A Christmas Mushroom

Winter brings rains . . . rains bring mushrooms, and recently we found this classic mushroom at Camp Long.

Most Christmas trees from the north (firs, pines, spruces) are ectomycorrhizal--form an association with a type of fungi that forms the fruiting bodies (mushrooms) that are very familiar to most of us. Mushrooms are found growing under trees all over the world, and one common mushroom is the red and white Amanita muscaria or the "fly agaric" mushroom.

Ectomycorrhizal relationships are common in our forests. Both the trees and the fungi benefit from their interactions. The fungi receive sugars, carbon, and other essential organic substances from tree photosynthesis, and in return the fungi provide the trees with increased absorption of water, mineral salts, and metabolites. The fungi can also fight off parasites and predators such as harmful bacteria and nematodes. Indeed, most forest trees are highly dependent on their fungal partners and in areas of poor soil, could possibly not even exist without them. Without the fungi, the trees would not grow very tall-- at most a couple of feet in a decade!

Many of the symbols we associate with Christmas originated with the shamanistic traditions of the tribal peoples of pre-Christian Northern Europe and Siberia. Mycologists and ethnobotanists argue that the trimmings of Christmas owe a great deal to the fly agaric mushroom. Fly agarics appear on Christmas cards as a symbol of good luck. They are also found as Christmas tree decorations in places like Germany, probably derived from their ectomycorrhizal relationship with coniferous trees. Santa's red and white suit seems to draw its colors from the fly agaric mushroom. It is even possible that the tradition of putting up stockings had to do with drying mushrooms over the fireplace.

Fly agaric mushrooms can be toxic, so please do not eat them!