM

W

Sep

22

Function of Sporocarps; Semiochemistry in mushrooms

W

Sep

29

Nutritive value of mushrooms; Medicinal uses of fleshy fungi; Mushroom folklore

W

Oct

6

Commercial growing of mushrooms- Agaricus bisporus ; Mushroom Toxins (begin)

W

Oct

13

Mushroom toxins (end)

W

Oct

20

Lecture Examination (material from beginning of course to Commerical growing of mushrooms)

W

Oct

27

Practical uses of mushrooms (source for dyes, paper etc.); Mushroom Photography

W

Nov

3

Mycorrhizae and Fungal Ecology

W

Nov

10

Fungal Biogeography, Mushroom floristics; Biodiversity in mushrooms

W

Nov

17

Lecture Cancelled because of Fungus Fair

Sat/Sun

Nov

20/21

Fungus Fair Participation

W

Nov

24

Thanksgiving holiday

W

Dec

1

Review of Poster Sessions for Fungus Fair

W

Dec

8

Lecture Examination (covers material on Fungus Fair posters and Mushroom Toxins to end of the course)

II. Requirements:

A. Lecture Examinations (not inclusive)

Lecture Examination: W October 20: Value 100 points.

Lecture Examination: W December 8. Value 100 points.

Fungus Fair Poster Session: Value 100 points.

III. Grading

A. Points: 300.

B. Grades based on percentage of total points as follows:

A

93 or more

A-

92-91

B+

89-90

B

88-84

B-

83-80

C+

78-79

C

73-77

C-

70-72

D+

68-69

D

65-67

F

0 -64

FUNGUS FAIR POSTER SESSIONS

You are required to prepare a poster and demonstrations for this year's fungus fair which is on Sunday, November 21st at the Redwood Acres Fair.

Since this is the weekend before Thanksgiving Break, you are going to have to prepare ahead of time.

Requirements:

You are to work in groups; sign-up will be held at end of first lecture.

The Tables have to be manned for the length of the entire fair (11-4pm). Set-up for the poster session should be done on Saturday from 1-5PM.

In your group, each member is required to put in the same amount of time. Therefore if an individual or individuals can not make the fair, they should be required to put in more time than those who can make the fair.

The poster sessions and the written portions of the demonstrations should be kept and put up for review on Wednesday, December 1.

Because you will not be required to put up demonstrations on December 1, you should make a 15 minute introduction to what you demonstrated and what the poster session required.

Your poster session can include a video or 2x2 slides. However, it can not include microscopes and it can not include computer presentations as there are not computer connections at the location of the Fair.

Information on the poster sessions will be included in the Lecture Examination on W. December 8th.

GE NERAL COMMENTS ON ALL PROJECTS

1. The Tables which will be used for the project will be 8 feet long and 3 feet wide.

2. The outline of the top of the table will be rimmed with 3" wood.

3. You will have a wall behind the table on which you will mount your posters.

4. The posters should be at least 3 feet by 4 feet; see posters used as examples in class.

5. Descriptive material.

a. Handwriting is NOT to be used on either the poster or any written material which is found on the table.

b. You should use rub-off lettering; see the posters used as examples for the size of lettering which is most effective.

c. Should be terse, yet complete. Your audience should be able to understand the concepts without spending a lot of time reading the material.

d. Use good english with correct spelling.

6. Your audience:

a. Will be composed of individuals from the community (Southern Oregon to as far away as Santa Rosa and San Francisco).

b. Will be composed of individuals of all ages.

c. Will be composed of individuals from all types of professions.

d. Will have very strong interest in mushrooms.

e. Most will have no background in science; some will have a little; and a few (since instructors in Biology at HSU will attend) will have an excellent background in science.

7. Your display on the table should be composed of as much fresh material as possible. You will be expected to provide the specimens; however you will also be able to obtain material on late Saturday afternoon to Saturday evening.

8. You should be creative in organizing the material on the table and particularly in preparing and exhibiting the posters.

9. You should set-up your table as early as possible on Saturday and solicit opinions on your display and posters from the members of the HBMS. They will function as quality control engineers and any changes suggested by the members should be strongly considered.

10. Dates and Location of the Fair:

a. Redwood Acres, Eureka, California.

b. Set-up: Saturday, 20 November 1-8PM

Fair: Sunday, 21 November 11AM to 4PM.; at least one person should be behind the table each hour that the fair is open.

11. GRADING.

a. Value: 100 points.

b. Who grades: Instructor will give grade based on % of 100. Grade will be based on effectiveness of display and posters, accuracy and completeness of the information, and abilities behind the table.

c. Each person selecting a project will be given the same grade on the project with the following exception:

I. Each person will grade each other person on the team.

II. The grade will be a percentage from 0-100.

III The grades will be placed in an envelope and given to me on the Wednesday following the lecture; the grades should be unsigned but some indication of the % should be provided.

TOPIC I: WHAT ARE MUSHROOMS?

Material covered should be AT LEAST:

1. Explanation of what is a mushroom and how it is formed- i. e., the life cycle of a mushroom.

2. Explanation of what is a spore and should include:

a. How to make a spore print;

I. All groups of fungi should be demonstrated (i. e., mushrooms with different color spores, boletes, chanterelles, coral fungi, tooth fungi, polypores).

b. Pictures of the different types of spores produced by different fungi; there is a book in the library that gives Electron Micrographs of spores of different mushrooms.

