SNOW TRILLIUM

I have long been interested in seeing for myself the comparatively rare Snow Trillium. I know that it has been found in only six WV counties and most habitats seem to be in difficult to reach areas. So when an opportunity presented itself to see this species in a walk sponsored by the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania, I jumped at the opportunity. The destination was in nearby Westmoreland County near Greensburg PA.

The rally point looked very ordinary as did the trail, an old abandoned rail line through a rather thin, young woods. Different however was the nature of the soil - it was almost like a shale barren, not really rich in humus or ground cover. At first, the blooming plants were easy to miss because of their small size and the lack of contrast with green from other plants, but soon there was one or two and then whole colonies of the diminutive blooms. They looked pretty much like other trilliums except for their small size and the color of the leaves which seemed to be covered with a light, almost lavender pruina.

Snow Trillium does not grow in leaf mold, humus, or near much plant competition. It prefers south-facing, limey, sandy gravel, crevices in limestone, or calcareous mineral soil instead. Trillium nivale occurs primarily at the southern edge of Pleistocene glaciation.

Mature plants produce a single flower on a short stalk about 2" long that is straight or arching. The flower, unlike most other species of Trillium, is much, much smaller - only 2" across. The entire plant seldom exceeds 4" in height. The petals are oval-ovate and often slightly undulate along their margins. The recurved sepals are lanceolate and often slightly reddish or yellowish on the outer surface.

Other than their unique and rare habitat, The blooming period occurs during early to mid-spring when few are out in the woods tramping around. Indeed, in our area everything has been under snow until quite recently. Flowering lasts only about 2 weeks.

But perhaps what sets these plants apart from other plants is their remarkable root system which consists of a thickened rootstock, secondary feeder roots, and rhizomes. Snow Trillium can reseed itself, but it more often produces vegetative clones from the rhizomes. At favorable sites, colonies are often formed. Such was the case in the ones I saw. Although there were a few outliers, most of them grew in large colonies like the more well-known T. grandiflorum. These fleshy root stalks are well adapted to the thin, rocky soils. Apparently spring-summer heat that has not been shielded in the otherwise sparse landscape has something to do with the growth and maturation of the root stalks in between flowering seasons.

Very few insects visit the early-blooming flowers for nectar or pollen. Most likely, the flowers are pollinated by Andrenid bees, queen bumblebees, and other bees that become active early in the spring. The fruits are probably eaten by small mammals and birds, although there is a lack of information regarding the particular species that do this. Recently it has been learned that the seed coating is very sweet and attracts ants which may help either in dissemination or subsequent germination.

Be that as it may, it was a wonderful species to claim on my life list and learning something about its physiology, added to my appreciation of this hardy, but delicate survivor.

WINTER BIRDING

Many people do not realize that just because we are in mid-winter that there is still plenty of wildlife to observe, especially birds. These fall into three categories: First are those birds which live here year round. They include Nuthatches, Chickadees, Titmice, and various woodpeckers, among others. Then there are birds that move into our area for the winter and then depart again in the spring. Our friendly little White-throated Sparrow (see left) is in that group and its song is one of the most delightful of all bird songs. It appears in our area around mid-October and leaves for the north some time in April. Its cousins, the White-crowned Sparrow and Dark-eyed Juncos are also considered winter birds although both may be found year round in higher elevations. The third group are those birds that appear only in certain winters, usually as a result of food shortages further north. The great eruption in Pine Siskins during the winter of 2008-09 is a good example. We do not see this third types every winter.

Any of these birds, including the rarities mentioned above may appear on or under your winter feeders. That is one thing nice about winter birding: you don't have to don boots and Mackinaws to go out looking for winter birds; if your habitat is right, you can bring the birds into you while you sit inside in front of a window near the fire place with your binocs in one hand and a hot toddy in the other. It is more civilized this latter way. But you do need to have trees and particularly, shrubs, nearby for the birds to rest between feeding forays to your feeder. They need cover and if you do not have it, you may not expect much besides House Sparrows and Starlings. Habitat is everything. Once I lived right next to a woods not many yards away and I lured nice birds like Thrushes and Towhees out of the woods where they normally live. Too far away and I would not have seen them.

