Showing posts with label Fungi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fungi. Show all posts

Tuesday 18 April 2017

Why are Portugal's Pines and Palms Dying?

Portugal’s Palm and Pine Trees are under attack
Dead Pine (Photo: Steve Andrews)

As you travel around in Portugal you can’t hope but notice the dead palms and dead and dying pine trees, but what is causing this disaster? It is a combination of drought, disease, and in the case of the pines, because of a tiny nematode worm and species of beetles that transport it. The pines and palms of Portugal are under attack. Let’s take a look at the two problems, starting with the pines.


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Male Pine Wilt Nematode (Photo: A. Steven Munson, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org)


Pine trees, which are a very common tree in the forests of Portugal, are under threat from a very tiny worm known as the pine wilt nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus), which causes “pine wilt,” as well as from a fungus known to science as Fusarium circinatum, which causes pitch canker disease. The worm’s name is often abbreviated to the letters PWN.


The nematode worms are spread to healthy trees by bark beetles and wood borer beetles that have become infested with the worms in a dead and decaying tree. After a tree is infected the needles become brown and the tree can die within a matter of months. The early stage of this nematode does not feed directly on the pinewood but on fungi in the decaying wood. Once the worm is in a healthy tree it feeds within the resin canals and spreads throughout the roots, trunk and branches. It reproduces rapidly in summer. It first caused terrible and noticeable tree loss in Japan in 1905, but is found in and has spread in many other parts of the world, including America, Canada, Mexico, China and Korea. In Europe it has become a problem in Portugal, and there are serious concerns that it could spread to other countries, including the UK, where it would be a threat to the Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris).


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Monochamus galloprovincialis (Photo: Siga)


In Europe, the pine wilt nematode is known to be spread by the Timberman Beetle (Monochamus galloprovincialis). In Japan the epidemics have been particularly bad in hot, dry summers, and the problem appears to be spreading in drought conditions experienced in Portugal. Drought weakens the trees and they become prone to attack by beetles.


I have become alerted to the pine wood nematode by witnessing the dead and dying pines near where I live in the Quinta do Conde area. The authorities here are chopping the trees down and then cutting up the trunks in an effort to deal with this threat to the forests. The wood can be fumigated or kiln-dried to kill the worms and beetles or it can be burned or chipped.

Infected pines (Photo: Steve Andrews)

Some species of pine appear to be more resistant to attacks by PWN than others. This can be seen in forests where there are stands of dead trees and others surviving.


Red Palm Weevil

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Destroyed Palm Crown (Photo: Kuchenkraut)


The threat to the palms of Portugal, and to those in many other countries around the world, is being caused by an insect known as the Red Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus). The grub of this weevil eats the crown of the tree and burrows into the palm trunks making a long tunnel and killing its host as it does so. The adult insects are quite attractive and large, reaching a size of between 2 and 4cm.


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Red Palm Weevil (Photo: Luigi Barraco)


The females lay their eggs on palms, especially in the crowns, and on recently pruned leaf scars and in lesions in the trunks. They can lay as many as 500 in total and an infestation of these weevil larvae will kill the host palm. After eating their fill the grubs pupate in a cocoon they weave of palm fibres and usually make in leaf litter.

The insects attack many species of palm, although a favourite for this weevil is the Canary Date Palm (Phoenix canariensis), a very popular ornamental palm that is frequently planted in gardens, parks and in city streets and squares. The Date Palm (P. dactylifera) is also a victim of this pest. Fortunately the Washingtonia palms seem to be resistant to attacks by the insect. The weevils can fly and this is how they invade new territory but they can also be transported in infested palms.


In Portugal, most of damage caused by Red Palm Weevils has taken place in the Algarve and south of the country, but over the years this insect pest has spread to other parts as well. In the heart of Lisbon you will see what’s left of palms that have been killed by the Red Palm Weevil.


In some parts of the world, including Borneo, Vietnam and Indonesia, the grubs are regarded as a delicacy, and are eaten alive or cooked. In countries, like Spain and Portugal, they are a very serious problem that are destroying ornamental palms.



There are various ways of treating infested palms, and insecticides injected into the trunk is a method that has often been used. It is possible to save palms under attack by these insects but often the damage has become to severe and a very beautiful tree will die and get removed.

