Spore Print Experiment

I know a retired mycologist who helped me identify the mushroom in a previous post.  One way to help identify a mushroom is by the spore print.  Different species have different types of spores and different gill arrangements.  It's also important to collect the entire mushroom so the stalk and base can be observed.  I collected a small, medium, and large mushroom so that I could be sure to get enough spores for a good print.

I cut off the caps and placed them on a paper that is part black and part white.  Light colored spores will show up better on dark paper, and vice versa.  I covered the caps with a glass to protect from drafts.  Notice the beautiful old German crystal beer glasses?  I got them for 50 cents at a garage sale!

The next day I uncovered the caps and carefully turned them upside-down next to the spore print.  The small and medium size caps gave the best result.  The older cap had already released its spores.

The print from the small cap had the nicest detail.

The spores are pure white, and even the branched gill structure shows up in the spore print!

The cap still contains some spores.  The stalk appears to be hollow.

This experiment was easy and fun, and helped to identify this mushroom as a species of Mycena.

                                                  

October Nature Walk

There's always one day each fall that feels like the day I've been waiting for all year.  Today was the day.  The weather was perfect.  The sky was a cloudless blue, the slant of the light painterly.  The sun was gentle, the breeze soft and refreshing.  I opened windows in the house, had my coffee on the deck this morning, did my grocery shopping early, and potted some pansies.

I debated about cleaning house this afternoon or going for a walk with my dog.  The walk won.  We went to Arrowhead Point on Lake Belton.  I'm so glad that I took this time and enjoyed the golden afternoon.  It was restorative.

The dust can wait.

Gumweed

Buttonbush

Goldeneye

Goldeneye

Wild pink lantana

Prickly pear and Texas persimmon

Buttonbush

Mullein

Snailseed vine

Prairie fleabane

Cottonwood

Baccharis

Two October Fungi

I found this mushroom today growing under some tall grass next to a brush pile.  I thought it was so pretty, with its slender, delicate stalk that appeared to be pushing through the cap.  It's about 6 inches tall.

I took this picture because I was trying to imagine what the sunlight would look like coming through the top.  The gills of this mushroom are so intricate.  They are branched and seem to extend down the stalk a  little bit.

Here's a whole family of mushrooms that I found not far from the first one!  These mushrooms may be of the genus Mycena.  Mushrooms are the reproductive structures of the fungus.  Spores are released from the gills.  Most of the time, fungi live as filaments in the soil or organic matter, and they are not noticeable.

This next one is very strange.  It's a jelly fungus!  I found this when I was mowing my yard.  The piece of tree limb must have broken off during the last thunderstorm.  This fungus is nice and hydrated from all the rain we've been having the last month.  I rarely see this kind.  I only know it from occasional pieces that fall out of the trees onto the deck.  This is the first time I've ever gotten a real specimen.

The rubbery flaps of "jelly" are translucent and a very pretty dark amber color.  I held the piece of tree limb upside down and took this picture of the underside.

Jelly fungi get their nourishment from decaying wood.  They can have various shapes.  One species of jelly fungus is shaped like an ear, and it's edible.   I wonder if this is one.  The next time you eat in an oriental restaurant, ask if they have tree ear fungus!  Or check that hot sour soup very closely!

Easy Green Chile Enchiladas

I'm not above using the recipe from the back of a can, especially if it's a good basic recipe and it's simple to make.  Case in point, Creamy Chicken and Green Chile Enchiladas.  Here's the recipe as it appears on the can, but stay tuned for the way I really make it.

1 lb uncooked chicken breast strips
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, cubed
1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles
1 pkg (10.5 oz) flour tortillas for soft tacos (6 inch size)
2 cans (10 oz each) Old El Paso green chile enchilada sauce
3/4 c. (3 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

In a large nonstick skillet, cook chicken over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink in center.  Stir in cream cheese and chiles; reduce heat to medium.  Cook and stir until blended and cream cheese is melted.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease a 13 x 9 inch baking dish.