Type of food and feeders you put out also makes a difference in what kind of birds you can attract. Don't go for the cheap-O brands at K Mart; these contain too much filler that interesting song birds don't eat. You will get lots of pigeons though which like to feed on all the junk dropped to the ground by all the better birds. Put out some suet feeders around the house or close to the woods and you will see a variety of woodpeckers, e.g., Downy, Hairy, and Pileated (see right). Although you may see these birds visit your feeder anytime during the winter, mine seem to visit more often towards the onset of nesting season. Getting a resplendent Pileated Woodpecker to visit your feeder regularly is truly a wonderful accomplishment.


Well, maybe you live in an apartment on the tenth floor or your yard is in a overly-manicured development in which all the trees and shrubs were removed by the bulldozers before the houses went up and maybe you don't like to trudge through the ice and snow in search of winter birds in the wild; what to do? Cheer - up all is not lost. Set up a card table under some good lighting, obtain some good 140 pound rag paper, some paint brushes and some water colors. Now you can see any kind of bird you would care to. By the vicarious means of water colors, you can bring the birds right in to you (see above and below) and do your winter birding in front of the fire with some Christmas carols playing on the stereo.







Merry Christmas, Everybody!

A BIRD BY ANY OTHER NAME

Did you ever think how birds got their names? Some of them are holdovers from the U.K., but others got their names in America back in the days when a day of birding meant just that; you spent the day afield before bird guides and binoculars were useful. Any bird seen was shot and not with a camera. Shotguns loaded with very fine shot (bird shot) were used to bag the unknown. After a day afield, the birders gathered around a table and passed the birds around noting such characteristics as type of bill, colors, wing bars, etc. After naming as many as they could, the skins with feathers were preserved and used for later study and comparison; the rest were cooked up for all to savor, e.g. four and twenty blackbirds all baked in a pie sort of thing.

Observing the birds at or in hand so to speak enabled the birders to see characteristics not easily observed in the filed. Ever wonder how the Red-Bellied Woodpecker (above left) got its name? The slight rosy blush to the feathers on the abdomen would fit this name, but it is hardly a field characteristic. What about the Ring-necked Duck? Same thing; a duck hunter could see this thin light-colored band around the duck's neck, but this is hardly visible to the observer of living birds on the wing. There is a distinctive and easily seen ring around the bill of this species, (see left) however, and wonders why they were not called Ring-billed Ducks instead; it would make more sense. I defy anyone to explain to me how the name Purple Sandpiper is relevant to that species of shorebird. Speaking of Sandpipers, neither Western nor Semi-palmated have any field relevance today.

And don't get me started on Warblers! Nashville, Connecticut, Kentucky, Orange-crowned, Tennessee are just a few approved warbler names that have no field relevance to the birder trying to make sense of this complicated group.

Two closely-related species of woodpeckers possess names that are difficult to fathom even amongst seasoned birders, the Downy and the Hairy. What do these names refer to? Again, the names are based on characteristics that can only be seen when the birds are passed around the table at the end of a day's birding. The terms refer to the quality of the feathers around the beak of the bill; they are much finer in the Downy compared to the coarser ones of the Hairy (left), characteristics not seen in the field even with binoculars.l

I like the Little Blue Heron, so named because of its size relationship to the Great Blue Heron. Beginners, not knowing this, are puzzled when they discover that the color of the immature, or "little", member of this species is white! So why not Little White Heron? I was once asked why Little Blue Herons are white when they are young and I answered, "for the same reason that blackeberries are red when they are green." The neophyte stomped off in a huff.