Both palms and pines add to the beauty of Portugal and it would be tragic if they were lost from many parts of the country.

Monday 9 November 2015

Edible wild mushrooms found in November

November fungi


In a mild autumn there are still plenty of edible wild mushrooms and fungi that can be foraged for in November, as long as there are no hard frosts. Even after frost some species are still to be found and persist into December. It is surprising how many good edible fungi can be gathered in November so let us take a look at some of the best species.

Chanterelle


Chanterelle mushrooms (Public Domain)

The Chanterelle (Canthrellus cibarius)  is one of the most popular edible fungi and is quite common in some areas of woodland, especially in beech forests. It is a characteristic orange-yellow in colour, funnel0shaped and smells of apricots.  It grows from July until December and is very popular as an edible wild mushroom that is often sold in delicatessens and markets in Europe. Be careful not to confuse it with the toxic False Chanterelle (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca) which is a darker orange colour and tends to grow under pines and on heaths.

Wood Hedgehog or Hedgehog Fungus

The Hedgehog Fungus (Hydnum repandum) gets its name from the downward pointing tiny spines or teeth that are found under its buff-coloured caps in the place of gills. Like its alternative name of Wood Hedgehog implies, it is found in woodland from August to November. It tastes bitter and needs to be boiled in water for a few minutes before further cooking or eating to remove the bitterness. 

Parasol Mushroom


Parasol mushroom (Public Domain)

The Parasol Mushroom (Lepiota procera) is really one of the best edible fungi you can find when foraging. It is large, easy to identify and tastes great after cooking. It grows in fields, often near trees and in the margins of woods. Discard the woody stems and fry the caps or cook as ordinary mushrooms.

Fairy Ring Champignon


Fairy Ring Champignons in a French garden (Photo: Strobilomyces

The Fairy Ring Champignon (Marasmius oreades)  is an edible mushroom that grows as its name suggests in rings. It can be found on lawns and on short grassland. There are often many of these fungi in a "fairy ring."  This wild mushroom dries well and is good for storing.  It has a slight almond fragrance. 

Ceps and other Boletus species


Cep (Public Domain)

The Cep or Edible Boletus (Boletus edulis) is a very well-known and popular edible fungus. It is distinctive with its "penny bun" cap and spongy gills. It is quite common in mixed woodland and also grows in grass near trees.  It can be found from August to November on good years. There are many other smaller boletus species, many of which are edible but, as with all wild fungi. you need to be sure of identification. This is where a good fungus guidebook, such as Peter Jordan's Field Guide to Edible Mushrooms of Britain and Europe comes in handy. 

Blewits


Lepista personata near Sofia, Bulgaria (Photo: Paffka)

The Field Blewit (Lepista personata) is a fairly large edible wild mushroom that grows in fields and pastures where its brownish caps can be hard to see if they are among fallen leaves. The stout stems underneath the caps give the fungus its name though because they have a bluish shade to them.  It can be found from October to December and was a very popular wild mushroom in the Midlands area of Britain at one time. These fungi are reminiscent of tripe when cooked. Although generally regarded as good to eat this fungus has been known to cause allergic reactions in some people. 

The closely related and very similar Wood Blewit (L. nuda)  has a slimmer stem and more of a blue or violet-purplish colour. Like its name suggests it is found in woods. It grows at the same time of year and is also edible


Wood Ears


Dried Wood Ears (Public Domain)

The Wood Ear fungus (Auricularia auricula-judae) used to be known as the Jew's Ear but in these days of political correctness its name has been changed to Judas Ear or Wood Ear.  And it is aptly named because these weird fungi really do looks like ears. They are fleshy, clammy to the touch and pinkish-brown and shaped like ears.  They grow on the old branches of elder.  This fungus survives freezing temperatures and can be found all year around, though it is at its best in October and November. It dries well and can be used in soups and stews. They are very popular in Chinese cuisine.

There are actually many more edible fungi that can be found in November so why not get a good book about foraging or edible fungi, a book such as Richard Mabey's Food For Free, and go out and see what you can find? 

Monday 2 November 2015

Magic Mushrooms and the magic of mushrooms in autumn

Why are mushrooms so magical? 