3. Explanation of how the typical store mushroom is grown commercially.

This will be an offshoot of the explanation of what is a mushroom.

I have a set talk with slides of how mushrooms are grown commercially, a part of which you will use in giving a 2x2 slide talk to the group. In lieu of a 2 x2 talk if you can get a video tape of the talk, this can be used at your table.

4. The commerical growing of mushrooms can be found in:

a. The typewritten lecture which accompanies the talk I have;

b. the books :

The Biology and Cultivation of Edible Mushrooms;

The Mushroom Cultivator; (on sale at the Fair)

Wild and Exotic Mushroom Cultivation in the United States (On sale at Fair).

Food and Beverage Mycology

The Use of Fungi as Food and in food processing

5. Other topics that can be included:

a. The different kinds of mushrooms which are commerically grown;

b. The nutritive value of mushrooms.

c. Spore dispersal mechanisms in Puffballs. (you can find this in the book on spore dispersal and liberation- or why puffballs differ from other fungi).

FUNGI: FOLKLORE AND FAIRY TALES.

1. The following topics should be covered:

a. show how mushrooms and other fleshy fungi have been used in folklore.

b. the common name of some of the fungi and the folklore involved in the name: e.g., :

I. Witche's butter, Devil's snuffbox, Fly agaric, stinkhorns, bird's nest fungi.

c. explanation of fairy rings (fact and fiction);

d. Bioluminescene in fungi;

e. The folklore (fact and fiction) of mushrooms used in medicine and treatment of disease.

f. Mushrooms and literature

g. The derivation of the names: toadstool and mushroom.

2. Hallucinogenic mushroms should not be covered; Amanita muscaria as the Soma should not be covered.

3. Books to be consulted are:

Fungi-Folklore, Fact and Fiction

The Romance of the fungus world

Mushrooms and Toadstools

The chapter on Fungi and Medicine found in The Biology and Cultivation of Mushrooms

Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds

 

 

ODOR, TASTE AND TEXTURES IN MUSHROOMS

1. Provide examples of odors, tastes, and textures in mushrooms.

a. List or outline the different odors, tastes and textures in mushrooms.

2. Try to provide explanations of why mushrooms have odors and tastes.

a. To this end, review the articles on feeding fungi to animals;

b. Provide the story behind the use of pigs in finding truffles and how this use has evolved to the use of such chemicals in the perfume industry.

c. This will involve some simple example of Pheromones in insects and animals. e. g. see the story on pigs in b. above.

3. Diagram or demonstrate the textures of mushrooms (e. g., show why mushrooms have a chalky, leathery, woody etc. texture).

a. You may want to use the microscope or at least to use either a video tape or a slide projecture in part of your demonstration.

4. Have examples for the audience to smell, taste (be careful to tell the people not to swallow the fungus), and feel.

5. Explain the sense of smell and taste in humans.

Several articles on odors and tastes will be available. You should read the parts on textures and consistencies in Mushroom I and learn the microscopic reason for such textures and consistencies in Mushroom III.

6. Relate odors, tastes and textures to the function of fruiting bodies.

ROTTING WOOD, MAMMALS, MUSHROOMS, AND MYCORRHIZAE

1. Demonstrate the different types of rotted wood- i.e., white rots, brown rots, and intermediate rots (e. g., hard gray rots, red stringy rots).

a. provide examples of fungi which cause these rots.

b. provide examples of the rots and how to tell them apart.

2. Demonstrate the importance of brown rotted wood in the nutrition of the forest humus

3. Demonstrate the importance of brown rotted wood in providing habitats for certain mammals; get museum examples of the mammals.

4. Demonstrate the importance of mammals and of rotted wood in mycorrhizae.

5. Demonstrate and discuss the relationship between Carnivorous Fungi, Mushrooms, Mycorrhizae, and Mammals.

6. This will involve the demonstration and definition of mycorrhizae and thus the different types of mycorrhizae and the different kinds of fungi which cause can form mycorrhizae.

There are numerous books which explain mycorrhizae; I have some good introductory mycology books which provide the right kind of explanation.

I have several articles on rotted wood and an excellent article on the pratical use of leaving wood.

The challenge in this topic is to provide examples and explanations of mycorrhizae and types of rotted wood that everyone in the audience can understand. Also the concept of leaving wood to rot in the ground is (to say the least) quite controversial.

USES OF MUSHROOMS

 

1. You will be expected to use mushrooms as source to dye wool; you will have to have examples out for review and you will have to be able to discuss the process with the public.

2. You will be expected to discuss the use of mushrooms as an art medium; e. g. the Artist’s Conk is used for drawings and the Conk is sold commercially.

3. Any other item in which mushrooms are used as a medium and this medium is sold commercially.

4. Use of macrofungi as a source of paper. Give demonstrations and provide handouts for techniques.

5. Experiments on using pigments in mushrooms for colors in watercolor pallets.

6. Edibility can be mentioned but since there are tables indicating edible fungi, this topic should not be emphasized in this project.

7. Use of mushrooms as hallucinogens should not be mentioned.