From time those in charge of standardizing bird names suggest that American species with European counterparts retain the names in common use in England. I see several problems with this. Fir example, although I think the Brit name for what we call a Common Loon, Diver, makes more sense, I doubt that the latter will ever take over in the US of A. For one thing, Loon is so well entrenched in American bird lore, e.g., "Crazy as a Loon". "Crazy as a Diver" just doesn't cut it! Similarly, I don't think we should adopt the Brit name for some of their hawks; they call them buzzards. We have spent too many years getting American rustics to quit shooting "buzzards", a term embedded in pioneer lore for any rapacious bird that carries off lambs and babies. When the term "buzzard" is used in American, it is usually misapplied to vultures.

But where I think the biggest stumbling block in America would be encountered in adopting British terms would be as applied to the Family, Paridae. I don't think the term, Carolina Tit, will catch on here, at least for our friendly little winter bird!

MUSHROOMS CAN BITE IN OTHER WAYS

We are all familiar with the many ways that mushrooms may cause toxic or fatal reactions after eating them. This is bad enough, but the subjects of my interest and admiration have found other sneakier ways to do us in as well!

Although the myth persists that the explanation for the occasional toxicity seen with certain mushrooms in only some individuals, but not all, after ingestion is one due to allergy, real evidence to support this popular assertion is very hard to come by. I am aware of one case following eating of Sulfur Shelfs that almost certainly was an allergy. The symptoms were not from the intestinal tract however; they were referable to the skin in the form of hives and most seriously, some initial tightening of the larynx. The mushroom was not fresh and one other person ate parts of the same mushroom without ill effect.

I also have only been able to find but one case of a person breaking out in a rash (something like poison ivy) from merely handling a mushroom, but even this case was not clear cut. It occurred in a worker who grew mushrooms commercially and in addition to his contact with the mushrooms, he had recently sprayed them with an insecticide, a material much more likely to have caused his rash.

Speaking of mushroom growers, they have other problems. A disease known as hypersensitivity pneumonitis sometimes occurs in these people. This disease is a much more serious and complicated form of allergy and is usually due to the bacteria and molds that grow in the compost, but some cases have been reported from Japan where it was caused by the spores of the mushroom being cultivated, Pleurotus ostreatus, our common Oyster Mushroom. This is commonly found in supermarkets these days, but there is no harm from them to the ordinary consumer.


In New Jersey, a few people suffering from seasonal hay fever were found to be sensitive to mold spores rather than pollen. The air was unusually laden with fungal spores. It appeared that the offending agent was spores from Ganoderma applanatum (Artist Conch) which enjoyed a particularly heavy fruiting in that locality and which produces prodigious amounts of spores.

One form of endocarditis results from microorganisms, usually bacteria, growing on diseased heart valves. It is a chronic, serious disease unless treated properly. In 1971 a man died from this disease after failing to respond to conventional antibiotic therapy which is extremely effective against bacterial causes of this disease. His heart valves proved to be infected with a fungus that most of the medical mycologists could not identity. Cultures of it were sent to various laboratories and finally an agricultural lab figured out that it was the imperfect (non-fruiting) stage of a Coprinus most likely Coprinus lagopus.

That covers intestinal, pulmonary, and even cardiac systems, but there is one more and much more common. Enthusiasts who examine mushrooms closely often resort to breaking apart the specimen in various ways and in so doing, tiny amounts of liquid may get on the fingers. No problem unless you later happen to absent-mindedly wipe your eyes with these same fingers. This will produce an intense burning which may require medical treatment. The juice of the mushroom (Lentinellus ursinus, the Bear Mushroom) is extremely acrid in taste as well.

Then there is a guy I know who got chased out of a pasture by an enraged bull while he was collecting mushrooms, but that is another story.