Mushrooms have something magical about them whether they are the hallucinogenic varieties or simply because of their weird forms. The way they appear so quickly after rains is just like magic. And mushrooms have always been associated with fairy tales.  Gnomes, pixies, elves and fairies are often depicted along with toadstools, with the red and white spotted fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) being one of the most popular mushrooms associated with the fairy folk.  How many times have you seen pictures of gnomes or fairies sat on these fungi or even living in them?


Alice in Wonderland in Public Domain


And the hookah smoking caterpillar in Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland is depicted sitting on a mushroom!

Wild mushrooms in the Fall

Autumn is the time when all sorts of wild mushrooms appear, seemingly overnight in many instances. This is the time of year when it is easiest to discover fungi growing in the countryside, in parks and gardens.  Some species are, of course, edible and many people go out foraging for these edible species, species like the Edible Boletus or Cep (Boletus edulis).


Cep in Public Domain


There is something exciting about discovering wild mushrooms. It is like feeling we are in touch with our hunter-gatherer ancestors of long long ago. 

Every year the mushrooms and toadstools start to appear not long after the autumn rains have soaked the ground.  We find clumps of fungi popping up in grassland, in the forests and even in our flower-beds and garden plots. 

The Fly Agaric



Fly Agaric Photo: larsjuh

The fly agaric is one of the most colourful toadstools we can find in autumn. It mainly grows under birch trees and pines and is so easy to spot because of its brightly coloured caps. This fungus is hallucinogenic and has been thought to be connected with the origins of Santa Claus. This is because its effects when consumed can include feelings of floating, also because it is used as an entheogen by tribal people and shamans in Lapland and Siberia where there are reindeer, which are the animals that help pull Santa's sleigh at Christmas.

The Liberty Cap


Liberty Cap Magic Mushroom Photo: John Johnston

The liberty cap (Psilocybe semilanceata) is probably the most well-known "magic mushroom" because of the psilocybin and psilocin it contains, which substances cause intoxication and hallucinations when consumed. This has caused it to become considered as a drug and it is illegal to possess these mushrooms in the UK now. 

The liberty cap grows in fields, on grassy hillsides and on large lawns in parks. It is very common in some areas and continues growing until the first real frosts. 

You can read more about the fly agaric and the liberty cap in my book Herbs of the Northern Shaman

Weird fungi like the Earthstar


Earthstar Photo: Orangeaurochs)


Earthstars are some of the weirdest fungi you can find in autumn, and they can persist right through the winter months. They look like some sort of strange alien life-form with arms like a starfish and an inflated sac in the centre that can puff out clouds of spores.  These fungi can actually move but this depends on weather conditions which enable the arms to move the body of the fungus up from the surrounding earth. Often they will break away completely but this does not matter because the fungus is still able to disperse its tiny spores that are blown away in the wind.

One of the most well-known earthstars is Geastrum triplex.  It is mainly found growing under beeches, although I had a colony of this weird fungus growing for many years under a large privet bush at the bottom of my garden.  It was like magic, how they arrived there, like a mini invasion of alien beings from the stars and looking like stars.



The Private Life of Plants: Earthstars


Friday 19 December 2014

Fly Agaric Magic Mushroom linked with Father Christmas

Fly Agarics. Photo in Public Domain






The Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) is a brightly coloured hallucinogenic mushroom that is often used in illustrations for fairy stories, and perhaps with very good reason. The substances muscimol and ibotenic acid it contains produce intoxication and altered reality and consumption of this toadstool has been used to produce visionary states. Because of this it is included in my book Herbs of the Northern Shaman.

Because of this, and its known use by shamans of Lapland, Siberia and elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, the fungus has been linked with the myth of Santa Claus. The Fly Agaric is coloured red and white just like the traditional costume that Father Christmas wears.

The Fly Agaric is sometimes eaten by reindeer and Santa Claus travels in a sleigh drawn by these animals. They fly through the sky and it has been suggested that hallucinations brought about by the ingestion of this fungus might have something to do with this fanciful idea.

