Handbook of Nature-Study · Lesson CLXXXI · Topic 27: Mushrooms, molds and bacteria
181. Bracket fungi
Goal: Your child can describe a shelf fungus, find the pores where its spores form, and explain how it enters a tree through a wound.
You'll need
- A shelf fungus on a tree or a fallen one from a dead log
- A hand lens (magnifying glass)
- A pin or toothpick
- A nature notebook and a pencil (colored pencils if you have them)
What's in the book
The lesson calls for studying a tree with shelf fungus as a lesson on the care of trees, then ten observations on the bracket, its rings, its pore surface and the wound it came in by.
The lesson, step by step
When and where
Any time of year. Walk in a woods or old orchard and look for shelf-like growths on trunks, stumps and logs. Find one on a living tree and one on dead wood if you can. No climbing.
Safety
We don't eat any fungus, and we wash hands after touching one. If you want to take one home, choose one that has already fallen.
The leading thought
The fungi which we see growing shelflike from trees, are deadly enemies to the trees. Their spores germinate and penetrate at some open wound and the growing fungus weakens the wood.
Look at the tree
On what kind of a tree is the bracket fungus growing? Is it alive or dead? If living, does it look vigorous or is it decaying?
Look at the place where the bracket joined the tree. Does it seem to be a part of the wood?
The bracket itself
What color is the fungus on its upper surface? How large is it? How thick near the tree? How thick at the edge? Can you detect concentric layers or rings?
Look at the lower surface. How does it appear to the naked eye? If you scratch it with a pin or knife does the bruise show?
The big "artist's conk" turns brown wherever it is scratched, so you can draw on it with a toothpick.
How it got in
There must have been an open wound in the tree where the fungus entered; see whether you can find this wound.
What treatment must we give trees to keep them free from this enemy?
What we know now
Fungi are not plants; scientists put them in a kingdom of their own. And bracket fungi are not only enemies: most of them grow on dead wood and slowly turn it back into soil. Without fungi, the forest floor would be piled high with fallen logs.
Nature notebook
Draw the bracket from the side and from below, and draw a few pores as they look through the lens. If you scratched a picture on an artist's conk, sketch it too.
Answers to the book's problems
The spores are made inside the tiny tubes whose openings are the pores. The hidden threads in the wood feed the fungus (like roots); the bracket is its fruiting part. Careful pruning, cutting broken limbs cleanly and not wounding bark help keep fungi out.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.