The Mighty Potomac

The Mighty Potomac

George Washington's river, the mighty Potomac, has its origins high in the mountains of West Virginia. It is composed of the two main branches which meet near Greenspring, West Virginia east of Cumberland, Maryland and forms the Maryland—West Virginia and the Maryland—Virginia borders as it wanders to the sea. For a long time the North Branch, which originates where the extreme southwestern tip of Maryland cuts down into West Virginia's eastern panhandle, was considered main source of the Potomac and indeed the Fairfax Stone marks that historic spot. Today we know the much longer and more scenic South Branch which originates high in the Appalachian Mountains in Pendleton County, is the true source of the river.

Every school boy knows the story of George Washington's mighty heave of a silver dollar across the Potomac and of his beautiful home, Mount Vernon, located high on the banks of the lower river. Anyone who cherishes this tradition has never seen how wide the Potomac is at this point and no one has the prowess to accomplish such a feat. The legend probably refers to the upper Rappahannock River instead. Unfortunately, few realize that the father of our country also traveled on and was familiar with the upper reaches of this river, the sections that West Virginians know and love so well. Between Moorefield and Romney, the South Branch courses in a northeasterly direction through a magnificient gorge, the walls of which at times are almost perpendicular. This section, locally known as the "Trough," was explored by Washington in 1748. He described it as ". . . a couple of mountains impassable, running side and side together for seven or eight miles, and ye river running down between them."

The history-laden South Branch has been the scene of bitter Indian wars, as well as parts of the Civil War. Romney was the site of a key fort during the Civil War. Caves overlooking the famous Smokehole section of the South Branch were used as sources of saltpeter from Revolutionary times, as hide-away spots from Indian raiding parties, and even as the site of whiskey stills by some of our more enterprising ancestors. Today the South Branch Valley between Petersburg and the head of the Trough is the home of many industrious farmers whose rich, productive lands add to the beauty of the landscape against the majestic background of the ever-present mountains. Yet within easy reach upstream into the Smokehole country or downstream into the Trough, paddlers can find wild areas of unparalleled beauty.

For the paddler who would want to tour the river, there is a tremendous variety of scenery and type of paddling available. For almost 120 miles, the paddler can find delightful stretches of water to suit any taste. The whitewater buff begins his run by putting in near Franklin, West Virginia at the intersection of U.S. 33 and 220. Early in the spring when the warm sun releases the water from winter's icy grip, the Smokehole run is considered tops in beauty by paddlers from all over the East. After paddling above the hamlet of Upper Tract and passing through some open farm land along U.S. 220, the paddler enters the Smokehole canyon. The water tumbles furiously down the 22 feet per mile gradient creating complex, but invigorating Class 3 action. Soon the paddler reaches an area where a landslide has blocked the river. This is portaged by novices, but can be safely run by experienced whitewater buffs. The river continues its wild pace through the U.S. Forest Service campground and recreation area, an ideal overnight spot of the canoe-campers. This is located 22 miles from the put-in.

High on the right one may see Cave Mountain, a spelunker's delight. One more somewhat challenging rapids is encountered seven miles below the campground, but the water gradually becomes calmer, picks up its ripsnorter of a sister, the North Fork of the South Branch, and proceeds to Petersburg, West Virginia along State Routes 4 and 28. The water in the 21 mile trip
below the campground is of Class 1-2 complexity and a favorite with spring paddlers. Although the upper Smokehole Gorge is extremely scenic, the paddler will find attention glued to the complexity of the rapids.

Below Petersburg, the mountains recede and the South Branch flows swiftly but gently to Moorefield- some 17 miles awav. In and around Moorefield there are many stately, ante-bellum mansions maintained by historic families. Although the South Branch has more volume, the gradient is such that the rapids are not dificult and consist of gentle riffles or small ledges, easily negotiated by the well-coached novice. It is at Moorefield that the South Branch is further swollen by its confluence with its South Fork or the Moorefield River, a Class 3-4 boat buster. Most paddlers who are not expert whitewater buffs will want to start their trip on the South Branch at the U.S. 220 bridge at Old Fields, five miles downstream from Moorefield, the scene of
many an early Indian-settler skirmish. For four miles the river meanders through pleasant farm
land and picks up speed here and there to form zesty riffles. Soon the river makes a right-hand turn over a ledge into an exciting chute of haystacks under the railroad bridge that gives the paddler a nice roller-coaster ride.

