Trees, Truffles, and Mycorrhizae: Learn something new!

[pdqdl]

I am a subscriber to the Scientific American magazine, and they published an article called The Hidden Life of Truffles. (Click this link to read)

This is an excellent article that explains why and how Mycorrhizae are mutually beneficial to trees, what truffles are, and how they are involved in the ecosystems across our globe. They include many examples of specific ecosystems from across the globe, so this article should appeal to arborists from Australia to Zambia. I guarantee that includes stuff you didn't know, yet encounter on a daily basis.

It is written in plain english, so everybody that follows this forum should be able to enjoy it. It is good reading!

 

[ATH]

Is it worth $8?

I'll have to see if the library has Scientific American

 

[Mike Cantolina]

Interesting article...........thanks.

http://www.trufflegrowers.com.au/?p=416

 

[pdqdl]

Thanks Mike! I followed the link you posted, and found the same article as a PDF file that can be downloaded.

Here it is: http://www.trufflegrowers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/2010 Trappe_Claridge SciAmer.pdf

 

[PaulPollard]

http://herbarium.usu.edu/fungi/funfacts/truffind.htm

In North America, truffle collectors use three major clues to find truffles.

Second, the right trees must be present. Truffles are formed by fungi that are partners (ectomycorrhizal) with certain trees. You will not find truffles under maples, for instance, because maples do not form ectomycorrhizae. Trees to use as clues include: pines, firs, Douglas-fir, oaks, hazel nuts, hickories, birches, beeches, and eucalyptus.

ectomycorrhizae is a root fungus, so you can go truffle hunting with your truffle smelling dog in warm moist soil underneath these trees about 2 weeks after a heavy rain and make a couple hundred bucks at the local truffle market.

 

[Tree Machine]

Good stuff, guys.

I had a client recently forward me another truffle article from the journal , Nature, asking if we could grow truffles on his property. I read this March 29, 2010 article and declined having any knowledge or desire to take on a project like this. He knew of my background.

Before I was a treeguy, I had directed a commercial mycology lab, both the lab-lab and the growout facility. For about two years there was mushroom facility / tree business crossover. This was unique in that most mycologists aren't treeguys, but in my case it worked. Most edible fungi grow on wood, and I literally had unlimited access to large quantities of wood, and specific species of wood, and control over the quality. With the lab, I could create as much spawn as I could make time for and then I'd literally inoculate truckloads of chips, or a thousand pound log or huge stumps. I set out to do things 'normal' mycologists couldn't because the treeguy tools, and access to the wood allowed me to. The lab had 33 pure cultures of edible varieties from all over the world, but I was most passionate about cracking the Morel code (Morchella). At the time, there was so much going on that I didn't have more than a passing interest in truffles.

Truffles are tricky and mysterious, they don't fruit above ground so you never see them unless you dig them up and to do this you really need to know where to look and how to find them, which is pretty tough, even if you're a seasoned truffle hunter and have a trained pig or dog. That's why they're so dang expensive. They may not be so rare, they're literally found all over the world, but they're just really hard to find. And currently, have never been cultivated.

These days I am 100% Arborist. I don't practice mycology any more. My soul is still attached, just not my hands.
I miss it though.

 

[dingeryote]

Interesting as all get out!!! Thanks for putting this up here!!!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote