Second Nature Walk--Fungi

I accompanied some TAs and classmates today on a nature walk through the Houghton Gardens, which are located a short distance from campus. The weather today was overcast and the atmosphere was heavy with condensation as it has been raining for a couple days. The ground was muddied and the plants were coated in water drops. It was also a little chilly! I noticed that the leaves of some trees had begun to change, signifying that autumn has come. At first, I had difficulty locating fungi as they were small and had similar hues to their surroundings; however, after a while, I began to see little mushrooms everywhere (under plants, growing up trees, and intertwining with leaves.) They appeared mostly as brown toadstools, but one was white and looked fluffy and round, while another was purplish and flat! Yet another appeared on a rock as a green coloring. As I noted their appearances, I wondered what microbes facilitated and sustained their growth. As we discussed in class, microbes are microscopic organisms that can be found almost anywhere and everywhere. I am sure that many microbes lived in and helped regulate the soil that the fungi grew in. Furthermore, I am sure that many microbes live on the fungi themselves!

Posted on October 5, 2022 06:17 PM by