The sight that greets the paddler and never fails to impress one is the gateway to the Trough. Here, the grandeur of the mountains provides mile after mile of eye-catching scenery. For the last several years an exciting new devlopment has occurred just below the bridge and that is the influx of Bal Eagles to the area indicating a much-welcomed return of wildlife habitat for these magnificent creatures. It is not too hard to see at least one of their nests. The vistas continue for another seven miles when the river again enters broader farm land. There are not many rapids in the Trough and only the occasional glimpse of railroad tracks on the left remind you that you are not traveling down the river with George Washington's surveying party. The long, flat pools of the Trough are reminiscent of Canadian lakes. The bass fishing along the 24 mile stretch between the towns of Moorefield and Romney is well known and is fantastic.

For the rest of the 34 miles from Romnev to its junction with the North Branch, the river meanders peacefully with only occasional riffles. The highways are usually near enough so that the trip can be broken up into smaller segments. Campsites, both in the Trough and downstream, are usually found, but be sure to obtain permission. Excellent tourist accommodations may be found at Franklin, Petersburg, Moorefield and Romney. In the same general area, one is in easy driving distance to the historic Shenandoah Valley—Harper's Ferry area of West Virginia and to the new Spruce Knob—Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area.

The upper part of the South Branch can only be run in the spring, but below Petersburg the river volume is such that it can be floated most of the year. The South Branch Valley, as the case
with much of the east, has suffered several summers of extreme dryness. At times such as these,
the canoeing is poor, so it is wise to check river levels first before entering the river or you might
end up taking a hike pulling your boat through all of the shallow places.

More treasures are encountered for the seasoned river rat after the South and North Branches combine at Greenspring. Two in particular are worth noting: one is the Paw Paw Bends section whch begins near Paw Paw WV and transcribes huge loops alongside the C and O Canal pathway, now a National Historic Park. Near the beginning of this section, the early canal builders decided to carve a tunnel for the canal waterway through a mountain. It begins and the put in. The paddler will then spend some time navigating some of these wide loops and will come across a "hiker-biker" overnight camp site, right at the other end of the same tunnel! One could easily leave a car at the put in, paddle this distance and then portage the boat back through the tunnel to the car.

The last place in West Virginia that the Potomac touches is a dandy, Harpers Ferry, a nationally significant location and a National Historic Site itself. For the paddler, the last part of the Potomac rushes down a series of parallel ledges, called the "Needles", and joins the grand Shenandoah River, a wonderfully historic waterway in itself. What a fitting end for West Virginia's part of our Heritage River!

MUSHROOMING AT THE SUPERMARKET

It occurred to me that with so many kinds of mushrooms now becoming available through mail order, specialty delis, and even chain supermarkets, that a guide through the various species available and what to do with them might be of interest. I am amazed how many kinds I am able to buy at my local Kroger's or Giant Eagle supermarkets. Others are available from small stores that cater to Oriental and Asian folks and I sometimes take a trip up to the legendary Strip District of Pittsburgh, a veritable cornucopia of foods from around the world. I do not regard my home of Morgantown WV as a very cosmopolitan place, but we have two small, Asian markets in which to shop.