The author and ethnobotanist R. Gordon Wasson suggested that the Fly Agaric was the mystical soma mentioned in the Rig Veda, sacred book of the Hindus. John Marco Allegro in his 1970 book The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross went as far as suggesting that the Christian religion was founded by practitioners of an ancient fertility cult who were ritual users of this fungus and Biblical texts were inspired by visions they experienced. 



It has been suggested that part of Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland was inspired by the Fly Agaric because it is known to cause hallucinations in which size becomes distorted. 

Hookah Smoking Caterpillar and Alice - Illustration by Sir John Tenniel (Public Domain)

Fly Agarics grow in groups under pine and birch, as well as under other trees.  They can be found in autumn and are common in some places. They grow in the UK, many parts of Europe, and across Asia, as well as in Canada and North America. 

Fly Agarics are reported to be edible after parboiling and the fungus has been eaten in some places. Recreational drug users and modern neo-shamans use the fungus as an entheogen, especially after the psilocybin magic mushrooms became an illegal drug in many countries such as the UK. 

The Fly Agaric is a fungus we all know about, if only from having seen it in fairy tales and in artwork.

Fly agarics in Rubezahl by Moritz von Schwind (Public Domain)




Saturday 6 October 2012

Royce Holleman talks to Steve Andrews about Herbs Of The Northern Shaman




In this video, Royce Holleman talks to myself, Steve Andrews, aka The Bard of Ely, and interviews me about my book Herbs of the Northern Shaman for his Paranormal Palace Radio show.
Besides discussing the mind-altering plants described in this 2010 O-Books/Moon Books publication we also talk about edible plants, foraging, raw food, St John's Wort as an anti-depressant, flying ointment, the law and legal status of many plants, magic mushrooms, herbs in the Bible, Moses and his use of Calamus, artistic inspiration from hallucinogens, hummadruz, UFO author Jenny Randles, Arthur Shuttlewood and UFOs, Magic Saucer UFO magazine, Warminster, Atlantis, David Icke, ayahuasca, Prof Arysio Santos and Atlantis, the Vedas, tribal ways, Christopher Everard, Rastas, soma, Shiva, ancient religions, religious experience, Essiac cancer cure, Hulda Clarke, absinthe, Fly Agaric, and much more.

Foraging
Edible plants like Dandelion are recommended as ones that can be found around the world and are one of several plants thought of as weeds that grow in lawns but are actually good to eat. Clover and the Daisy are two other edible weeds.

Atlantis
We talk about the late Professor Arysio Nunes dos Santo and his website and theories about Atlantis. I point out that Prof Santos believed that many psychoactive herbs, such as Salvia divinorum, were selectively cultivated and created by the people of Atlantis.  The professor also believed that Atlantis was located where Indonesia and the South China Sea are today.




Hummadruz
I explain about my Amazon Kindle book Hummadruz and a Life of High Strangeness, and how I learned the term Hummadruz from Jenny Randles the UFO author. My book is an autobiographical account of my paranormal and spiritual experiences in the past.  Jenny used to write for Magic Saucer magazine, a publication intended for younger readers and published by Crystal Hogben.  I had a regular column in this too entitled Eco-space. 

Warminster and UFOs
The late Arthur Shuttlewood, who was the editor of the Warminster Journal and an author of several books about UFOs, was also a writer for this magazine. I talk about how Warminster in Wiltshire was once famous for being a place UFOs were frequently seen.

Calamus
We discuss mind-altering plants mentioned in the Bible and how the prophet Moses was said to have used a “holy anointing ointment” that contained Calamus, a herb that is both a stimulant and a hallucinogen. I talk about how Chris Everard, the film-maker for the Enigma Channel and publisher of Feed Your Brain magazine, claims in his book Stoneage Psychedelia that religious books like this were inspired by ancient people who used hallucinogenic herbs for inspiration and visions. We go on to discuss ‘Soma’ and I point out that this was thought to be the Fly Agaric toadstool.

Essiac
Royce asks me about herbal cures for cancer and I describe the Essiac herbal cancer cure and the very controversial late Dr Hulda Clarke and her treatments which involved the use of Wormwood. I also point out that this potentially dangerous herb was the main ingredient in Absinthe, an alcoholic drink that many great authors, poets and painters drank.
The video interview was intended to be just one hour but because I had so much to say it went on for nearly two.