Spoon chicken filling onto tortillas; roll up and place seam side down in baking dish.  Pour enchilada sauce over top; sprinkle with cheddar cheese.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until hot and cheese is melted.  Yields 12 enchiladas.

Customize this recipe and you'll make it your own.  I've had great success using a small whole chicken, which I boil, de-bone, and shred.  I like the flavor of the mix of dark and white meat.  I lightly season the shredded cooked chicken with Lawry's seasoned salt, fresh ground black pepper, cumin, and coarse ground garlic salt.  Use whatever seasonings you like on Mexican food, but don't season so heavily that you overpower the cream cheese sauce.  While it's still warm, toss the chicken with the cubed cream cheese and the green chiles.

I think this would be even better with roasted or rotisserie chicken because the meat would be drier.  And you could even buy the whole cooked chicken at the grocer's deli counter.  My sons absolutely love this dish.  I love the fact that it's so easy to make!

The FRUITING BODIES Are Here!

Today it finally stopped raining, and the sun came out! The plasmodium is gone and in its place are the fruiting bodies! Each leaf is outlined in sporangia, and the overall effect is almost frilly.

If you like novelty, see yesterday's post for the backstory on the slime mold Physarum polycephalum.



The multicolored spheres are insect galls that measure less than 1/4 inch in diameter.



If you look on the landscape edging, you can see traces of the protoplasmic strands of the plasmodium.



This is a testament to the reproductive strategies of even the simplest organism. (Click on the picture for an enlarged view.)



In the lower left hand corner, sporangia are growing on a piece of lichen.

Slimy Subject

Today when I came home from work, I found this. The bright yellow color and nonrandom shape caught my eye.



I think it's a true slime mold, Physarum polycephalum. Physarum is fairly common on rotting logs, mulch, or leaves, and sometimes you can see it on the soil surface, but this is the first time I've ever seen it "growing" on a sidewalk!

The slime molds aren't true fungi. They appear gelatinous (slimy) and can grow quite large. Physarum is bright yellow and netlike in appearance. We buy Physarum cultured on media in Petri dishes, for biology lab. Within each strand of the protoplasmic network, you can see the cytoplasm rapidly stream and change direction. The plasmodium actually migrates!

The true slime molds are thought to be a single cell, kind of like a bag of cytoplasm containing thousands of nuclei. Slime molds feed on micro-organisms, and when the food supply runs out, the "supercell" forms fruiting bodies (sporangia) which release spores. The spores hatch into single celled amoebae, which can mate and form zygotes. The zygotes then grow into plasmodia "supercells." It's a really weird life cycle!

Since the fall rains started in mid-September, it feels like we've been living in a monsoon season. I just wish the rains wouldn't last all weekend. I've already got cabin fever. Now even the slime mold seems to be trying to escape from the wet leaves!

Fear Not the XL-5200 Lamp

On Monday, my TV quietly "died" from a burned out bulb. There was no warning message, no fading, no sputtering. I was unprepared for this event, thinking my TV would communicate signs of its distress like the owner's manual described. But no. It was sudden and unexpected. It was even anticlimactic. It just wouldn't turn on. By Tuesday I had the research done, and I ordered a new part. I got the replacement bulb on Friday. Today I started taking apart the "patient."

Burned out bulb in its protective armor

Nice and dusty!

Broken filament

Removing the lamp from the enclosure

Alien?

"The eye" and one cotton glove (included)

New lamp, 2 screws, 1 nut, 2 metal clips

Presto change-o

All clean and ready to go

The cavity awaits

Pushed in and plugged into the wire harness

Latching the lamp door and tightening the set screw

Replacing the outside cover. Doubly protected!

Necessary implements (the coin is for turning the screw on lamp door)

For twice the price, I could have saved myself some labor and ordered a whole new assembly. But why do things the easy way? I couldn't have thrown away the old lamp enclosure. So now I don't have to feel guilty about keeping something I might "need again" someday. It's been cleaned and reused. That's a good feeling. And it was worth an hour of my labor. Satisfaction and a savings of $120, not bad. :)