The Commoners

Starting right off, all of us can buy the ordinary Agaricus bisporus, the usual mushroom you can buy either fresh or canned. This is a "tamed" relative of the Meadow Agaric (Agaricus campestris) that has been cultivated for so many decades that a different species has evolved, one that has only 2-spored basidia rather than the usual 4. The canned mushrooms are extremely bland in comparison to the fresh which in turn are extremely bland compared to the wild A. campestris, but still both are convenient, they're always available, and can transform an ordinary dish into something special. Back in my school days when we had very little money, canned mushrooms and chopped onions transformed our drab, weekly hamburger steak into something much more palatable. But in France, even the name of this ordinary mushroom is elegant, champignons. They are grown indoors on elaborately prepared compost mixtures covered with casing soil. Temperature and humidity must be just right and growing them is subject to a lot of problems. Most major mushroom growing locations in the USA are located near race tracks or other areas where horses are plentiful. So now you know what the main ingredient of the compost is and why you should wash all of them well! You also can see another reason why I do not like raw mushrooms in salads.

Many supermarkets are also offering "Crimini" mushrooms which are the same except they are not white, but a tan color and some call them Agaricus brunnescens. They are reputed to have a more intense flavor. Wondering about this and their more expensive price (6 oz cost the same as 8 oz of the other), I conducted a scientific experiment. I sliced two of each kind of agaric in 1/4" slices and sauteed each batch separately in flavorless vegetable oil for exactly 5 min. As I was slicing them, I noticed that the Crimini were denser and more compact. Using only a little salt for seasoning, I and my faithful lab assistant, the BW, tasted each batch separately. The Crimini retained their denser texture in the mouth. The BW, who didn't know what she was supposed to taste found the Crimini decidedly less flavorful. I had to agree and thus neither of us could back up the "more intense flavor" claim made by the purveyors. I personally think the appeal is from the seller's point of view, i.e., being darker in color and any blotches that show up so easily in the all-white agarics aren't visible.

Portobellos are also commonly available. Actually they are simply extra large specimens of the store-bought Criminis. I have seen them whole, sliced, or dried. I can not detect any difference in taste from the "regulars". One of them might be 4-6" across so you would not need many to make a dozen. Ideal for stuffing it would seem.

Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus/sapidus complex) show up either fresh or dried in my local supermarket. The seller's big job is to convince the public these are worth buying and eating. When we have cooked wild specimens at foray tastings, they compare quite favorably with many other so-so species available.

Cultivated mushroom kits that are easily obtained commercially from mail order houses. These firms offer in addition to many of the ones mentioned here, a veritable array of Oyster "species" in almost any color of the rainbow, pink, golden, lilac, etc. I have not tried any of these but assume their tastes are comparable to the usual species. A species available commercially is called Brick Caps (Naematoloma sublateritium)

The Orientals

Other fresh mushrooms that have become more common are Shiitakes. These Japanese mushrooms are comparatively easy to grow on old logs and rural American entrepreneurs are beginning to grow and market them around here. This is Lentinus edodes and it has a firmer texture than does your usual store-bought species. The stems are a bit tough and I recommend slicing the caps vertically into about 1/4-1/2 inch slices before cooking. They are great stir-fried with vegetables or pasta. If you find fresh ones for sale, they freeze well for later use, but more often they are available in the dried form. If you asked for Chinese or Japanese mushrooms in a specialty store, this is probably what you would get. Shiitakes offer a pronounced flavor and it doesn't take many to flavor a dish. The dried form will require re-hydrating by pouring just enough boiling water over them to cover them and waiting about 20 min. Always save any liquors for cooking down or adding to the dish or using elsewhere.

One of my favorites is the Chinese Forest Mushoom, sometimes called Wood Ears or Cloud Ears (Auricularia polytricha). This is another species that grows on trees, but it is available in our area only in the dried form. It is similar, but much larger than the species found wild in our area A. auricula or Judas Ear. After re-hydration the Chinese variety is much larger than our species and just a few small dried pieces will swell up to many times the original, dried size. This is a mushroom for people who like to experiment with textures. It is a bit on the gelatinous or tough side, but remove and discard the knotty stem and slice the mushrooms after re-hydration. I savor this species for its woody-smoky flavor and use them often in Chinese soups, stir fried vegetables, or for adding great flavor to meat stews. It is usually available in small packages and is more expensive than Shiitakes. On the other hand a little bit goes a long way after swelling. Incidentally, I recommend storing all dried mushrooms in the freezer just to keep the bugs out of them.

Another oriental mushroom you can find without too much trouble is canned Padi-straw Mushrooms, so named for the substrate (straw from rice paddies) on which it is grown in Asia. If you like moo-goo gai pan in Chinese restaurants or see very small closed umbrella mushrooms in a Chinese dish, that's it, Volvariella volvacea. For me, these guys don't have a whole lot of flavor, but I have never tasted fresh ones. If I use them at all, it is only for texture, preferring the flavor of fresh button A. bisporus instead. They can be very expensive--$3.60 at Kroger's for a 15 oz can, but imported brands found in Asian markets are around $1.80/can.

There are other Oriental varieties more common on the West Coast, e.g., Matsutakes (Tricholoma matsutake) and Enokitakese or Enoki (Flammulina velutipes. Enokis may sometimes be found in local supermarket stores. It is rather bland and is used mainly for appearance, texture or in salads.

The Europeans

Porcini - you should have no trouble finding these dried mushrooms in any Italian market. They are the exquisite Boletus edulis. I have found those imported from Italy as well as something resembling Porcini from Chile (and much cheaper!). If your Italian grocer buys in bulk, you will get a better price, but if they are pre-packaged in 1 or 2 oz packs, be prepared to spend an arm and a leg. The good news is that a little bit of these goes a long way after they are re-hydrated. This is the best mushroom, commonly available, money can buy.

Chanterelles are often found in dried form. Personally, I feel that the process of drying causes them to lose more flavor in this species than any other. Since these are not grown commercially (yet) and finding marketable quantities is hard (they get wormy fast!), expect to pay more for them. But if you can get them fresh, they are excellent. Even in a stew, they announce their presence with authority. European restaurants feature them in many dishes. French chefs call them Girolles while the Germanic/Slavic chefs call them Pfifferlings.

YOU CAN'T AFFORD THEM

Morels - yes I have even seen these in dried form a few times at some of the tonier markets I browse (but don't buy) in. Personally, I feel that breaking down and buying morels is an admission of failure as a mighty hunter and provider for the table. You will need a lot of bucks (about fifteen of them!) for a small 1 oz bag of what look like dried Morchella esculenta.

Speaking of cost, how much do some of these items set you back comparatively? A recent mushroom walk of my local supermarket turned up these prices:for fresh mushrooms:

Agarics $ .23/oz

Oysters $1.65/ oz

Crimini $.25/oz

Portobello $.75/oz

Shiitakes $.37/oz

I have found dried Shiitakes and Wood Ears in Chinese markets far cheaper, but the quality is sometimes poor, i.e., the Shiitakes may be small and I have seen Wood Ears about the size of our Judas Ears which makes me wonder if they were the real thing. Packages in Oriental markets often are not labeled or if they are, not in English.

Questions often arise as to just how nutritious mushrooms are. First of all, mushrooms are mostly water--anywhere from 85 to 90 %. Thus for every 100 grams of mushrooms (about 3.5 oz or a little more than two shot glasses to put it in everyday terms), only 10-15 grams have any stuff in it. A quarter AND a nickel weigh about 10 grams if you taking notes. Now then, most of that is indigestible chitin. These same 3.5 oz of mushrooms will only contain about 30-35 calories, but only if (and it's a big if) you don't saute‚ them in butter or oil. At this point I would imagine that most of you just got up and changed to another channel.

Now supposing you compare the relative differences in these materials among some well known mushroom species:

Species          Proteins    Fat   Sugars     Chitin    Minerals
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Porcini            4.0       .2     3.4          .7          .7
Agarics            4.3       .2     4.0         1.0          .6
Armillaria mellea  2.8       .5     1.8         3.8         1.1
Chanterelles       2.8       .2     4.1         1.3         1.1
Morels             3.4       .2     4.7          .7          .9
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note that Armillaria (not available commercially) contains five times the amount of indigestible chitin as Morels or Porcini and hence may cause some belly banging on these grounds alone.

Bon appetit!

THE ICE MAN COMETH

I suppose by now everyone has heard about the frozen corpse found in the Italian Alps in 1991. One of the most amazing archaeological finds ever, it was the body of a young man almost perfectly preserved. The clothes he was dressed in and the artifacts he was carrying were also well preserved and give important indications that this man lived nearly 5,000 years ago give or take a couple of hundred. The young man had been wounded and apparently got stranded in the high mountains by a sudden storm. Perhaps exhausted by exposure he lay down to sleep, his last. The snows that covered him that night became an unruffled blanket for five millenia.

"So what has this to do with mushrooms?", you rudely intrude. Among the interesting artifacts surrounding him was a bit of fungus hanging from a thong from his waist. Somebody identified this as the Birch Polypore (Piptoporus betulinus) and it has raised all sorts of questions as to why he was carrying it. Let's examine some of these one by one. The Birch Polypore is typically 2-5" wide, but can vary 1-10". It is hemispherical or kidney-shaped bracket fungus that is attached to the tree by a rudimentary stalk. They are produced during wet conditions and although they are not perennial (adding new layers every year), they will dry and remain on a tree for a few years. It has a dingy white to gray-brown upper surface, a white to cream underneath pore surface, and most distinctively, a curved, inrolled margin which overlaps the tube layer. When fresh the upper surface is somewhat soft in a leathery way, but soon becomes tough, but not as dense or woody as Artist Conks. If you live near a birch woods, it is not too hard to find this fungus. It has a very tough leathery to woody consistency.

1) Food - heavens, no. The piece wasn't that large and as any examination of contemporary specimens would show, this species is far too tough for chewing, being mostly indigestible chitin.

2) First aid kit - although some ripe puffball spores have styptic and blood coagulative properties, there certainly would not be plentiful spores from this species. Whether it is styptic (constricts blood vessels) or not, I can't say, but the next time I see one, I'll take it home and put with my shaving kit. (To be continued . . .)

3) The ancients knew about antibiotics 5000 years before we did - This is a variant of #2 and is the most fanciful (and most common) hypothesis put forth. It is favored by the anti-science crowd. In the first place, even for the same mass of Penicillium, very, very little active ingredient is present and far below any effective therapeutic dose. If you ever have taken antibiotics, you will recall how much of it and how long you had to take it. Secondly, it could not be taken internally unless used to make a boiled extract and would only be useful as a skin application and how do you apply a piece of woody mushroom to an infected cut? The real danger from a skin infection is what was once called systemic "blood poisoning" and I wonder if the ancients would have associated the initial skin wound with the later systemic fever and prostration.

4) An amulet or charm - possibly. Who knows what sort of mysticism and thoughts went through the minds of people back then? According to the June '93 National Geographic, which has a great story on this man, there is good evidence that people worshiped stones back them. Could he have used this to ward off evil spirits or insure his well being? It obviously didn't work, whatever his beliefs. However, the man was carrying other artifacts, man-made, which suggests that had he believed in charms, he probably would have a man made one.

5) Tinder for fire starting - this is my own suggestion and one based on actual experience. From my backpacking and portaging days in the North country, I well know the feeling of trying to start a fire from materials that have been rained on for three days and I had matches! But I always managed and one of the reasons I was always successful was because it was so easy to find combustible materials, e.g., birch bark, dry wood under old logs, and dried puffballs and polypores (conks). If so, he would have also have needed something finer and fibrous to get the initial blaze going, but he had a knife and could have whittled some shavings to light the polypore which would have provided enough heat to ignite something larger.

Don't like any of these? Well, send in your own suggestion. For all suggestions received deemed worthy of publication, we will award the sender with his own Birch Polypore to wear on your belt.